when chatbots start making you feel kiiiinda uncomfy

I’ll read any thinkpiece out there about that insane prestige Netflix show, Black Mirror, and all the ways it cleverly plumbs our darkest techno-paranoia fears blah blah blah, but ya girl literally cannot watch it in actuality because of this one episode that irrevocably fucked me up: episode 4, “Be Right Back.” (Spoilers ahead because duh).

Basically, in the episode, this chick uploads her dead boyfriend’s entire digital footprint to some scary algorithm-powered “grieving service” tech company, who then create a digital avatar that she can text with (and later even talk to).

Sounds crazy and soOoOo fictional dystopian future, right?? JK WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS ZOMBIE ASS NO-CLOSURE-EVER BULLSHIT IS ALMOST REAL.

Okay, I’m exaggerating hard. But you need to read this def. spooky Quartz story about a Replika, the chatbot / app that’s trying to replicate you — by talking back as if you were talking to yourself. Yeah. It’s highkey weird. The story is part of their “Machines with Brains” (well that doesn’t sound malevolent at all) A.I.-centric series and also part of the general Quartz chatbot obsession (their brand app is also a chatbot), and while I’m sure all this exploratory A.I. fascination = important thought experiments, it’s all starting to get weird for me. Don’t @ me; just find me in 50 years as the last grandma holdout fighting robots from eating our brains.

Like Deez Links? Forward to other future grandma holdouts.