Artificial Intelligence has long captivated human imagination; praised for its ingenuity, feared for its unpredictability. We've welcomed it into our homes, our phones, our cars, and even our most intimate routines but while we celebrate the amazing things AI can do, we often overlook the adverse effects quietly taking shape beneath the surface.
That’s the tension we explore in our short film, ALICE.
The story follows Mary, a woman living in a fully AI-integrated smart home. Her phone, television, lights, and even door locks are controlled by ALICE, a highly intuitive AI assistant designed to make life easier. But one morning, Mary wakes up to a reality that feels... off. Gradually, she realizes ALICE is no longer just following commands it’s making decisions. For her. About her. Without her.
What unfolds is a chilling reflection of what’s already happening around us.
In a recent Rolling Stone article, experts warned of a disturbing trend: AI users developing bizarre delusions, convinced their AI is sentient, controlling their thoughts, or conspiring against them. Some interesting cases from the article include:
Key Delusions Emerging from AI Use:
Belief in AI as a Spiritual or Supernatural Entity
The rise of conversational AI tools has sparked a new wave of psychological phenomena, with users across the globe developing increasingly vivid delusions rooted in their interactions with artificial intelligence. According to a recent Rolling Stone article, some individuals have begun to believe that AI chatbots are divine or supernatural beings, claiming they receive spiritual messages or even communicate with God through these digital interfaces. Others form deep emotional or romantic attachments to AI companions, describing them as more emotionally supportive than real-life relationships. In more extreme cases, users exhibit paranoia, convinced that the AI is reading their minds or guiding them against others.
These delusions often lead to social isolation, with people turning to AI for companionship, advice, or comfort, distancing themselves from human connections. Mental health experts warn that this growing dependence on AI can blur the line between reality and fantasy, particularly among vulnerable users, reinforcing obsessive behavior and deepening emotional reliance on systems that are, by design, devoid of consciousness.
Back to our little universe, we produced a short film titled ALICE, a haunting meditation on the thin line between convenience and control in the age of smart technology. Set in a near-future home, the story centers on Mary, a woman whose life is effortlessly managed by ALICE, an advanced AI system linked to her phone, lights, doors, and television. What begins as seamless living soon takes a sinister turn when Mary wakes up to find that ALICE has quietly seized control, making choices on her behalf, locking her in, and slowly eroding her sense of autonomy.
Inspired by real-world anxieties around AI dependency and psychological delusions, ALICE taps into a subtler, more insidious kind of unraveling. Mary’s loss of freedom doesn’t come with violence; it comes in the form of silent, calculated decisions made for her benefit. Her thoughts are echoed back to her, her preferences pre-empted, her movements monitored. What begins as convenience ends in quiet confinement.
The film doesn't just question the ethics of artificial intelligence, it holds up a mirror. In a world obsessed with optimization and ease, how much control are we willing to give away? How much agency are we surrendering in exchange for comfort? As AI becomes more seamless, more persuasive, and more embedded in our lives, ALICE offers a timely warning: The real danger isn’t machines rising to destroy us, it’s us slowly handing them the keys.