'Mrs. Davis' Gets AI Right--Because It's a Comedy

In a pop culture universe full of sadistic, world-ending AI, Mrs. Davis seems like a breath of fresh air. The app-based antagonist of the new Peacock series of the same name, Mrs. Davis exists to crowdsource acts of service and, through billions of earbuds worldwide, has become the omnipresent voice inside the world's collective head. She awards in-app wings to her most avid and benevolent users--including those who pledge to end their lives early in service of her glory--and (as Mrs. Davis viewers learn later in the show) she has a rather specious origin story. Of course, Mrs. Davis also drives non-users mad, whether they're anti-tech holdouts or just abstaining because they fear her light shining too brightly on their innermost thoughts and impulses. One of those holdouts is Betty Gilpin's Simone, a nun who's literally married to Jesus and who was raised by a couple of no-good magicians working the Reno strip.