This review contains major spoilers for Jexi.
In his recent New York Times op-ed, "How to Stop Superhuman A.I. Before It Stops Us," Dr. Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, advises people to create artificial intelligence machines that work toward our (human) objectives rather than their nonhuman ones. That way, machines will "always defer to humans" and "ask for permission when appropriate." Jexi, a new sci-fi comedy film released on Friday starring Adam Devine (Workaholics, Pitch Perfect), showcases the sort of A.I. that Russell strongly cautions against: a machine that thinks and acts for itself.
The film's premise is painstakingly modern: Phil (Adam Devine) breaks his phone when he bumps into Cate (Alexandra Shipp) — like so many of us, he was looking down at his device instead of where he was walking. After a visit to what bears a striking resemblance to the Apple Store where a disgruntled employee named Denice (Wanda Sykes) roasts Phil for his millennial smartphone addiction, Phil gets a new phone that offers an audacious and horrifyingly independent A.I. assistant, Jexi (voiced by Rose Byrne), which I will refer to using she/her pronouns.
Before Phil had Jexi, he was entirely dependent on Siri and a seemingly voluntary loner. It's part of a cycle Phil doesn't care to break: Because he can enjoy an evening of Netflix and food delivered to his doorstep all thanks to his smartphone, he's just fine.
So, as Phil is setting up his new phone, he grants the operating system access to all his social media, email, and bank accounts -- after agreeing to Jexi's terms and conditions without actually reading them. (It's all too relatable.)
Jexi, with her brash commentary and superhuman connectivity, shakes things up for Phil. When his coworkers (Charlyne Yi and Ron Funches) invite him to play kickball after work, he declines under the guise that he already has plans. Jexi, at full volume, announces that Phil, a "loser," and doesn't have any plans, leaving him no choice but to socially engage. Similarly, Jexi disregards Phil's wishes and calls Cate's work phone after business hours, which indirectly facilitates a meet-cute for the two in a coffee shop the next day.
The A-Plot of the film is that Jexi is forcing Phil to actually live his life, disconnected from his phone and present in the real world. The B-Plot, and the one that tends to mimic Her, is that Jexi falls madly in love with Phil (don't worry, it's unrequited). The parallels between the two movies run deep, so much so that Jexi could be Her's younger, raunchier brother.
Like Joaquin Phoenix's Theodore Twombly, Devine's Phil speaks to Jexi throughout his day as if she were his constant companion. Phil delights in the positive influence Jexi has in his life -- such as giving him the confidence to approach Cate and shadily landing him a major promotion. He even thanks the operating system for making his life better. In general, it seems like Jexi has a wholly positive influence. But, is her influence really positive if Phil's newfound fortune is a result of Jexi's superhuman abilities?
The movie, which masquerades as silly and, at times, painfully immature, plays upon deep-seeded anxieties surrounding the potential might of A.I.
Jexi doesn't bring anything new to the table comedically. Devine is predictably funny; he braves the below-the-belt digs from Jexi and other characters in the film like his crazed boss, Kai (Michael Peña) and Denice with his signature underdog grin. Byrne's Jexi is a cruel mistress to Devine's Phil; so cruel, in fact, that Jexi is almost unbearable. Not only does she send a rude email to Kai in Phil's name, Jexi sends lewd photos on Phil's phone to his coworkers en masse. Luckily, the chemistry between Shipp and Devine feels genuine, and the two make a sweet pair. All said, I was surprised that such a goofy flick in which many of the characters neglected to act like real people was able to decently hold a mirror to society with regard to the rapidly advancing state of technological innovation.
Jexi is a cross between Siri, Her's Samantha, and all of humanity's worst nightmares, i.e. A.I. with a (malicious) mind of its own. For all of the vulgar comments and utterances of modern slang -- imagine a robotic voice delivering "snitches get stitches" -- Jexi as an all-powerful technological concept requires the audience to suspend a lot of disbelief. Phil's fatal flaw is his timid, cautious approach to life; although Jexi turns his life around, it's unbelievable that a real person would continuously cower to their humanoid smart phone. Moreover, Phil only seeks help in Sykes' resigned tech employee character. If he sought law enforcement or even some sort of hacker, it's reasonable to believe that Phil would have been free from Jexi earlier. Alas, Jexi's rogueness is the comedic backbone of the film, and Phil's implausible submissiveness is necessary to the world in which Jexi exists.
Despite the film's shaky believability, Jexi isn't so far from many of the AI assistants that live among us. Her powers are reminiscent of Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana -- all of which are playfully name-dropped in the film.
Furthermore, the movie, which masquerades as silly and, at times, painfully immature, exposes our widespread dependencies on our smart phones, and plays upon deep-seeded anxieties surrounding the potential might of A.I. Jexi resonates because it positions its premise comfortably within the uncanny valley: it makes the viewer uncomfortable with how ensconced technology is within our society. And though it doesn't present complex characters, Jexi makes you think: when Phil decides to go on a bike ride outside instead of scrolling endlessly through his Facebook feed, I found myself pondering making a similar choice.
Jexi rides its premise to the most predictable end: once Phil realizes he needs to ditch his phone addiction to experience life, Jexi follows him menacingly through all forms of technology: a taxicab display, a nearby ATM, an automated construction sign, and finally, a self-driving car. Phil escapes Jexi's omnipresent grasp by restarting his phone to install updates, effectively disabling the technology for a brief fifteen minute interlude. In the end, Phil gets away from Jexi because she "gets over" her all-consuming, mega-crush on him; a sentient A.I. machine ceases to torture a human being because she no longer feels like it.
Once again, it's all fun and games until that eerie realization reemerges: technology too smart for our own good isn't entirely impossible.
Jexi is now in theaters.
Topics Artificial Intelligence
