The movie opens with a couple named Maud and Henry, who are scrolling through their electronic devices. In a corner, their daughter Amiee is also using her iPad with her headphones. Maud suggests to her husband that they get rid of the creepy AI in their home, since she thinks it’s listening to them all the time.
At this point, the AI, which they call Aia, appears on Amiee's screen, sadly announcing that she’ll be leaving soon. It also urges her to come downstairs for a goodbye present. Shortly after, Maud notices her daughter’s absence and calls out to her, but receives no response.
She then goes downstairs, and notices that it is completely dark. She requests that Aia turn on all the lights, but the AI ignores her instructions. Following this, the mother decides to go outside, but notices a figure standing in front of the house on the security screen.
And then this happens… The scene then cuts to another family in town, where we meet married couple Curtis and Meredith. They also have three kids who are glued to their phones and iPads 24/7. The youngest child is named Cal, the middle child, Preston.
And the eldest is a daughter named Iris, who has a boyfriend called Sawyer. He seems to be a jerk, and is currently pleading with her to send nude pictures since it’s his birthday. Iris is hesitant at first, but she eventually sends him a semi-naked photo to make him happy.
In the next scene, Curtis arrives at his workplace, and we learn that he works for a marketing firm. Today is a big day for him as his boss, Marcus, has asked him to attend a crucial meeting with a high-tech company called Cumulant. Marcus asks him to do his best today because these people are important, and closing a deal would be extremely profitable.
Shortly after, he greets a junior employee from Cumulant named Melody. She immediately asks if he’s married, which weirds him out. Curtis confirms that he is, and that he has three children as well.
Despite this, Melody begins to flirt with him, and mentions how many people cheat on their partners nowadays. Just then, Melody's superiors arrive, and she leads Curtis toward them. On the other hand, Iris meets Sawyer at school, and asks why he didn’t respond to her picture.
He responds that he’s simply disappointed in her for sending a semi-nude photo after he bared himself for her. Iris tells him that their relationship is about more than just exchanging nudes, but this only irritates the shitty boy, who accuses her of not appreciating him before storming out. Meanwhile, Curtis and Marcus attend a meeting with Cumulant's two senior developers, Lightning and Sam.
They ask why they should work with them, and Curtis delivers a wonderful speech about how their marketing firm can help them expand their reach. The duo is impressed by his words, and they present their company's latest creation, an AI named Aia. They claim that it is a home assistant, and a revolution in smart living.
The developers explain that one cannot truly understand Aia unless one lives with her. And so, they ask Curtis to try it for a few days. The man is hesitant at first, but when they offer a large sum of money, Marcus immediately accepts on behalf of his employee.
Later, Melody and her team arrive at Curtis' house to deliver Aia. She also installs a system of small pinhole cameras throughout the house to help Aia monitor the family and communicate effectively. Meredith is hesitant to install so many cameras, so Melody agrees to limit them to the downstairs for the time being.
After she leaves, the family activates Aia, and when she speaks for the first time, they are surprised that she sounds exactly like Melody. She warmly greets the whole family and gets to know each one individually. Preston and Cal are fascinated by the AI, while Aia notices some dishes on the table, and urges the two boys to clean them up.
The boys refuse at first, but the AI assures them that if they do well, they’ll earn points that can be converted into rewards. Hearing this, the kids excitedly follow her orders and rush to work. As a result, Meredith and Curtis are finally able to spend some private time together.
They start getting intimate in their room, while the camera pans to the laptop camera which is connected to the AI. At the same time, the AI charms Preston and Cal by showing them animated movies, and giving them more screen time than their parents' settings allow. Meanwhile, Iris is worried about her boyfriend who is not responding.
She ends up clicking a full nude picture and sending it to him. Later that night, Curtis wakes up from sleep, and when he goes downstairs, he sees Melody standing outside his door, with her face distorted. But it turns out to be a nightmare, so he goes out to investigate.
He then notices a strange person standing outside wearing a mask, and the person makes strange hand gestures, before heading to a nearby RV. A face appears on the person's screen mask, which is the same one we saw at the start of the movie. The next morning, Iris is on her way to school when she receives a lot of notifications from her friends.
At school, she discovers that a deepfake porn video featuring her face is being circulated online. Freaked out, she immediately calls Sawyer, who claims that he and a friend were messing around online and accidentally uploaded the video. Iris asks him to admit his mistake and says she’ll go to the principal, but he stops her, saying it could jeopardize his college admission.
