Everything Everywhere All at Once's main technology involves the alpha universe's universe jumping devices that tap into the user's brain and links them to other versions of their consciousness's across the multiverse. While this technology is never really seen as completely unreliable in the film, it is seen to be difficult to manage in a few earlier scenes. Alpha Waymond has to give Evelyn a note listing the exact directions about how the technology should be used, specifically that the user must perform an action so unlikely that they create a jump pad to send their mind over to another version of themselves. Without this direction the technology has no way of realistically begin used by someone who doesn't have proper direction because the method for activation hinges entirely on an action the user is statistically impossible to make in a situation. This could consider the Alpha technology of the movie unreliable as its proper method of use is impossible without direction, and this confusing technology is given to Evelyn who is a person who has no idea how to use it without Alpha Waymond's help. Most reliable devices should follow something like Don Norman's Design Of Everyday Things [1] Which states that affordances, signifiers, mapping, etc. should be provided to the user to understand how a device works unintuitively. The Alpha verse jumping technology has none of this, and as a result, an unexperienced user like Evelyn is almost killed as a result of her first few jumps, accidently switching to a universe that is a dangerous version of her office with people out to kill her. This risk would never be present if the jumping technology was made more Reliable in the first place with more absolutes and less room for mistakes.
Another aspect of the jumping technology that is heavily related to reliability is how intertwined it is with the neurology of its user, being able to scan and effect brain function within them. With a technology like this that involves the most delicate areas of the human body and psychology in its function, it is extremely important that the reliability of the device is assured to avoid disaster. An example of this in the real world is the current creation of robots for surgery as well as the creation of neural chips to be implanted in people's brains. According to the National Library of Medicine "Robotic surgery systems, such as the da Vinci system, demonstrate high reliability with 94%–100% success rates with minimal technical malfunctions (0.1%–0.5%), however they can cause significant complications when they occur" [2]. The jumping technology seen in the movie falls into a very similar space where any sort of unreliability in the system could spell serious disaster for the user, reliability is a top concern for both technologies. Neural chips also relate to the aspect of the Alpha universe's technology that harnesses brain functions, and as relate to Reliability heavily. According to the National Library of Medicine: "it remains true that their physical insertion into brain tissue causes local injury, which in turn initiates a progressive inflammatory tissue response" [3]. Neural chips along with the alpha verse's technology provide extreme risks when it comes to reliability, if even a small thing about the device is off it can cause extreme injury or even death to the user.
Citations:
Don Norman, "The Design of Everyday Things" (2013, MIT press) (4/30/26).
Yeisson River-Moreno, Sophia Echevarria, Carlos Vidal-Valderrama, "Robotic Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature and Current Trends" Robotic Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature and Current Trends - PMC (7/24/23, National Library of Medicine) (4/30/26).
Takashi D.Y. Kozai, Andrea S. Jaquins-Gerstl, Alberto L Vazquez, "Brain Tissue Responses to Neural Implants Impact Signal Sensitivity and Intervention Strategies" Brain Tissue Responses to Neural Implants Impact Signal Sensitivity and Intervention Strategies - PMC (12/29/15, National Library of Medicine) (4/30/26).