SNL Has Its Black Mirror Moment
Last night’s episode of *Saturday Night Live* tackled the growing frustration surrounding artificial intelligence, a technology that has infiltrated nearly every aspect of American life, even down to household appliances like dishwashers. The episode opened with a sketch featuring Ashley Padilla as an elderly woman in a retirement center, who is surprised by her grandson, Marcello Hernández. He introduces her to an AI program designed to animate old photographs, a concept that has gained traction in pop culture, even being a plot point in an episode of *Black Mirror*. Initially, Padilla is delighted to see her father, played by host Glen Powell, animated and youthful. However, the joy quickly turns to chaos as the AI’s mishaps begin to unfold, showing her mother smoking a hot dog and Powell attempting to roast the family dog, Sadie, who is humorously depicted without a head. The sketch escalates as the grandmother, horrified by the bizarre animations, is coerced into watching more, ultimately leading to a catastrophic and absurd scene where her baby photo is distorted beyond recognition.
This sketch cleverly encapsulates the cultural resentment towards AI, highlighting how a typical family’s innocent attempt to engage with technology can spiral into confusion and chaos. The humor derives from the absurdity of the AI’s failures rather than a direct critique of Silicon Valley or the broader implications of technology on society. The sketch avoids heavy-handedness, allowing the audience to reflect on the limitations and unpredictability of AI on their own. This approach stands in stark contrast to the episode’s treatment of the Epstein files, where jokes about recent revelations and political maneuvering felt repetitive and overdone. The AI sketch demonstrates that sometimes, a more subtle approach can resonate more profoundly with viewers, as it effectively communicates the frustrations of modern technology without resorting to excessive commentary or mockery.
Overall, the episode highlighted the dichotomy between the promise of innovation and its often comical shortcomings. By focusing on a relatable family scenario, *SNL* not only entertained but also provoked thought about the role of AI in our lives. The juxtaposition of the AI sketch with the more overt political commentary throughout the night illustrates the show’s ability to address serious themes through humor, proving that sometimes less is indeed more when it comes to comedy and social critique.
Last night’s
Saturday Night Live
addressed the growing frustration with a technology that’s seemingly found its way into every American industry, even dishwashers. One of the first sketches of the night had Ashley Padilla as an elderly woman whose grandchildren went to visit her in a retirement center. As a surprise, her grandson (Marcello Hernández) had downloaded a program that used artificial intelligence to animate old photography, and had uploaded some of her treasured childhood photos. (This is a real service, and one that already served as the premise for an episode of
Black Mirror.
)
At first, Padilla was overjoyed to see her father (played by the night’s host, Glen Powell, who threw himself into every sketch) smiling and waving, looking young again. But it wasn’t long before things went wrong, as the next photo animation found Padilla’s mother (Veronika Slowikowska) smoking a hot-dog-like a cigarette while Powell tried to roast Sadie, the family dog (which, incidentally, didn’t have a head) on the grill.
When the grandmother expressed shock, her granddaughter (Sarah Sherman) explained: “There’s probably too much going on in the picture, and the AI got confused.” Things devolved from there, as the next motion photo showed Powell’s character’s best friend (Mikey Day) taking off his pants, revealing a smooth, Ken-doll crotch. The grandmother was so distraught that she didn’t want to see what would happen to the next photo, but her grandson insisted that he’d paid for the app and wanted to get his money’s worth. So she had no choice but to watch as the very first photograph of her as a baby was desecrated: Half of her mother’s body disappeared, her father stretched out her baby self like an accordion, the nude friend returned, and eventually, a nuclear bomb obliterated everything.
[
Read: Pay attention to the first 10 minutes of SNL
]
The sight gags were funny, and suitably weird. But without overdoing it, the sketch captured something fundamental about the mounting cultural resentment surrounding AI. A typical family tried to use AI as it was intended, only for havoc to ensue, upsetting Grandma in the process. The sketch didn’t crack five minutes, or directly attack any Silicon Valley executives, or even mention the technology’s
human
,
societal
, or
environmental
costs. (Sherman even tried to defend the app.) Instead, the sketch simply pointed out that this much-hyped technology doesn’t even work all that well, leaving the viewer to wonder on their own what all the fuss is about.
The subtle, let-the-facts-speak-for-themselves approach was a marked contrast with the episode’s treatment of the
Epstein files
. Jokes about new revelations, and the GOP’s desperate measures to downplay the issue or change the topic, were mentioned in the cold open, throughout “Weekend Update,” and even in three different sketches featuring the unexpected return of Will Forte’s character MacGruber. Some of the jokes landed, but by the end of the evening, the topic felt completely exhausted. While beating an easy joke to death is sometimes irresistible, the AI sketch demonstrated how less can be more.
