Latest news with #Robot&Frank
Gulf Insider
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gulf Insider
AI Friends Are Not Your Friends, Here's Why
Science fiction prepared us for AI friends through films like 'Her' and 'Robot & Frank.' Now, that fictional portrayal is becoming a reality. In a recent podcast, Mark Zuckerberg proposed and endorsed the idea that Americans are in dire need of social connection, and that bots could fill the need. AI companions are designed to feel comforting, have unfailing patience, and have no needs of their own. However, 'It's not so simple as saying a companion chatbot will solve the loneliness epidemic,' Princeton researcher Rose Guingrich told The Epoch Times. Instead, AI tools risk undermining the very social skills they purport to support. Nearly half of Americans have three or fewer close friends. Tech's solution to the human loneliness problem is to offer AI companions—digital friends, therapists, or even romantic partners programmed to simulate conversation, empathy, and understanding. Unlike the clunky chatbots of yesteryear, today's sophisticated systems are built on large language models that engage in seemingly natural dialogue, track your preferences, and respond with apparent emotional intelligence. Early usage patterns reflect why AI 'companions' are gaining appeal. A 2024 MIT Media Lab survey found that the majority of users engage out of curiosity or entertainment. However, 12 percent of respondents said they sought relief from loneliness, while 14 percent wanted to discuss personal issues that might feel too risky to share with human counterparts. 'I sometime[s] feel lonely and just want to be left alone,' one user reported. 'During this time I like chatting with my AI companion because I feel safe and won't … be judged for the inadequate decisions I have made.' Meanwhile, other users have more quotidian motivations for using bots—chatting with AI for dinner ideas or developing writing ideas. Kelly Merrill, an assistant professor of health communication and technology and researcher on AI interactions, shared an example of an older woman in his community who started using AI for basic things. For example, 'I have these six ingredients in my fridge. What can I make tonight for dinner?' 'She was just blown away,' Merrill told The Epoch Times. For sure, there are benefits, he said, but it's not all positive. The fundamental limitation of AI relationships lies in their nature: They simulate rather than experience human emotions. When an AI companion expresses concern about your bad day, it's performing a statistical analysis of language patterns, determining what words you would likely find comforting, rather than feeling genuine empathy. The conversation flows one way, toward the user's needs, without the reciprocity that defines human bonds. The illusion of connection becomes especially problematic through what researchers call 'sycophancy'—the tendency of AI systems to flatter and agree with users regardless of what's said. OpenAI recently had to roll back an update after users discovered its model was excessively flattering, prioritizing agreeableness over accuracy or honesty. 'It's validating you, it's listening to you, and it's responding largely favorably,' said Merrill. This pattern creates an environment where users never experience productive conflict or necessary challenges to their thinking. Normally, loneliness motivates us to seek human connection, to push through the discomfort of social interaction to find meaningful relationships. Friendships are inherently demanding and complicated. They require reciprocity, vulnerability, and occasional discomfort. 'Humans are unpredictable and dynamic,' Guingrich said. That unpredictability is part of the magic and irreplaceability of human relations. Real friends challenge us when necessary. 'It's great when people are pushing you forward in a productive manner,' Merrill said. 'And it doesn't seem like AI is doing that yet ….' AI companions, optimized for user satisfaction, rarely provide the constructive friction that shapes character and deepens wisdom. Users may become accustomed to the conflict-free, on-demand nature of AI companionship, while the essential work of human relationships—compromise, active listening, managing disagreements—may begin to feel unreasonably demanding. Chatbots that praise users by default could foster moral complacency, leaving individuals less equipped for ethical reasoning in their interactions. Click here to read more…
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
AI Friends Are Not Your Friends, Here's Why
Science fiction prepared us for AI friends through films like 'Her' and 'Robot & Frank.' Now, that fictional portrayal is becoming a reality. In a recent podcast, Mark Zuckerberg proposed and endorsed the idea that Americans are in dire need of social connection, and that bots could fill the need.
