CTRL: The Dangers of AI and Big Corporations

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A sketch of a tv screen with the Netflix logo on.
Before you ask, yes, I am still watching. Not liking it, but watching. FiveFlowersForFamilyFirst via pixabay manipulated by Annika Hadden

Concerning the future… I’m concerned

CTRL is a 2024 Indian film directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. The film premiered on Netflix at the start of October. Following Nella and Joe, a famous social media influencer couple, on the way to surprise Joe during his birthday, Nella catches Joe cheating on her.

This is all caught on camera as thousands of people watch the livestream. Embarrassed by the entire situation, Nella decides to use an AI called Control to remove Joe’s digital footprint. 

Control is an AI software that is owned by a powerful corporation. Control dubs itself a personal assistant and is able to remove digital footprints of civilians, but also speak to the consumer, manage their meetings, and give them advice. 

Throughout this process, Nella forms a bond with her AI assistant, whom she names Allen, her name spelled backwards. As Nella’s relationship with Allen grows, strange things start happening around her. 

For starters, Joe disappears. As the film progresses, we see that the AI has been secretly controlling her data, her life, and invading her privacy. 

The film is shot through a point-of-view style. Furthermore, it utilizes the screen-life filming technique, a visual story-telling technique whereby events are shown through a computer or a phone. 

CTRL’s focus on AI dependency is an interesting facet. With the rise of AI, our ability to critically think, analyse things, and use our creativity is at risk. 

There is an implicit focus on addiction in the film. Social media addiction is often overlooked and downplayed. Our entire lives are starting to be lived or already are livable online. 

We cannot go for a second without using a social media platform. In some way, we’ve become slaves to social media, much like Nella and Joe as influencers. Their lives are online. They rely on social media for everything. 

However, when things take a darker turn, Nella realizes much too late that her entire life is in the hands of an AI assistant software. 

The film does a pristine job of depicting meme culture as well as bandwagon culture. It is an accurate reflection of our world. CTRL is a gripping and creepy film about AI. There is a disturbing element in the AI assistant, and it was exhilarating to watch. Allen steals Nella’s data, infringing on her rights and privacy. 

Many people today depend on social media and AI tools, owned by multi-billion-dollar corporations who do not care about our happiness, health, or well-being. We are blinded by the glitz and glamour of these functions, forgetting that when we sign up, we lose certain parts of ourselves, and at times, we lose our most important rights. 

This reminds me of the on-going lawsuit by Jeffrey Piccolo and Kanokporn Tangsuan, a couple who ate a meal at a Disney world restaurant. They made sure to relay the woman’s peanut allergy to the staff, so that her food would be prepared safely. She went through a fatal allergic reaction, and as her husband sued Disney for wrongful death, Disney stated that because they had signed up for a free Disney+ subscription, they had revoked their rights to sue Disney. 

It feels as though we are living in a dystopian society, as though life has become a terrifying Black Mirror episode that is never going to end. CTRL shows us the reality of what happens when we trust billion-dollar corporations who value profit over people.

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