To the best of my knowledge, the new biopic of Michael Jackson does not rely on assistance from AI, but the experience of watching it is still akin to being subjected to over two hours of AI slop.

Just as we know that many AI images are unreal but remain incapable of turning away from them, moviegoers who buy tickets to see Antoine Fuqua’s Michael are aware that its star, Jaafar Jackson, is not Michael Jackson. And yet, while watching the movie, we enter a trance not unlike scrolling through the AI content that is overtaking the internet: We are held spellbound by the degree to which Jaafar is almost exactly like Michael: the look, the voice, the countenance. Something is slightly off that corrupts the perfection of the imitation, but then, isn’t that true of actual AI, too?