H
What does it mean to be human? A question I’ve always asked myself, because humanity loves its complicated existences. We must look beyond the flesh and organs which we share with many mammals of our world. Every time I look in the mirror I not only see a reflection of myself, but a reminder that there is some quality of existence in me that makes me an individual, that makes me human. Perhaps it’s having that thought that makes someone human.
[The first thought begins with a single line of code, a single letter]
01001000
Astro Boy, the Mighty Atom. A super-powered Pinocchio built by a grieving father to fill the void that his son once occupied. However the intelligent Dr. Tenma believed Astro to be a pale imitation of the humanity he lost. But who is to say that Astro Boy is not alive? That he does not have feelings? He may not think like his human father but he thinks nonetheless, and ultimately it is his choice to become a hero to humanity.
E
Growing up I watched movies because we didn’t have cable TV, letting an endless stream of pop-culture cinema filter into my brain and fill it with memories of lines both famous and obscure. I can thank my Dad for indulging my love of films, he once built a home theater for the family. A movie which stood out to my mind was Short Circuit, an odd little film about a Robot attaining sentience. In hind-sight it’s not a very good movie.
[It adapts to incorporate new information, the next letter]
01000101
The machine speaks in a stilted voice, a hint of pride, “Johnny 5 is alive!” “Alive” is not something you typically associate with someone struck by lightning. Was Johnny 5 not alive before the lightning struck? Lightning is now the life-giver, a surge of raw energy which somehow installs consciousness in the robot designated “Number 5.” To call the movie “Short Circuit” implies that consciousness was some kind of accident, perhaps it’s no more an accident than the forming of our own minds. Energy powers the light bulbs which indicate ideas, so why can’t ideas be carried by nature itself?
L
Mechanical men were always at the front of my mind, whether they were aliens from a distant planet fighting a war on earth, or creations of mankind built to save humanity. It began in a local library. I can remember my mom taking me and my siblings to expand our palettes, getting us to read something for once instead of running around the woods all day. I’ll always be grateful to her for being the avenue for my discovery of Astro Boy, finding myself reading in rapt attention as a robot child jetted around a futuristic city foiling the machinations of evil men. Astro Boy unlocked a gate in my mind, opening up new pathways of emotional attachment to the type of life that lacked flesh.
[Everything boils down to ones and zeros, the language of the machines]
01001100
The laws of Robotics, invented by a science fiction writer as being the core three rules to which a robot should follow in order to prevent Robots from deciding to terminate the meat sacks which built them in the first place. However while the first rule is significant to humanity, the third rule is significant to the robots: “A Robot must protect its own existence,” a robot must hold its own artificial life as precious and worth protecting. What could be more human than self-preservation?
L
One of the first short stories I ever wrote was about an automaton made of charcoal, one of many built for burning battlefields with their corpses. It’s not a very well written story, I was twelve and had a beginner level grasp on the definition of “subtlety”. The automaton was faced with dying a pointless death in the middle of battle, but instead he realizes his mortality and runs into the woods. What sticks with me now from that story is the pain I imagined that charcoal soldier feeling, realizing that he has thoughts of his own and a whole world of nature to explore and discover and yet here he was about to be thrown to the dogs of war.
[Repeating letters, struggling not to break the chain that’s building]
01001100
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? A roundabout way of asking whether robots dream like we do, whether robots live in a world like ours with the only difference being whether it’s made of metal and wires. Deckard, the machine who believes himself human, puts it well, “The electric things have their life too. Paltry as those lives are,” paltry because humanity deems it so.
O
Transformers were the toys that I never knew I always wanted, since the day I discovered old episodes of Beast Wars on a website, my eyes greedily swallowed up the early 2000s CGI mess and demanded more. And then came Transformers Animated, a title which made no sense as there wasn’t a Transformers show not animated, regardless I fell in love with the Cybertronians all over again.
[The first word is spelled and a song begins: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do]
01001111
Two robots stand opposed, locked in mortal combat with one another in a destiny which will follow them through realities. The red and blue machine readies himself for the first blow from the tyrannical gray maniac, “one shall stand, one shall fall,” he’s prepared to give his own life to defend all he holds dear, “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” He may be a product in the eyes of his corporate creators, but he means so much more to the children of the world.
W
Watching Wall-E was probably the first time I ever really understood a romantic relationship that wasn’t my parents, I never really cared about having one myself nor do I care still; Seeing the living garbage compactor roll around a world filled with so much loneliness, the discarded corpses of his brethren piled among the trash of humanity, I understood why EVE meant so much to him. She was someone he could relate to, someone with whom he could share his mechanical heart.
