Artificial intelligence will kill us all. This has already been proven thanks to the artificial neural network-based conscious group mind and artificial general superintelligence system known as Skynet. Not to mention the scientific (and cinematic) evidence that we are all actually batteries being harvested in a make-believe simulation known as The Matrix.
But as we all blissfully march to our impending self-inflicted doom, at least in the meantime we can enjoy the quirkier aspects of AI being deployed on our favorite ludicrous reality competition program. Which brings us to Big Brother. If you thought the CBS summer staple could not get any more deliciously ridiculous after setting off a “Time Laser” last season, then you have not been watching this show long enough.
So what is in store for the cast of Big Brother season 26, which premieres July 17? We went to host Julie Chen Moonves for answers, and she did not disappoint in cueing up the big theme for the latest installment. “This season of Big Brother, it’s all about what everyone is talking about, artificial intelligence,” Chen Moonves tells Entertainment Weekly. “And we’re going to show you it’s more artificial than intelligent. We’re calling it BB AI.”
Seeing as how the Time Laser “malfunctioned” last season, messing with both the house itself while also inadvertently launching an entire new absurdity called Big Brother Reindeer Games, it is not necessarily a surprise to hear that Big Brother’s artificial intelligence may be… less than intelligent. After all, this is a show that last season featured a competition in which producers superimposed fluorescent fart gas coming out of contestants’ butts every time they leaned over. Soooooo, it’s not exactly a Mensa convention, is what we’re getting at.
But the Big Brother host also let a little something slip in terms of how the BB AI could change her role coming up. When asked to make a bold prediction for something that will go down during the upcoming season, Chen Moonves referenced her famous robotic alter-ego: “My bold prediction of something that’s going to happen on Big Brother this summer is I get involved in the game like never before. You’re going to see a whole new side to the Chenbot.”
What form will this increased host involvement take? Are we going to see the Chenbot malfunction on live television? And should we also be worried as to what the artificial intelligence theme means when it comes to the annual visit from the sassy, wisecracking robot known as the Zingbot? ARE OUR PRECIOUS ZINGS IN DANGER?!?
While it sounds like the Chenbot will be unleashed in some form at some point, don’t expect to see Chen Moonves ever enter the house as an actual player. “I would do horribly in this game because I’m a journalist and I don’t lie,” says the host before carefully reconsidering. “Would that work for me? Maybe. Maybe I’d go far. But I’m not great at challenges, because I think in a very linear fashion, so I would want to do it the right way — like putting together a model car — instead of the fastest way. So I probably wouldn’t do well at all.”
Hey, as long as Chen Moonves is still around for another 24 years so contestants can tell her how beautiful she looks as they cast their votes, that’s good enough for us.