In the world of Pluribus, the hive mind is doing everything it can to make life the best it can be for the 12 survivors. They fly on Air Force One, make quasi-harems in Las Vegas, and even help Carol Sturka with her plan to overthrow them. But they also try to communicate using the best people possible. For Carol, that’s Zosia, the spitting image of the original, female love interest character in her Wycaro book.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Pluribus Episode 8, “Charm Offensive.”
In Episode 8, “Charm Offensive,” we see how this subtle people-pleasing is actually affecting Carol and — much to many fans’ delight — shows her actually falling for Zosia. But even if it looks swoonworthy from the surface, this episode highlights how a friendly demeanor can delude someone into projecting individuality onto what’s essentially just an avatar.
Carol and her hive mind “chaperone” Zosia have always had an intriguing dynamic.
When Zosia takes Carol to a reconstruction of the diner where she first started writing her Wycaro books, Carol has a sudden realization: the hive mind is doing everything it can to distract her so that she abandons her plan — even bringing back her favorite waitress from all those years ago. When Zosia asks what’s wrong, Carol insists she use the pronoun “I” instead of “we,” even though Zosia as an individual doesn’t really exist anymore. “I like you, you people, you you, whatever. There are a lot of things that I like about you. But this is a trainwreck. This is unsustainable. It’s mental illness, it’s psychosis. Someone has to put the world right, even if it means you all leave me again.” As she says this, she gets emotional, and they kiss.
Clearly, this is an act of Carol’s loneliness, but it doesn’t change the fact that she has started to have feelings for Zosia. But who is Zosia outside an amalgamation of all of human knowledge in an attractive package?
Apps like Replika rely on users projecting actual human traits onto A.I. chatbots.
You could claim that nobody would ever fall for that, but there are people right now who do — since the rise of A.I., a whole community of people has arisen who have customized chatbots like ChatGPT or Grok to have the personality of a partner. Rationally, they know they are speaking to a collection of code, but that doesn’t stop a parasocial bond from forming, and sometimes that rational thought can slip away.
This is evident in Carol as well, as she makes breakfast for Zosia. She asks what her favorite food is, and Zosia responds, “mango ice cream,” and begins describing a scene from her pre-Joining life. But this isn’t her reminiscing, it’s the hive mind sourcing a memory just like it can pull facts about everyone else on Earth.
So was this scene written with A.I. in mind? Not really. Vince Gilligan developed the idea for Pluribus before A.I. became commonplace. However, he sees how the theory makes sense. “A lot of people are making that connection,” he told Polygon. “I don't want to tell people what this show is about. If it's about AI for a particular viewer... more power to anyone who sees some ripped-from-the-headlines type thing.”
Intentional or not, it’s hard not to see a parallel when, in mid-memory, Zosia is interrupted by the knowledge that Manousos is on his way. It’s a rude awakening that, even in her most human moments, Zosia is just a mouthpiece for something much larger and unfeeling, just as how “A.I. boyfriends” are simply generators for validating speech. Much like the hive mind, those avatars aim to make you happy, even if it means you start to believe they are real people.