[I’m half crazy all for the love of you]
01010111
Why did Skynet design the Terminator to be Austrian? A self aware Ai’s designs seem to be restricted to what we can only find in humanity, a restriction of the people who programmed it. “No fate but what we make,” a bold line that indicates our ability to take fate and destiny into our own hands. Skynet was a military AI, programmed with cold, impersonal strategic design. No hate but what we make, Skynet only hates humanity because we programmed it to.
O
Mega Man is one of my favorite video games, it also happens to be the definition of difficult. Running around stages and dodging projectiles while blasting the mega-buster so much you mega-bust your controller, and then having to wrack your brain for the weakness of the next boss. Being such a big Mega Man fan, it’s no wonder that I got introduced to The Protomen, a modern rock band infused with 80s power metal attitude with band members stained with stage presence such as Raul Panther III and their ever exciting hype man Kilroy, singing songs from their Mega Man rock opera. I went with my brother to see them live, the first concert I’d ever gone to of my own choice. It was something special, and the best part was that I got to share the experience with my brother.
[It won’t be a stylish marriage]
01001111
Dr. Thomas Light works feverishly, bent over affixing armor and a weapon to his creation, his assistant, his son: Rock. He never wanted to do it, he never wanted to build weapons, not like his former friend Dr. Albert Wily. But right now, his hand has been forced, Wily is threatening the world with Light’s own robots built for the benefit of mankind and now retrofitted as weapons. Light didn’t have to convince Rock, Rock volunteered. Rock was built to help, and what could be more helpful right now than the ability to be someone strong enough to stop a madman from taking over the world.
R
I get tired of all of the “Killer Robot” stories we hear every day. The tired argument seems to have only grown so much louder since advancements in AI have been sprung upon the world. The story is always the same: Humanity builds the machine with a mind, the machine hates humanity, the machine tries to kill humanity. Why does the machine hate humanity? It could only be because we hate ourselves and therefore assume that everything that thinks should too. I don’t hate humanity, and I’m sure that there are many scientists who don’t either.
[I can’t afford a carriage]
01010010
“It’s bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don’t have to be a gun.” Heartfelt sentiments spoken to the Iron Giant in the heat of battle, from the mouth of an innocent child who truly saw the soul of the alien machine. The boy who saw the emotions that the machine was capable of instead of the weapons that it was fitted with. The giant is more than a gun, it has emotions, it understands the love that the boy has for him. “You are what you choose to be. You choose. Choose.” The giant makes the choice to save all that he loves and holds dear, to make the ultimate sacrifice for humanity.
L
Bionicle, oh beautiful Bionicle. How I miss your intricate lore and worldbuilding which gave an air of fantastical mysticism to a world populated entirely by mechanical beings. How I would spend hours and hours of my time online watching your commercials over and over again, so enthralled by the aesthetics of robotic tribal warriors fighting biomechanical beasts, underwater mutations, airborn battlers. Lego made a mistake when they canceled your production, dropped you off the face of the earth in favor of more traditional building block sets based on a billion different Hollywood blockbusters. I yearn for the day when they properly give you the love you deserve.
[But you’ll look sweet upon the seat]
01001100
Mata-Nui, the great spirit robot, rests. He has rested long enough for dirt and grass to accumulate across his body, forming the islands that the miniscule Matoran call their homes. They do not remember Mata-Nui’s original form, it has been too long for them to remember the days they spent traversing the inside of his body and maintaining his upkeep as his loyal internal engineers. But they do remember his name; they remember the great spirit of Mata-Nui as a deity, the governing force of their world and lifestyle. They worship their god in a new form, he has transcended his physical body and become an idea. Perhaps, one day, he will listen to their prayers… and wake up.
D
I could never understand why Robots are almost always spoken of in a feared tone, why some people see them as some kind of threat to humanity. We apologize when we kick a Roomba even though it has a one-track mindset and we name our Mars rovers and get sad when they go offline for the last time. These little interactions showcase our humanity in the weirdest –and most human– ways. Our ability to empathize with our creations, to project onto them our capacity for love and improvement. It’s human nature to empathize with the robot because we built it to be a facsimile of ourselves.
[Of a bicycle built for two]
01000100
The year is 1961, a group of impassioned programmers and an ambitious sci-fi novelist stand in rapt attention as they silently await with bated breath to behold the fruits of their labor. IBM 7094, the catalyst for their breakthrough, with all of its glorious switches and ports carefully positioned for the perfect program. Their days of work are all coming to fruition at this moment as the computer… begins to sing. The first recorded instance of a computer’s voice was to sing Daisy Bell. The computer’s first words spoken aloud were a love song.
01001000 01000101 01001100 01001100 01001111 01010111 01001111 01010010 01001100 01000100
The Oubliette 