For my post, I will be responding to question 2.
Who are the marginalized and disenfranchised groups in each of the stories and how are each treated by the powers that be?
Within the stories “Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang, and “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison there are groups that are living at the whim of another species or entity. These two groups are similar in that they both live in a world that can be freely controlled by their oppressor and have no power to control it on their own. That is at least accurate for the most part, with an exception being made for one of the Digients in Chiang’s “Lifecycle of Software Objects” These two groups run directly opposite to each other, both in physical form and in a lot of ways, treatment by the powers above them.
For the most part, the Digients, an AI object belonging to human owners within “Lifecycle of Software Objects” are treated with relative respect. At least those of them that have been raised by their owners. The Digients who have been copied by hackers in this novella however are treated as cruelly as could be imagined, being beaten, assaulted in various ways, and verbally harassed. These Digients who have been unlucky enough to be cloned by the hackers live a life of punishment and cruelty, whereas the Digients raised by owners, arguably the original Digients, are afforded compassion and positive nurture. While the Digients share the humans in “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” lack of agency, they have positive lives in which they are cared for, provided for, and even loved.
The lives of the humans in “I Have No Mouth and I must Scream” however, are lives of pure pain and punishment. There is no love from the power above them. This AI truly hates them and punishes them at almost every chance it can. Literally, breaking them down, dismembering, assaulting, and deforming them into the worst possible forms they can be given their respective personalities. The AI comes up with the cruelest punishments imaginable for the humans it has “spared” turning them into the darkest versions of themselves. I find this story particularly horrifying, because while both of the marginalized groups have no form of control over their environment, the Digients at least have kind and compassionate masters. The humans are not so lucky.
Yes. I’d be interested in hearing what your thoughts are next.
I liked reading your contrasts between the stories, but I have to ask, what’s your opinion about the relationship between humans and AI moving forward?
I wrote a little about this on my midterm, maybe I’ll post it on my blog at some point after the class is over.
But that’s kind of irrelevant i guess. My main thoughts are this: The way that we as a general public have started perceiving AI is completely wrong from a computer science perspective. While the phrase AI is catchy and fun it has no relation to what it is. The AI that is currently being released right now is a Large Language Model connected to a repository of information. That means that there is NO “intelligence” to be found. It’s just information being translated from a repository and thrown back out in a syntax that we like.
If humans do ever end up making a true AI (Which I don’t think is possible while still utilizing Binary Computation as a basis.) it will literally change the way we have to think in our everyday lives, not just when we interact with it. For the time being, however, the relationship between us and AI is servitude, AI is a tool with no emotions.. at least at the moment.
Hey Gabriel, i agree with you. It is true that some digients were treated with respect especially the ones owned by the main characters. Some digients even gained power over themselves. The story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” truly horrified me too. You can definitely feel the hate of the AI and its enjoyment of the torture.
It was difficult reading “I Have No Mouth…”. There is a strong feeling of desperation and helplessness that continues and slowly we discover more and more horrific details and suffer with the human characters.
Totally agree, that story is scary as all get out.