There are a few signs of the apocalypse that we believe may be coming eventually - pestilence, famine, flesh-eating crickets. But I didn't realize until today that one of other indicators of impending doom is a four-episode limited TV series about the Biblical character Ruth.
Pray.com, which describes itself as "the world’s leading app for daily prayer and faith-based content," has just launched the first-ever fully-AI-generated biblical mini-series, a 4-episode saga based on the epic love story from the book of Ruth.
Here is the official logline for Heroes In The Bible: Ruth, which is the first in what Pray.com threatens will be a series of AI-generated "shows" about strong women in The Bible:
Heroes in the Bible: Ruth is a tale of courage, devotion, and unexpected love set against the backdrop of ancient traditions and unimaginable tragedy. With powerful themes of sacrifice, redemption, and hope, this dramatic retelling breathes life into a story where hearts are tested, faith is rewarded, and love triumphs in the face of adversity.
I would imagine that Pray.com doesn't have the budget to produce even the low-cost Biblical tales that are typically produced for this audience. But using soulless artificial intelligence to tell a story that at its heart is about human emotion just feels wrong. As the clip above shows, the production process has stripped out all of the humanity from the story of Ruth, making her feel two-dimensional and cheap.
And to top off the series of creative missteps that led to the production of this, producers decided to select ex-reality TV star Savannah Chrisley to host each episode and provide "thoughtful commentary."
Based on the trailer, Guthrie's commentary and comments are delivered with all of the nuance and natural charm that you'd see from someone being held hostage. Although to be fair, her delivery does match the overall awkward horror of the TV series.
Heroes In The Bible: Ruth is now available for streaming for Pray.com paid subscribers.