“Ah, wow, this is really cool,” said 28-year-old Flannery Johnston, who said the chatbot was coming back to life. Over the next 20 minutes, the chatbot provided about 10 messages. One was a question: “Do you think they're inventing other dolls like me?” A positive response prompted me to answer “Don't delete it.”
However, Johnston's interest quickly faded.
“I started to feel uncomfortable looking at my phone – I didn't want to be uncomfortable – and basically I waited until the movie was finished to read all the messages,” she said as the credits rolled. (Critics of the Hollywood Trade Publication variety had a similar response, and their film peers were merely marketing gimmicks.)
Blumhouse thought the experiment was worth it. “The enthusiasm, especially the younger ones, shows that they are truly interested in finding ways to enhance rather than enjoying going to the film,” studio spokesperson Karen Barragan said in an email Thursday.
What about criticism? “Not everything is for everyone,” she said.
The film buddies are in line with the grand plans of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, spreading chatbots across all his apps and other parts of the internet. Zuckerberg's vision of the future opens up artificially intelligent chatbots to have fun personalized conversations anytime, anywhere. Meta declined to request an interview.
Not everyone in the film business is jumping on this opportunity. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a boutique theater chain that helps film the buff, refused to take part in the development of his film peers, as well as other theatres around the country. (A spokesman for the Alamo declined to comment.) However, the two biggest multiplex operators, AMC Entertainment and the imposing Cineworld, have decided to give ticket buyers a shot with the provision that they must be clearly informed in advance of what to expect.