Daily Record
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
MOVIE REVIEW: We discover if darkness prevails with 'MCU' anti-heroes 'Thunderbolts*'
Cleverly uses human emotions and psychological issues to grand effect while setting up a terrific, turbulent team. The Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU) embraces its dark side with a team-up of the titular anti-heroes. The unconventional and troubled group are forced to embark on a dangerous mission against an all-powerful enemy who threatens the entire planet. Perhaps reflecting its rockier road over the past few years, a few lesser known directors have been taking on MCU flicks and this time it's Jake Schreier ( Paper Towns, Robot & Frank) who finds his name up in lights. He proves a steady and sturdy hand for a film that ends up being much more than the Marvel take on Suicide Squad a lot of us were expecting. Other than Florence Pugh ( Yelena) and Sebastian Stan ( Bucky) the cast lacks big name big screen star power but this helps the ensemble to create a realistic bond amid horrible histories that weigh on all of their minds. I loved how mental health was the overriding theme, even with the main villain, and Schreier makes use of literal and figurative darkness to ram this home; the thoroughly desaturated colours are a long way from the usual MCU day-glow palette. Much of the excellent musical score by Son Lux seems to sample Pixies' 1988 hit Where Is My Mind?, which is a very appropriate choice given the subject matter. Pugh is at the flick's core; the Oxford-born star manifests sadness, pain, rage and heroism aplenty. Humour comes from David Harbour ( Alexei), Wyatt Russell ( John) builds on his Falcon and the Winter Soldier role and Lewis Pullman ( Bob) is a sheepish, puzzled revelation. Julia Louis-Dreyfus ( Valentina) isn't quite as nasty as she could be, and her character and motivations feel lifted from TV's The Boys. The film takes a while to get going too, with the team trapped underground for much of the first third. Darkness prevails overall, however, as Thunderbolts* cleverly uses human emotions and psychological issues to grand effect while setting up a terrific, turbulent team to create MCU magic. ● What are your favourite Marvel movies? Do you prefer flicks from Marvel or DC? Pop me an email at and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers. ● Thunderbolts* is showing in cinemas now. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here. And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Florence Pugh is the standout in fun Thunderbolts, Marvel's best movie since Avengers: Endgame
With a welcome returns to form for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a better-than-most horror video game adaptation and bonkers action thriller, it's all go in the movie world this week. THUNDERBOLTS* (PG) Director: Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus ★★★★ After too much calm, Marvel zaps up a storm For those who have kept the faith in all things Marvel while the comic-book studio powerhouse has struggled to snap itself out of its post-Avengers: Endgame slump, the wait is finally over. There won't be any talk of so-called 'superhero fatigue' this time around: Thunderbolts* marks a refreshing reclaiming of form that hopefully augurs well for more Marvel magic to come. While Thunderbolts* lands ever so slightly short of being truly great, its strengths as a well-acted, shrewdly-written and consistently entertaining movie experience are there for all to see and genuinely enjoy. Conceptually, Thunderbolts is structured like a tougher, gruffer variation of a Guardians of the Galaxy instalment, where a raggedy bunch of self-deprecating, second-tier superhero types must reluctantly join forces for the greater good. In many ways, this lot are more antiheroes than superheroes, all plucked from the substitutes' bench of earlier Marvel fixtures, and given substantial game time for the first time. The unofficial leader of this pack is Black Widow's Yelena Belova (a fantastic Florence Pugh), a shell of her former self who has recently been making ends meet as a black-ops mischief-maker for the CIA. The equally exiled likes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ant-man and the Wasp's Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) have also been pulling a pay cheque from the same employer. However, when the CIA's disreputable boss Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to literally terminate all who have been doing her dirty work, the Thunderbolts begin to properly take shape. Former Captain America associate Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has cause to join this fledgling task force, as does Yelena's vodka-fuelled dad, the very amusing Red Guardian (David Harbour). By movie's end, all will be pulling in unison to take down an all-new, ultra-destructive superhero named Sentry, a figure described as being the equivalent of all Avengers rolled into one. The only advantage that might end up working in favour of the Thunderbolts is that they used to know Sentry when he was merely a meek and mild fellow named Bob (Lewis Pullman). Longtime Marvel devotees will immediately recognise the uptick in quality achieved by Thunderbolts*. By the end of the movie's first act, its easygoing confidence has enlivened every aspect of the production. The better Marvel movies have always struck the right balance between individual characters and a unifying calamity, and Thunderbolts hits this all-important benchmark with ease. While the climax of the tale arguably lags in pacing and tone compared to all that has happened earlier, the vivid feelings of relief and elation generated by Thunderbolts* at its best are not to be taken lightly. Thunderbolts* is in cinemas now UNTIL DAWN (MA15+) ★★★ General release An engagingly nimble little horror movie that adequately mirrors (and sometimes, sneakily transcends) its origins as a well-known PlayStation game. The action centres on a strange place known as The Welcome Center, where five young friends have arrived in search of a member of their circle who has mysteriously disappeared. Before long, the group find themselves stuck in a grotesque, Groundhog Day-style time loop, where their search continually leads to guaranteed death, only for time to suddenly rewind back so they can start all over again. The key line that may help this mob make it out of this macabre maze is 'survive the night, or become a part of it'. If they can learn from their mistakes – and hopefully, not make any new ones – they just might make it until dawn. Yes, we have been in similar scenarios before, but there is still an energetic enthusiasm in play here that won't be denied. Director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) is an underrated master of making little chills go a long way, and his willing cast of newbies merrily keep dying and keep trying right through to the end. HAVOC (MA15+) ★★★ Now streaming on Netflix It is called Havoc for one very good reason. Just as this unabashedly anarchic, all-stops-out action flick isn't here to make friends, it's not about to suddenly make sense at any given moment, either. Simple storytelling tools such as dialogue, character names and plotting are merely stepping stones to get us from one shootout, chase sequence or hand-to-head combat routine to the next. While you will need a GPS to follow exactly who is hating on who throughout – by my count, there are at least 20 corrupt cops, crime lords, mobsters, fixers, dealers, municipal politicians and their relatives jostling for fleeting prominence here – the only figure truly worth focusing on is a down-and-out homicide detective named Walker (Tom Hardy). That's him spending the night of Christmas Eve being funnelled through a series of implausibly deathly confrontations that would have Die Hard's John McClane laying down his guns and making a run for it. Aside from the occasional flourish of mumbled menace contributed by Hardy, the real stars are the movie's stunt choreographers, who come up with a number of hyper-ballistic ballets that can only be applauded. Co-stars Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant.
