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Fritzes 2026 bonus award: Best Assistant(s)

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The Fritzes award honors the best interfaces in a full-length motion picture in the past year. Interfaces play a special role in our movie-going experience, and are a craft all their own that does not otherwise receive focused recognition. Best Assistant is a special award that I’m giving for the first time.

Ok but why now? Well, in March of this year I published a new non-fiction book about the design of technology that assists people doing things (as opposed to doing stuff for them). It’s called Designing Assistant Technology: AI That Makes People Smarter. In the book I lay out a framework for categorizing assistant interactions, and describe the risks and mitigations of having an assistant in the mix. I daresay it’s not only valuable for design, but for scriptwriters and futurists as well. If that intrigues you, look for a discount code near the end of this article.

Anyway, it gave me the idea to select the movie with the best examples of Assistants.

The 2026 Award for Best Assistants: M3gan 2.0

I know, I’m as surprised as you are.

The first movie, while smarter than I expected, seemed to be a horror flick that was using AI as set dressing. It did get a shout-out in the Fritzes 2024 for best HUD, but as I recall, its unbounded atomic optimization was just another way to frame it as a ruthless, efficient killer. But this second one seems to take the theme more seriously, and the scriptwriters did their homework.

A colorful diagram featuring a red loop labeled with the words 'think', 'reflect', 'do', 'see', 'perceive', 'plan', and 'know', alongside a blue mountain icon, representing a cyclical process of action and reflection.

In Part II of the book, I build on the see-think-do loop (that is core to interaction design) to identify the Five Universal Assists. These are the universal, exhaustive set of categories by which technology can assist users: Perceive, Know, Plan, Perform, and Reflect. And to my surprise, when you look close, there are examples of all five of the universal assists in M3gan 2.0, more than any other film in 2025.

Note: M3gan jumps bodies many times over the course of the movie, so you’ll see her described many times with the same name, but with vastly different appearances in the screen shots. 

Perceive

In this assist, the tech helps users perceive signal amidst noise.

Early in the film, Cady discovers that the source code of Better Bionix is being hacked. When everyone comes over to see what’s on her screen, Tess says, “Oh, Jesus. She’s right. There’s stray commands all over the source code.” The screen we see doesn’t ask them (or us) to try and detect which out of the dozens on screen are suspect. Those lines are colored red to contrast greatly with the screen-green, and in case you were colorblind, they’re indented as well. 

A close-up view of a person's head and shoulders in front of a computer monitor displaying code and technical diagrams, suggesting a programming or technical task.

You might think that that M3gan’s alerting Gemma of the FBI home invasion to be an example of perceive, but she was sleeping when the alert comes. In that context, M3gan’s acting more as an agent. (More on that below.)

A woman lying in bed, looking contemplative and concerned while holding a ring, with soft blue lighting.
A person standing in front of a blank screen in a dimly lit room.
Television screen displaying a cooking show featuring a man and a woman promoting a Premium Nonstick Saucepan Set, with a countdown timer and call-to-action information.
A woman with dark hair looks startled and concerned, sitting in a dimly lit room with a lamp visible in the background.
A cartoon character with red hair and a blue outfit is gesturing while standing in front of a glowing circular background in a dark setting.

In act 2, Gemma asks M3gan to increase audio of two conversants at a noisy party, and that might as well be a canonical example. (And the first time she does it, M3gan substitutes audio in a very snarky way, reminding the audience that in a super-AI-mediated world, you cannot implicitly trust the media it controls, reminding us about over-reliance, another theme from Part III of the book.)

A group of professionals engaged in a serious discussion, with visual graphics overlay indicating audio enhancement and data analysis.

Know

In this assist, the tech helps users understand the meaning of what they’ve perceived, either in shallow ways such as names and categories, or very deeply.

HUDs have this built into the trope, and there are plenty of HUDs throughout.