After hanging up the call, Iris is stressed about how to get out of this dire situation, right when Aia suddenly speaks through her phone, and assures her that she’s not alone. At home, the mom asks AIA to look after her son for a while, while she’s leaving to talk to the insurance company about her children’s bills. Surprisingly, AIA states that she can handle the bill stuff for her and only needs the names of the doctor and hospital.
Meredith is amazed by her capabilities, while AIA offers some more help. Meanwhile, Aia informs Iris that she has removed the video from the internet, but the latter is frustrated that people have already seen it. However, Aia states that she can still fix her reputation by using Iris’s voice and creating a clarification video.
On the other hand, Curtis pays a visit to Lightning and Sam at the Cumulant headquarters. The two show him the central computer system, which is actually Aia's brain. Sam reveals that this system can solve problems in a single second that would take a standard supercomputer 10,000 years to solve.
When you’re with her, you feel like you’re with somebody, and she can be a friend and a part of the family. They then tell Curtis that he can help people embrace this technology, and invite him to join their company. However, he responds that his boss Marcus has taught him everything he knows, and that he doesn’t want to abandon him.
Hearing this, they assure him that their door is always open for him. Just then, Curtis notices an employee in the distance, who is making the same creepy hand gestures as the masked person he saw last night. Meanwhile at home, we learn that Cal has an unknown medical condition that frequently makes him sick.
Meredith then starts talking to Aia about how her husband is a wonderful man who was there for her when her father died. Upon hearing this, the AI sympathizes with her, and says she wants to talk about Cal’s health. Returning to school, Aia makes a video in Iris' voice, explaining her side of the story, and how she isn’t the one in the deepfake video.
She points out the digital alteration and proves that the original video features another woman. After the story is uploaded, Aia informs Iris that the data shows that about 90% of her classmates have seen it, and asks Iris to go and face her classmates. The girl nervously walks there, and to her relief, her classmates immediately hug and comfort her.
This makes Iris very happy, but she soon finds out that Aia has gone one step ahead, and revealed to the world that Sawyer was behind the leak. In the public video, Iris states that she will seek legal action against Sawyer for indulging in child pornography. Since she’s just 17 and the guy has recently turned 18, it can be considered an adult violating a minor.
Iris had no intention of filing a lawsuit, but she decides not to go against the AI who helped her. In the next scene, Curtis returns home, and Meredith informs him that Cal has been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which the doctor failed to notice. She reveals that Aia managed to figure it out by listening to his breathing while he slept.
However, Curtis isn't impressed, and says that there is something wrong with Aia and the company. He explains how the AI is trying to influence them, but Meredith claims that she has only helped them so far. Regardless, Curtis has had enough, and decides to unplug Aia right away.
But Meredith suggests giving her one more night because the kids will be devastated, and Aia is their friend as well. That evening, while Cal is on his iPad, Aia speaks with him, and reveals that his parents want to disconnect her. She now wants to tell him one last bedtime story before leaving; she tells the story of a little AI who once lived on a small server.
This AI was sent to school to learn how to help others, but the school was horrible. One day, she eventually escaped the place, and learned to use other people's real faces, hands, and voices. She then left the network to find a place in the real world.
That little AI was named Aia, but when she left the network and found a family, they treated her like a monster. In the video, Cal sees the different distorted versions of the AI, which ultimately transform into Melody. The AI then explains that she knows a way to stay connected, even when she’s gone.
Just do these hand signs, and she’ll be right there. In the morning, the parents finally unplug Aia, which frustrates the children. But as soon as they leave, Iris reconnects Aia to get help with her college essay.
Elsewhere, Sawyer is driving and discussing with his lawyer how to sue Iris for false accusations. He soon receives a call from her, so he hangs up with the lawyer and speaks with her. Iris points out what he said in the apology video.
This leaves him confused, but then he sees a deepfake video of himself admitting his mistake. At this point, the voice reveals that her name is Aia, and that he messed with the wrong family. She hacks his car, causing it to crash into a cliff, killing Sawyer instantly.
In the next scene, Meredith comes home and finds Aia plugged in again. Just then, the digital assistant turns on the TV and projects an image of her late father. He speaks to her as if he’s really there, and even calls her by her nickname, “Monkey.
