Did HBO force Silicon Valley to tackle artificial intelligence on Westworld premiere night?

The A.V. Club

"If it’s not an intentional plan on the part of the network suits, it’s one hell of a coincidence," says Les Chappell of Silicon Valley's episode Sunday featuring an AI robot. In reviewing last night's episode, he adds that "the network forcing this choice on Silicon Valley’s creative team would explain why the plot doesn’t land with any of the efficiency that we’ve come to expect. Artificial intelligence is absolutely a real thing in the Valley, so it’s not too much of a stretch for the show to address it in some way. But while it tiptoes towards exploring ideas of nascent consciousness shaped by the pettiness and short tempers that have come to define the show, it backs away and turns that into just another near-disaster for the team to work around."