Werner Herzog's New Documentary Forecasts Your Future Online

The trailers for 'Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World' ask, "Do you love your robot?"

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Robot love, evolving A.I., and a dependence on fragile complex systems are the future, if Werner Herzog is right. And, knowing him, he probably is. . .

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World is the legendary filmmaker’s latest. In the film’s trailers, Herzog’s bemused, matter-of-fact German accent provides exactly the monologue you’d imagine of a documentary of fiction becoming science.

Some highlights of the next several years, apparently, will include:

Self-perpetuating computer intelligence

“I cannot only imagine artificial intelligence evolving spontaneously on the internet, but I can’t tell you that it hasn’t happened already. Because it wouldn’t necessarily reveal itself to us.”

Amorous kitchen appliances

“My dishwasher came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m falling in love with your refrigerator.’”

Lives devoid of human contact

“Will our children’s children’s children need the companionship of humans? Or will they have evolved in a world where that’s not important?”

Even less filtered tweets

“You could essentially, in the not-to-distant future, tweet thoughts.

A previous version of the trailer struck a lighter note. Well, no, not really. It explored the possible consequences if we manage to break the pipes that hold more and more of the world together.

Lovestruck kitchen gadgets look utopian by comparison.

“Lo and Behold” premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23.