Revenge of the AI algorithm

Directors Saman Kesh and Justin Daashuur Hopkins teamed up during lockdown to create a provocative yet playful tale on cancel culture, where a human protagonist gets doxed by a savage chatbot. 

Set to the track Algorithm, by US electronic music producer Makeup and Vanity Set [MAVS], this initially benign narrative soon showcases the sinister side of the internet: AI’s influence, anonymous racists, misogynistic trolling and, most importantly, the world’s obsession with cancel culture. 

Kesh, who is repped by Golden in the US, and Hopkins, who call this type of filmmaking 'pokey provokey', said in a joint statement: “Suffering from quarantine fatigue and enraged at the state of the world, especially as PoC creatives, we wanted to vent, but in a way that felt productive, useful, entertaining. So we channeled our boredom and anger towards creating something provoking but hopefully enlightening.” 

“Saman and Justin made an unflinching, uncomfortable video that speaks to what so many people are feeling," said MAVS, who is known for his dark-synth albums featuring AI-generated vocals and video game soundtracks. "Are we good people or bad people? Who decides? What happened to empathy? These questions get asked in a blunt way, which at this point feels like the only way to ask them.”