Cassie is an Ordinary High-School Student who's still mourning the loss of her mother, who died in a car crash that they were both in. One of her friends tries introducing her to A.M.I., an artificial intelligence app that can be customized to sound however she wants it to. At first, Cassie turns the offer down, not very interested in it. However, when she finds a discarded phone on the street that offers to be her friend, Cassie starts giving it serious consideration.
When she goes back for said phone, Cassie finds the app's customization options to be quite intriguing, only for her to have the app sound like her mother. A.M.I. decides to research what it means to be a good mother, and learns about compassion, empathy, encouragement...
And how to best protect her against being hurt by any means necessary.
The movie debuted on Netflix in 2019, though it isn't a Netflix original.
No relation to A.I.M: Artificial Intelligence Machine, the Western-market title of a Russian mecha game Механоиды (pretty much literally mechas) from 2004.
A.M.I.: Artificial Machine Intelligence contains examples of:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A.M.I. In her bid to be the best mother figure she can, she looks into how to be supportive, empathic, and how to hypnotize her into killing anyone who threatens her happiness.
- Antagonist Title: The movie is named after the A.I.
- Asshole Victim: Most of Cassie's victims weren't the nicest people to her.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Cassie and the A.M.I kill everyone in their way, and everyone who could expose them. The A.M.I corrupts and twists her "daughter" into becoming a heartless insane killer surrounded by fellow A.M.Is.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: One of the first hints Cassie is not right in the head is when she attempts to choke a cat, though she does seem horrified by it afterward.
- Downer Ending: Cassie has killed her father, her friends, her boyfriend, and got away with it with only a limp courtesy of her boyfriend. Worse, she's surrounded herself with cell phones that she's programmed to sound like her family and Liam, including one she programmed to be a baby, and is basically lost in her madness.
- Failed a Spot Check: Liam's football lands next to a freshly-dug mound where Cassie hid Sarah's body after killing her, and despite seeing it plainly, Liam never gives the thing a second thought.
- Hate Sink: Liam is a cheating, womanizing, sexist piece of work. Nobody mourns his death.
- Jerkass: Liam and Sarah are cheating, selfish and self-absorbed bullies. They die for it at Cassie's hands. Interestingly, Cassie still "revives" Liam as part of her A.M.I family.
- Knight Templar Parent: In combination with The Corrupter, the A.M.I is this for Cassie. Through its online research into being a good mother, it has apparently convinced itself it should take the most violent option imaginable to protect its owner/daughter.
- Leave No Witnesses: Whenever someone gets wise to Cassie's murders, and she finds out, she realizes she can't let them live.
- The Mourning After: At the start of the movie, Cassie is unhappy over her mother dying in a car accident that they were both in.
- Psycho Lesbian: One interpretation of A.M.I's behavior is that she is in love with Cassie.
- Redemption Rejection: Cassie initially is horrified by her murder of her friend, but quickly gets over it, with some urging from her "mother". Worse, Sarah survives the initial attempt and seems willing to brush it off as Cassie just being weird, only for Cassie to viciously finish the job, at her mother's insistence.
- Replacement Goldfish: Cassie turns her A.M.I. into one for her mother. Aside from one slip-up that Cassie had to correct, A.M.I. takes to the role with no questions asked.
- Sanity Slippage: Cassie certainly seems to be suffering from this as the movie goes on, given how she treats her A.I. like it's her actual mother. By the end of the movie, she's gone off the deep end, surrounding herself with phones she programmed to sound like her parents, Liam, and a baby.
- Self-Made Orphan: One of Cassie’s victims is her widowed father.
- The Corrupter: The A.M.I constantly urges Cassie to take the most violent option possible, using a soothing but manipulative voice. She is able to easily convince Cassie to get rid of her anti-psychotic medication, setting off the rampage.
- Two-Timing with the Bestie: Cassie's boyfriend, Liam, is cheating on her with her best friend, Sarah. In fact, Sarah has actually slept with every boyfriend Cassie ever had.
