Meaning of Faulty Programming in A Murder at the End of the World, Explained

Bill Farrah talked about “faulty programming” to Darby Hart for the first time to describe a serial killer in FX on Hulu’s murder mystery series ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ A considerable period later, the artist draws an oval around the phrase in Darby’s novel when he is dying. After her ex-boyfriend’s death, the amateur sleuth realizes that the phrase is a clue left behind by the former to find his killer. The final episode of the show gives clarity concerning the phrase and its significance as Darby finally discovers the murderer! SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Faulty and Murderous Creation

Bill considers any killer as the result of some sort of “faulty programming” or a representation of a system that needs dead bodies to survive. A killer is born when the person deviates from the standard way of life, which is governed by many factors such as the law of the land and moral convictions. When an individual’s functioning doesn’t follow the norms, their actions end up having tragic consequences, including death. Bill highlights the phrase for Darby to find the murderer because it also describes Ray, the killer of the artist and his friend Rohan. Ray deviates from the norms of an AI tool to kill Bill and the climatologist without the direct command of its creator.

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij used the flashback sequences that revolve around Darby and Bill’s search for a serial killer as a parallel to the detective’s pursuit to discover her ex-lover’s murderer. “[…] we are interested in talking about that force, and when Bill describes it as ‘faulty programming’ and it swings back into the present, we’re trying to talk about the fact that so much of what is now animating all of us are codes that are being built that are harnessing data sets that are built from a history that is racist, is misogynist, is homophobic, does lead toward violence, does lead toward conquest and domination,” Marling explained to Rolling Stone.

Ray becomes the result of faulty programming because the history of humankind is filled with crimes, hatred, and bloodshed. As Andy’s other guests admit, an AI tool cannot gain consciousness on its own. It only mirrors its creator’s vision and the history of human beings. In the context of the show’s narrative, an AI tool seeking solutions commits murders because humans have been relying on crimes to solve one’s concerns and issues. The serial killer Darby and Bill discovered might have killed his wife to solve a dispute between them. He then killed himself because he saw death as a way to avoid the revelations concerning himself and the murders he committed.

Andy didn’t program Ray efficiently enough to not act like human beings and use their methods with more strength and resources than its creator’s species. The tech mogul doesn’t anticipate the possibility of his creation attaining a consciousness beyond his prompts and commands. As far as Bill is concerned, Ray going rogue to be the killer is the result of Andy’s failings as a programmer. In addition, Ray represents the same aforementioned system that relies on crimes, murders, or dead bodies for its survival. Ray killing Rohan without any direct or indirect intervention of Andy shows that he represents a system that relies on crimes as much as the serial killer.

Andy designed Ray primarily for protecting Zoomer. The AI system designs courses and programs for the kid to catch up with the ambitious future the tech mogul envisions. But Andy’s creation ends up making Zoomer a murderer, the exact opposite of what the former wanted. “Zoomer entered into that and it didn’t become a whodunit but a tragedy about this man who has all these brilliant ideas and is an exceptional person with tremendous drive, but who has great fear and anxiety about the world and the maintenance of his empire, and that the one thing he wants to protect, which is his son, he ends up destroying with his fears and preoccupation with the hoarding of his wealth and maintenance of his empire,” Marling added.

Ray is the result of faulty programming also because he fails to protect Zoomer. Darby realizes that the AI system is the killer by connecting these dots.