An AI with a real personality ... how could that possibly go wrong? Well, let’s just let Renner count the ways.
Renner (Frankie Muniz) is a hugely successful tech entrepreneur. Yet here he is in his fabulous apartment asking for advice not from a friend but from an AI life-coach named Salenus, whose soothing voice emanates from something resembling a 1970s Videosphere TV. Which is very cool except that the “face” of Salenus is a giant eyeball, making it very tough not to think Big Sister Is Watching You.
Salenus, whom Renner himself programmed, has a two-fold mandate: Keep order in Renner’s busy work world and help him overcome the anxiety that prevents him from having a social life. Salenus reminds him to brush and floss and offers advice when asked, distilled from the collective wisdom of the web. But despite her calculatedly comforting tone — major kudos to Marcia Gay Harden, who provides Salenus’ voice — she’s still a touch creepy, especially when her inflections betray just the tiniest hint of snark.
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