Apple’s ‘Pluribus’ Slop

This is how the first season ends. Not with a bang but… the ominous sign of a bang.

I enjoyed the first season of Pluribus. I wouldn’t say that I love he,¹ but I found it to be an interesting change of pace, literally, from most other shows currently on television – by which I mainly mean streaming, of course. It’s kind of crazy to me that this is apparently Apple’s most popular show to date, at least by some early metrics, because it’s definitely not. seem as the kind of show that would be hugely popular. Again, it’s all relative and especially with Apple TV – the artist formerly known as “Apple TV+” – as their most popular shows always tend not to be as popular as the most popular shows on other streamers, simply given the relative size of Apple TV.²

Anyway, overall I liked it. There are sweet ones Break the bad the vibes we expect from Vince Gilligan,³ but much of that is mainly down to the setting and subtly comedic tone. A few episodes have major pacing issues in my book, but I understand that’s where people will scream because they don’t appreciate the art. I mean, sure, I get it, but personally I found it weird to go from a sci-fi tone to a full-on zombie apocalypse tone, to a tone-deaf – again, literally – grocery store quest, to a jungle vision quest and some sort of Eat, pray, love – a romance with a robot that, predictably, turned into Sleeping with the enemy…

I loved the extremely contemplative Form dreams – this is probably my second favorite film of the year after One battle after another – but it had the same general vibe throughout. I had difficulty finding my bearings with Pluribus.

So I set out on my own side quest, so to speak, trying to look for clues as to how the series might be an allegory for our AI age. I realize this can be problematic simply because of the timing When Gilligan was writing the first season, but still… I swear there are signs.

Earlier today, John Gruber wrote about Tim Cook’s seemingly strange and possibly tone-deaf tweet about the season finale. Noting that “Tim Cook posts AI Slop in a Christmas post on Twitter/X, apparently to promote ‘Pluribus’,” Gruber notes the inconsistencies in the image, which seems particularly odd considering the Apple TV account’s retweet of Cook’s post:

The Apple TV account »

Apple has not tagged the “Keith Thomson” who supposedly created this artwork for them, but if it is indeed Keith Thomson, Apple must have fallen for a scam, because that The paintings published by Keith Thomson are magnificent. The “K Thomson” signature is at least a bit like Keith Thomson’s signature on Apple’s botched illustration – but not Really the same. (I like a lot of Keith Thomson paintings, and I adore a few of his own, but this one in particular feels like it was made just for me. It’s perfect.)

This seems far too obvious to be an error/mistake on Apple’s part. And I think the entire post makes it clear that this is some sort of comment. This is not a message and an image for you or me, it is for…

Hi Carole.
We thought you’d like this festive artwork by Keith Thomson, made on MacBook Pro.

It shows Apple channeling their inner “They” to suggest that Carol might like a new work by a famous artist. Of course, in the exhibition world, this artist is probably one of them, so he would be unable to create something completely new and original, but would instead perhaps give a production based on the collective knowledge of Thomson’s work. Would they hallucinate strange inconsistencies like AI still does in our real world? Who knows – because we don’t fully understand their causes in our current models, because we don’t fully understand the outcomes.

Of course, this can fall apart if you consider that they don’t see themselves as a whole individual. So unless Keith Thomson is somehow one of the uninfected/transformed ones on Earth (which seems impossible given what we know about the remaining people), it’s odd that they’re calling him. Again, we know that Carol prefers that they always refer to themselves as individuals, as she makes clear to Zosia. So maybe it’s just the collective trying to send Carol a Christmas message that they think she would appreciate.

Another interpretation could be that they are I actually use AI (on this MacBook Pro) to create the image. And maybe they’re even asking for Keith Thomson’s body to be created, so technically it’s “of Keith Thomson”.

Keith Thomson uses AI to produce art that looks like Keith Thomson’s art, because he is trained on Keith Thomson’s art. What is bullshit?

I’m sure I’m reading way too much into this tweet (and retweet), but given my previous post on Pluribus as an allegory for AI, I think it’s quite interesting to think about it in this context. The reality is that several things may be true, Gilligan could have written the series without knowing that it would be a commentary on generative AI, but as this technology came into focus and they started making the series, perhaps he is leaning into that theme. There are definitely larger themes about hive minds and such, but… I’ll stick to my story for now.

We’ll see what Season 2 brings, but I’d also just like to note the fears that AI could bring about the end of the world, while Carol asks the Collective to bring her a real atomic bomb…

² It is always This is very confusing to write because Apple TV, of course, is also a set-top box and an application, in addition to being a service. Like, which one am I talking about here? They really should at least rename the puck. Even just the blander “Apple TV Puck” or “Apple TV Box” would be fine. “Apple TV Set” would be a fun throwback, but perhaps also confusing: In an age where ads and bloatware are increasingly being pushed onto screens by TV makers, I still want a real Apple Television. ↩

³ Like everyone else on the planet, I loved it Break the bad and yet I never had the opportunity to watch You better call Saul. I only mention this because I know this is where most people know Rhea Seehorn from her childhood. Pluribus. ↩