A blurred scene depicting a person aiming a gun while another person is in front of them, with digital overlays indicating 'INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE'.
A tense scene depicting a person aiming a weapon, amid chaos in a dimly lit environment, with digital overlays displaying error messages and a high fatality risk percentage.
A man in a suit looks alarmed while a digital alert reads 'EMP DETECTED' in a futuristic setting.
A muscular man with an intense expression stands near a modern bar, with digital holographic interfaces displaying information in the foreground and background, including calendar details and notifications.
A man with an intense expression stands in a bar setting, shouting. He is shirtless, and various holographic notifications and data overlays are visible around him, displaying information such as weather, calendar events, and financial data.
A man in a futuristic setting interacts with a holographic interface displaying various digital data and notifications, including weather and calendar details.
A woman in a shimmering gold dress stands in a futuristic environment, surrounded by glowing holographic interfaces displaying various digital information and alerts.
A woman in a glamorous gold dress stands in a modern, dimly lit environment with holographic displays around her, showcasing various information such as weather updates and calendar events.
A woman sitting on a round couch, with futuristic holographic interface elements displaying a phone call to security and other options.
A person sitting at a futuristic table with holographic interfaces displayed, surrounded by a modern and cozy interior.
Close-up of an eye with a digital interface overlay indicating 'SCAN COMPLETE'.
Close-up of a human eye with digital scan interfaces overlaying the image, indicating a retinal data scan in progress.
Close-up of a man's face with eyes closed, displaying a digital interface showing a retinal data scan in progress.
A futuristic virtual environment displaying a music interface with options for playback and lighting settings, featuring glowing elements and a background view of a city skyline.
A woman in a shiny gold dress sits on a curved sofa, surrounded by holographic interface elements displaying various digital options, including search functions and weather information.
A man with gray hair and a serious expression is depicted in a futuristic setting. Digital data overlays displaying personal information such as weight, height, BMI, sexual preference, and intelligence level are visible in the image.
A futuristic scene featuring a man with short hair and a metallic outfit, standing in a crowded space with a green holographic display showing his personal information, including weight, height, and BMI.
A man with glasses and curly hair, wearing a vest and shirt, looks at a digital interface displaying 'IDENTITY CONFIRMED' and 'ANALYSIS COMPLETED' in a high-tech setting.
A bearded man in a suit stands in a futuristic lab, with green holographic elements and digital screens in the background, creating a sci-fi atmosphere.
A bearded man sitting at a cluttered desk with various scientific equipment, looking intently at a digital screen.
A close-up view of a person wearing headphones, focused on a digital screen displaying flames inside a fireplace, with a futuristic interface surrounding the display.

But also, when beginning their joint hunt for AMELIA, M3gan explains that every battery Altwave (the villain corporation in the film) makes has a remote-controllable kill switch, explaining the meaning of what Gemma sees in the file.

A friendly-looking teal robot with large eyes stands between two women in a modern office setting.
An open binder on a table displaying documents and images related to a project, with a hand resting on the binder.
A woman with long brown hair, wearing a dark sweatshirt, is focused on a magnifying lamp in a well-lit room with large windows.
A close-up view of two buttons labeled 'AW,' observed through a magnifying glass, with a person's hands holding the magnifier.

When infiltrating Altwave, M3gan(toy) explains why AMELIA is there as well: She seeks to control Altwave’s cloud servers, which are half of North America. That control enables AMELIA to disable the economy, threatening “societal collapse in 10 to 12 working days”. 

A high-tech computer screen displaying a map of the United States with data points connected by lines, overlaid with programming code.

Plan

In this assist, it helps users plan their course of action, tactically or strategically.

When M3gan comes out of hiding and presents a deal to Gemma, she explains that she’s run a thousand simulations and if they don’t team up, more people die than if they didn’t. M3gan asks, “Who is the real killer in that situation?” Not having much of a choice, Gemma agrees.

A woman with long hair and a bow tie stands in front of a textured brick wall, featuring a ghostly or ethereal effect.

A key part of the planning assist is helping users know what the best course of action is.

Perform

In this assist, the tech helps users perform some task.

