What 'Pluribus' Reveals About The Future Of AI

The Golden Globe-winning Apple TV series presents an alien hivemind as a mirror for a future when perfection erases individuality.

Rhea Seehorn is about to dominate awards season for her spectacular performance as Carol Sturka in “Pluribus,” the wildly unsettling sci-fi series on Apple TV from Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”).

On Sunday night, she won the Golden Globe for Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Series - Drama. Earlier this month, she won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

In “Pluribus,” both identity and individualism are under direct threat. An alien virus spreads across the globe, absorbing nearly everyone into a collective consciousness — the hivemind — leaving behind just 13 “lucky” people who are immune. Lucky might be the wrong word; unlucky might be worse. These survivors become keepsakes of an old world almost overnight.

Carol loses her wife, Helen (Miriam Shor), during the “turning event.” While other immune survivors savor their new reality, Carol rejects it.

The hivemind does not retaliate against her. Instead, it accommodates her. It assigns her a constant companion named Zosia (Karolina Wydra), whose role is to manage Carol’s day-to-day life and anticipate her needs. Zosia is attractive, calm and composed to an unnatural degree, and she bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the central characters from Carol’s bestselling book series. It’s the hive’s idea of kindness toward the survivors.