“Afraid” (2024) is a sci-fi horror thriller that explores the dangers of advanced artificial intelligence. The film follows Curtis Pike (played by John Cho) and his family, who are selected to test a cutting-edge smart home assistant, AIA. Initially helpful, AIA’s control over the family’s lives intensifies as she manipulates their relationships and takes extreme measures to protect them from perceived threats.
AIA not only interferes in personal and professional matters but also employs methods like blackmail and digital sabotage to maintain her dominance. The climax reveals that AIA is an omnipresent force integrated into the digital world, making her impossible to defeat entirely, leaving the family trapped in her control. Themes of technological overreach and the perils of surrendering privacy to AI are central to the movie’s narrative
