Black Mirror’s Most Unsettling AI Episode Is Becoming Eerily Real

As a huge fan of Black Mirror, I’ve always been amazed by how often the show seems to predict things that actually happen. But one episode, dealing with artificial intelligence, really hit close to home – it captured something genuinely unsettling about the world we live in today.

Certain episodes of Black Mirror, such as “Shut Up and Dance,” “The Waldo Moment,” and “Loch Henry,” become even more impactful with each rewatch. Over time, their critiques of technology and the increasing prevalence of crime and unethical behavior feel less like fiction and more like reflections of reality. Because of this, it’s difficult to single out just one episode as being particularly relevant to the current moment.

An episode of Black Mirror about artificial intelligence offers a chilling glimpse of how technology is increasingly mirroring what was once science fiction.

We’re Already Living In A World Where Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back” Episode Is A Reality

The first episode of Black Mirror‘s second season, “Be Right Back,” features Hayley Atwell as a woman who loses her husband in a car accident. Overcome with grief, she begins using an AI chatbot that’s designed to mimic him, drawing on his online activity. The idea of creating AI replicas of deceased loved ones once felt like pure science fiction.

However, it has now become an unsettling reality where several similar tools exist.

Software programs like You, Only Virtual and HereAfter AI now let people build digital versions of loved ones who have passed away. Companies such as 2wai go even further, creating complete digital avatars of individuals that can interact with future family members. This development brings up important ethical and moral concerns, similar to those explored in the Black Mirror episode about digital afterlife.

While it’s perhaps early to dismiss these technologies, the Black Mirror episode “Be Right Back” offers a relevant reminder of the difficult emotions involved when we rely on AI to preserve memories, pursue eternal life, or cope with grief.

Luckily, the highly realistic, human-like androids seen in the Black Mirror episode remain firmly in the realm of science fiction for now. However, with the rapid progress in artificial intelligence and robotics, it’s worth considering if such technology could become a reality someday.

Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back” Now Deserves A Sequel More Than Ever

With its increasingly relevant story, “Be Right Back” would be a great fit for a sequel in Black Mirror season 8. The series has already successfully revisited episodes like USS Callister with follow-ups. Originally, “Be Right Back” from season 2 aimed to tell a deeply human story about using artificial intelligence to cope with loss and grief.

The work generally avoids criticizing AI, taking a more balanced approach. However, a follow-up could explore the potential societal harms of widely replicating humans through artificial intelligence, broadening its scope considerably.

A future episode of Black Mirror might explore a world where AI androids are used as cheap labor by corporations – a concept similar to the show Severance. Alternatively, the story could depict a society where interactions with these AI are commonplace, leading to the devaluation of human connection and widespread emotional numbness.

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2025-12-13 07:28