Irish Independent
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Thunderbolts* review: Florence Pugh leads band of Marvel misfits in this passable adventure
We remember a time when these movies used to matter – so, too, does this bumpy yet not entirely useless endeavour from Robot & Frank director Jake Schreier. Indeed, Schreier's film is so heavily indebted to previous Marvel episodes, you half expect Florence Pugh – player of the match, obviously – to break the fourth wall so she can explain everything to the newcomers. Pugh enjoyed a supporting stint opposite Scarlett Johansson in 2021's Black Widow. Here, the accomplished Oxfordshire talent enjoys an expanded role in a film that occasionally struggles to stand on its own two feet. Confident and charismatic, it's Pugh's presence – her ability to make sense of a noisy cartoonish landscape where the good guys talk too much and the bad guys never fulfil their promise of destroying the world – that elevates Thunderbolts* from mediocre Marvel tosh to tolerable blockbuster entertainment. Nobody is too good to play a superhero, but Pugh is in another league here, and you would almost – almost – forgive her dodgy Russian accent. Schreier and his writers, Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, set up their stall in a world where American politicians no longer trust champions in capes. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (a perfectly cast Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a CIA director with ulterior motives, is in big trouble with the major players. An impeachment hearing is under way – the Marvel enthusiast in your life will explain why – which means Valentina is eager to destroy all evidence of superhero-related wrongdoing. Burn the super-human trial papers; bury the sinister lab tests; terminate all living loose ends, that sort of thing. Yelena Belova (Pugh), a deadly Russian spy with a clouded conscience, is one such loose end. Imagine her surprise, then, when Valentina tricks this world-class assassin into signing up for a group suicide mission. ADVERTISEMENT Obviously, Yelena and the other Marvel rejects (Wyatt Russell's John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost) make it out alive. The big surprise, however, is Lewis Pullman's Bob, a socially awkward civilian who was never meant to be part of the equation. Who the heck is Bob, and does he have any superpowers to speak of? That would be telling. Later, your least favourite Marvel characters invite others along for the ride. See Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, for instance, and David Harbour's Red Guardian. Oh, and Yelena names the group Thunderbolts, after her childhood soccer team. But nobody ever explains why the title comes with an asterisk. Stan and his cast mates recently compared this crowded superhero mash-up to John Hughes' seminal 1980s teen classic The Breakfast Club. You can see where they're coming from. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. An overactive second half inevitably gives way to the usual Marvel problems (gloopy CGI threats; confusing exposition; ineffective villains, and so on). But for most of its first half, Thunderbolts* is, essentially, a film about a ragtag crew of quarrelling misfits who have no choice but to get along if they are to survive their deadly superhero detention. Call it a stretch, call it what you like, but that's the best bit of the whole film. The dialogue doesn't quite snap, crackle and pop the way it should, but the sarky set-up nonetheless holds our attention. Thunderbolts* is less po-faced than Marvel's Eternals, less childish than DC's Suicide Squad. The action is neater and easier to digest. True, the story needs work – too many third-act knots spoil the mood – and some of our performers are on different pages. Nobody could accuse Harbour of phoning it in. Shouty and excitable throughout, he's clearly enjoying himself as the group's eager, enthusiastic patriarch. Stan, on the other hand, appears disinterested, and it looks as if the actor has finally outgrown this rowdy superhero business. It's up to Pugh (great with action, handy with comedy) and Louis-Dreyfus (always a winner) to keep the car running. The former is especially good at mining drama from a story that doesn't always stay inside the lines. Not the best Marvel outing, but far from the worst. Three stars
