Opinion: AI — judge, jury, and executioner

“We have met the enemy,

and he is us.”

— Comic strip character, Pogo

If you are planning to watch the 2026 movie, Mercy, don’t read this column. The movie is slightly futuristic, and it is a reminder that the future is now. It features two key starring roles: Chris Pratt who plays LAPD detective Chris Raven (the accused) and Rebecca Ferguson who plays AI Judge Maddox (who is also the Jury and Executioner). As the plot develops, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, and Kylie Rogers play important roles. Last week, the movie was shown on Comcast’s FXM and MGM+ channels. 

I will not tell you how the movie ends, but I’ll reveal enough to spoil the experience of watching the flick. However, I think that the message is important for all of us to understand. AI is far more powerful than anyone can fathom, and that includes the Big Brains who are designing greater independence into the machines. Over the years, I’ve read articles by and about the “Founders of AI” as well as the CEOs of corporations that are developing the machines. Without exception, at some point they all say something like, “We don’t really know what’s happening within the black box.” As the machines become more powerful, that statement becomes just so much more ominous.

The plot

It’s 2029 in Los Angeles. We’re not talking about the next century or even the next decade. As we watch the movie, we see people wearing the clothes that we’re wearing, driving the cars that we drive, living in the houses and apartments that we live in. They are we. Police do have a flying motorcycle, kind of like a hovercraft. But otherwise, everything in the film is familiar to all of us.