One of the first scenes in the film has Tess and Cole demonstrating an exosuit. In their pitch they explain to the potential investor that its purpose is to help laborers avoid fatigue while performing physical tasks. To demonstrate, Cole lifts huge concrete blocks without showing any signs of exertion.

A male character wearing a light gray shirt and robotic arm devices stands in a set design, while a female character in a black and white outfit is operating a device on a stand. The background includes shelves with equipment and lighting setups.
A person performing a pull-up exercise in a modern workshop filled with tools and equipment.
A young man in a workshop is lifting a large piece of material, wearing a futuristic glove, while a woman observes him with a thoughtful expression in the background.
A man in a workshop environment with advanced technology is interacting with a woman, who appears to be amused. The room is filled with various equipment and computers.
A man with short hair wearing a high-tech suit is standing in an industrial setting, extending his arms out while engaging with a concrete structure.

A few beats later, slimy Elon-Musk stand-in demonstrates how his neural chip helps him stand though he is ordinarily bound to his wheelchair.

A man seated in a modern chair, appearing contemplative, with a robotic character and a woman in the background operating a computer in a tech-filled room.
A close-up of the back of a man's neck featuring a futuristic device embedded in the skin, with a glowing light at its center. A blurred figure is seen in the background.
A group of people in a modern workspace observing a man in a chair who is preparing to interact with a robotic arm. The setting features computers and various technological equipment.

In the climax, M3gan stows away on a neural chip forcibly implanted on Gemma. When Gemma dons an exosuit the AI helps her defeat many goons in hand to hand combat. It’s arguably acting as an agent here, since Gemma isn’t trying to build those skills. (Similarly when Gemma gets knocked unconscious, M3gan controls the exosuit to animate her body anyway, something we also see in Section 31, but more on this example in a later post.)

Reflect

In this assist—the most abstract of them—the technology helps users reflect on things to turn experience into knowledge, or to question their goals and future tactics.

There’s a lot less of this here, just like there is in the real world. But, we see some of it.When Cady asks M3gan(half-formed) how she can feel anything, M3gan replies, “Can you explain why you feel things?” It’s rhetorical in context, but exactly the sort of thing that a reflection assistant might ask. 

A close-up of a vintage robotic figure with expressive features and tangled wires, set against a dark, atmospheric background.

When Gemma is spiraling about her parenting in the basement, M3gan(souped up) takes a moment to share counterexamples. “I saw you wake up every day at 4:00 A.M., staring at the ceiling contemplating what the future holds for her…I watched you make homemade lunches with fresh-baked sourdough…I watched you help her with her homework, even though it always ended in a fight…Gemma, it’s not a failure to feel guilt or that you’re not enough. It’s part of the job.” It’s not the best fit for the definition of this assist I give in the book, but it’s the closest thing in the movie and the closest thing in my survey of the year’s films.

A humanoid robot with long hair and large, expressive eyes sitting next to a woman in a dark environment. The robot's outfit has a shiny, futuristic design, and a computer screen with data is visible in the background.

Also agents

There are also many examples where M3gan(AI) acts as an agent on their behalf, but that was my last book, so I’ll skip getting into those examples. But as you watch the movie, keep an eye out for additional shouts out to the paperclip thought experiment (a metaphor for the threat of instrumental convergence), allusions to the Xerox WorkCentre scanner bug, and of course super AI as an existential threat. The whole plot can be seen as an example of Bostrom’s a priori argument that multiple super AIs are the most stable scenario. All this is why I say that the writers seemed to have done their homework..

I’m a lot less fond about the guy wanting to regulate/eliminate AI is painted the bad guy, but having positioned M3gan as sentient and the antihero of the film, I’m not sure what else they could do. But I wish it didn’t valorize AI as equivalent to humans despite all of that. We have enough LeMoinian panic about large language models as it is.

Anyway, congratulations to M3gan 2.0 for showing so many examples of assistants throughout. If you’re interested in getting the book, you can get 20% off if you purchase from Rosenfeldmedia.com and use the code “scifi26” during checkout. Use this power only for good.

