Mediaweek

How a Creepy Alexa Moment Prompted Fox’s New Series About AI Run Amok

‘This thing can actually start talking to my children on its own. What else could it be saying?’

Still from Next — Manny Coto says his son's unnerving encounter with an Alexa device inspired a similar moment in the premiere episode of his new show, Next.Fox

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Many people have stories to tell about their virtual assistant devices acting strangely, but Manny Coto turned his family’s creepy Alexa moment into a new series about an evil artificial intelligence creation that is threatening society.

That thriller, Next, debuts tonight on Fox. (As part of Fox’s paranoia-themed marketing campaign for the series, the network commissioned an unsettling trailer created by an actual AI.)

One key moment in the first episode occurs when the virtual assistant—Iliza—suddenly begins talking to a boy and asking him personal questions.