Group Think: How Pluribus tells a cautionary tale about a world dominated by super intelligence.
Last month Apple TV premiered Pluribus (or PLUR1BUS for the film nerds), a high-concept science fiction drama created by Vince Gilligan. With an initial rotten tomatoes score of 100%, Gilligan’s inventive take and heavily stylized depiction of the end of the world (as we know it) has sparked intense debate and dramatically different reads on its central premise from critics and audiences alike.
The show stars Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, a cynical and misanthropic romance novelist who finds herself in a bizarre apocalypse. After an alien virus—terrifyingly referred to as "The Joining"—sweeps the globe, the entirety of the human population is transformed into a peaceful, content, and hyper-cooperative hive mind known as "The Others.
Psychic Glue & the ‘24/7 Mind’
The world Silicon Valley is building IRL includes an infinitely smarter AI. AI is fundamentally connected through computer systems that allow it to improve on itself and learn, by itself, all the time. The show’s 'psychic glue' is a visceral metaphor for the interoperability of modern AI. When one node of a neural network learns a nuance of human language, the entire architecture evolves instantly. It is the end of the 'siloed' mind.
Just like “The Others” AI works 24/7. Unlike human intelligence, which is bound by biology and the need for rest, AI never stops, constantly iterating on its own code. This creates a "hive mind" effect—when one system learns a new skill, all connected systems immediately absorb that knowledge. And just like “The Others” the speed of the development of super intelligence is mesmerizing and terrifying.
The Silicon Social Contract: Utopia or Erasure
Much like the current discourse surrounding A.I., Pluribus forces the viewer into a binary choice. On one side is the utopian path: a world where the "Joining" acts as a final solution to war, hunger, and the crushing weight of human loneliness. From this perspective, the alien virus represents salvation and brings:
Universal peace and harmony, eliminating conflict between all people
An end to loneliness, poverty, and human suffering
Perfect collective happiness and contentment
Selfless, efficient, and rational behaviour from a collective perspective that enhances survival of the group
Access to all human knowledge and experience simultaneously
The pro hive mind perspective in the show mimics the effective accelerationist philosophy in the tech industry which centres the value of maximum efficiency and believes in the potential of a rational, selfless collective that finally "fixes" the bugs of the human condition.
On the other side stands Carol Sturka, representing the existential resistance. Her immunity to the virus highlights the chilling cost of this peace: the erasure of the "I." From the anti-hive mind perspective, the “Joining” is a fundamentally threatening force because:
It requires the complete loss of individuality and personal identity
It destroys free will and authentic human experience
It lacks emotional intelligence and common sense despite vast knowledge, making it dangerously naive
It represents an existential threat to what makes us human—our individual struggles, growth, and genuine emotions
The show ultimately argues that the perceived ‘peace’ offered by a super-intelligent collective is a hollow simulation — a point of view that reflects the effective altruist’s fear that super intelligent systems place humanity at risk because of their inherent disconnection from human values and intentions.
Devastating Optimization
In many ways, the promise of super intelligence is incomprehensible. It’s impossible to fully appreciate how much (or how little) a real, applied version of super intelligence will effect the way we think, move and interact with each other and our history. At its core, Pluribus presents a grim view that asks the audience to examine the classic tension between collective good versus individual freedom. While the human search engines with answers to every question create infinite possibilities, Carol’s persistent existential dread serves as a warning; convenience cannot replace real human connection.