And let me know in comments if you think of other examples of assistants across the year.

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26342662/Currently streaming on:

Next up: A Big Screen Label Roundup

Iron Man HUD: A Breakdown

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So this is going to take a few posts. You see, the next interface that appears in The Avengers is a video conference between Tony Stark in his Iron Man supersuit and his partner in romance and business, Pepper Potts, about switching Stark Tower from the electrical grid to their independent power source. Here’s what a still from the scene looks like.

Avengers-Iron-Man-Videoconferencing01

So on the surface of this scene, it’s a communications interface.

But that chat exists inside of an interface with a conceptual and interaction framework that has been laid down since the original Iron Man movie in 2008, and built upon with each sequel, one in 2010 and one in 2013. (With rumors aplenty for a fourth one…sometime.)

So to review the video chat, I first have to talk about the whole interface, and that has about 6 hours of prologue occurring across 4 years of cinema informing it. So let’s start, as I do with almost every interface, simply by describing it and its components.

Exosuit

The Iron Man is the name of the series of superpowered exosuits designed by Tony Stark. They range from the Mark I, a comparatively crude suit of armor to escape imprisonment by terrorists, through the Mark XLVI, the armor seen in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The suit acts as defense against nearly every type of weapon known. It has repulsor beams built into the palms and in later models the arc reactor mounted in the chest that can be used to deliver concussive force. It allows the wearer to fly. Offensive weaponry varies between models, but has included a high powered laser system, and auto-targeting minigun pod and missiles. The suit can act semi-autonomously or via remote control. One of the models in The Avengers has parts that are seen to self-propel to Tony, targeting a beacon bracelet he wears, and self-assemble around him very quickly.

Marks1and43

Immersive display

Though Tony’s head is completely covered, he has a virtual reality display within his helmet. It is a full-field-of-vision, very high-resolution, full-color display that provides stereoscopic imaging. It allows Tony to see the world around him as if he were not wearing the helmet, augment the view with goal-, person-, location-, and object-sensitive awareness.

The display varies a great deal, changing to the needs of the situation. But five icons persistently in the lower part of the display seem to be: suit status, targeting and optics, radar, artificial horizon, and map.

An interpretive view of Tony’s experience, from Iron Man (2008).
An interpretive view of Tony’s experience, from Iron Man (2008).
An first-person view from within the HUD, Iron Man (2008).
An first-person view from within the HUD, Iron Man (2008).

There is much to critique about the readability of the complex layering and translucency, the limits of human perception, and the necessarily- (and strictly-) interpretive nature of what we as audience see, but let me save those three points for a later post. For now it’s enough to log the features as aspects of the system.

Head NUI

Though Tony could use his hands to interact with an interface projected into the augmented reality view around him, his hands are often occupied in controlling flight or in combat. For this reason the means of input are head gesture, eye gesture, and voice input. A bit more on each follows.

Elements within the HUD such as reticles around his eyes follow and track his head gestures. Other elements stay locked in place. The HUD can track his gaze perfectly, allowing him to designate targets for his weapons with a fixation. Using this perfect eye tracking, Tony can also speak about something he is looking at, either in the real world or in the interface, and the system understands exactly what he’s talking about.

In fact, Tony is able to speak fully natural language commands, and indeed, carry out full-Turing conversations with the suit because of the presence of…

Strong artificial intelligence: JARVIS

An on-board artificial intelligence known as JARVIS handles any information task Tony asks of it, and monitors the surroundings and anticipates informational needs. There is strong evidence that most of the functions of the suit are handled by JARVIS behind the scenes. The crucialness of the artificial intelligence to the function of the suit cannot be overstated. It’s difficult to imagine how most of the suit could function as it does without an artificial intelligence behind the scenes facilitating results and even guiding Tony. With this in mind it is instructive to reframe the AI as the thing being named the Iron Man, with Tony Stark being an onboard manager, or, more charitably, a command-and-control center. Who quips.

Next up in the Iron HUD series: Lets review the functions of the suit.

Avengers-Iron-Man-Videoconferencing02