It’s Electric ?
Thoughts on “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”
Reading this book definitely opened up a can of worms for me, and once I was finished with it, I was no less sure of my own feelings on androids or AI technology. Part of me has always been fascinated with tech and for the most part I consider myself on the side of those who innovate and come up with new ways to communicate, live better, experience more, but the there’s something about that desire to cross the biological gap that I cant totally get behind. I see the point in being able to clone organs and human tissue but I’ve never understood why we need to give human attributes to machines, is it to see if we can? to make us more comfortable?
The latter has always had the opposite effect on me, the more human qualities present the more uncomfortable I get. Its a curious thing, why do we fawn over characters like R2-D2 or BB8? but find ourselves amazed and simultaneously repulsed by lifelike communication androids ? I think it’s partly to do with our natural instincts to seek out our own likeness and differences, but with AI technology that isn't always so easy. Biology or “Organic” life is also a huge theme in Philip K. Dicks novel. In a world poisoned by humans the androids are the only one’s immune to it’s deteriorating effects. That in itself is terrifying, to find yourself the lesser of two lifeforms. Whether the androids in the novel are even alive is debatable in itself, besides being able to reproduce they have many human qualities which makes it even harder to distinguish them. Part of me also sits in that strange territory with Rick Dickard *SPOILER* I can’t help but empathize with the thought of something android or human-eque. I’m the kind of person that feels bad ripping flowers out of my garden , I’m sure if I ever came across an illegal android that needed my help I would have an existential crisis.
If the androids in Philip K. Dicks novel are anything like the one in Steven Spielberg’s 2001 “Ai — Artificial Intelligence” A movie which made me cry profusely, then I hope I’ll never live to see the day they become a reality. Interestingly enough, while the plight of David (Android boy) was heart wrenching, I remember it being teddy (Droid bear) who made me cry rivers of tears (Possibly because he was always falling apart). Even so, I really think Dick was on to something in his novel about the potential issues between human and android relationships. *SPOILER* the fact that Rick slept with an android and was hurt at her own indifference on the subject just gives us a clue of how a similar situation could wreak havoc on an individual's psyche.
In conclusion, after reading and reflecting on the novel the question that lingered in my mind was “Am I ready for AI technology?” I’m not quite sure I am….fortunately I probably wont be alive long enough to even cross that bridge.
