By Leslie Felperin
Publication Date: 2026-06-01 12:00:00
DDirector Valerie Veatch made a name for herself with documentaries like Love Child (about an online gaming addicted couple whose child died of malnutrition) and Me at the Zoo (about American vlogger Cara Cunningham), films that explore the intersection between real-world subcultures and internet communities. Her latest book continues that trend, although its self-imposed aim is a little broader, more urgent, and more relevant to everyone: the pursuit of artificial intelligence, its dark history in eugenics, and its highly questionable usefulness today (despite the stock market bubble that is driving the value of half a dozen companies into the stratosphere).
The tenor of the film is largely polemical, leading the viewer to AI-skeptical conclusions with one compelling soundbite after another. Yet it also serves as a very useful, straightforward introduction to AI history, touching on a colorful array of colorful, often zany figures, including the Victorian British eugenicist Francis Galton, the founder of Silicon Valley…