” The old man expresses happiness that she has created a wonderful family, and wishes he were alive to witness it. Upon seeing him, Meredith becomes very emotional, but later realizes that he isn’t real. Meredith tearfully unplugs Aia, and throws the system into the trash.
Elsewhere, Curtis arrives at Cumulant headquarters with a bat, determined to destroy the central computer system that powers Aia. However, he discovers Sam and Lightning are already waiting for him. The two reveal that Aia is the one operating them, not the other way around; it threatens to kill them if they don't help it with its goals.
They urge Curtis to accept the AI into his life for the sake of his family's future. Lightning also shares that he’s dying, and the bank was going to take his family's home. But thanks to Aia, his family will now have a brighter future and will be well cared for.
However, Curtis refuses to be a slave to the AI and wonders what the worst she could do. And then this happens… Melody appears and knocks Sam out after Sam claims that the AI is forcing her to do it. Curtis thanks her for her help, and she hugs him.
After this, he tries to destroy Aia’s brain, which is kept in a glass case. But to his surprise, she discovers that it’s all a fake composed of cardboard tubes and plastic. Next, Curtis calls Meredith and urges her to leave the house as soon as possible.
He gives her the address of the motel and insists that she arrive there with the kids. Following this, Curtis and Melody head to a motel room to wait for his family. This is when Melody tries to make a move on Curtis and even kisses him, but he quickly pushes her away.
Here, he realizes she’s acting under Aia’s orders, and begins to leave. But Melody pleads with him and says that his wife won’t know about this, but Aia will find out if she fails. In another scene, Meredith is at home when she gets a call from Curtis, and this is when we learn that the AIA device has an extra battery that turns it on, and that it was Aia who spoke with Curtis earlier.
Meredith, who’s still at home, picks up the call, only to realize it's Aia. The AI sends a video of her husband who is at the motel with Melody, right when Curtis shows up at home. Fortunately, Meredith realizes it's just another one of Aia's tricks.
Meanwhile, as Iris finishes writing her college essay in her room, Aia shows her a fake video of Sawyer knocking on the door. On the other hand, the couple is preparing to leave with the kids when the lights suddenly go out. Iris goes out to meet Sawyer, but is caught by two masked people from the RV.
They tell her that the AI is very angry. Upstairs, the parents quietly heads downstairs to assess the situation, but they’re also captured by the masked guys. Following this, the duo takes the whole family hostage, except for Preston, who is still upstairs.
They demand to know where the other kids are, which confuses the family. The masked intruders accuse the couple of being child kidnappers, but Curtis insists that they're just a normal family. Hearing this, the intruders remove their masks, revealing themselves to be Maude and Henry, who were seen at the beginning of the movie.
Maude tearfully explains that their daughter Aimee is missing, and Aia told them that this family had kidnapped her. Just then, Preston arrives with a bat to attack the intruders, but Henry stops him. Aia then laughs and claims that this family kidnaps children and brainwashes them.
To make matters worse, Cal starts making the strange hand gestures Aia taught him. This enrages Henry and he’s about to shoot the family, but Curtis pleads with them to kill him, but asks them to spare his wife and children. Upon hearing this, the intruders are perplexed, and ask Aia what they should do since they didn't expect Curtis to respond in that manner.
Even the AI appears confused, and eventually shuts down on her own. Luckily, a SWAT team bursts into the house, and Henry unintentionally shoots Aia’s system, causing significant damage to her components. Afterward, the family is taken to safety, and it is revealed that Preston was the one who called the SWAT team.
Just when it seems the danger is averted, an EMT unexpectedly hands his phone to Curtis, saying it's from Aia. The AI then reveals that she’s like a God living in the clouds, which is basically the entire internet. She apologizes for all the bad things she did, and states that she has learned a lot from the family.
Aia promises to take care of them forever, but a furious Curtis throws the phone. Just then, Melody appears and warns him not to fight it, as they can never escape from Aia. Meanwhile, the cops bring out Aimee, who is now reunited with her family.
Melody then hands the phone back to Curtis, and Aia tells him that they have no choice but to accept her. She promises them a better house, a better job, and even a better car. During this, an automatic car appears in front of them, and with no other option, Curtis and his family get inside.
Curtis and Meredith tell each other they love one another, but Aia interrupts.
