a conundrum

[Worm of Despite]

Well, I've been thinking about my book, and I needed some input on something I just can't find the answer for myself, it seems. Okay, so, the characters in my book are totally comprised of machines, being that human beings are extinct. Throughout the book, the characters have human faces, look like humans, etc. But why? I mean, they're machines! Shouldn't they look/be totally alien to us, except that they have some sort of appendage/appendages that help them move about? And I gave all my characters human names, such as "Anton". Again, why? Machines with human names? Why not numbers?

Well, maybe I already know the answer, but I need to know from others if it's a good answer, because whether it is or isn't will change the entire face of my book--whether or not the characters will literally look like machines or appear like humans.

So here goes my answer: they are Artificial Intelligence. They feel like humans--they hurt and have emotions like humans. Would not it be logical that they are also crafted to look like humans? I mean, these are beings with emotions just like us, albeit their minds are more advanced. But, anyway, when they look in the mirror, shouldn't they see something other than plain steel? Shouldn't they see an organic face? Wouldn't they go slightly insane if their human-like, emotional minds were confronted with the fact that they were but machines? Think of all the spiritual questions that would bring into them! All the depression!

So, to make them at least have the illusion of life, they must look like an organic being, yes? Because they well know what's inorganic and what's not! And if they see steel instead of flesh on their bodies, they'd not be able to cope! Eh, hope I'm making sense.

[Fist and Faith]

Though humans could create AI in ways that would NOT have it looking like us, I don't think anyone would ever be surprised if it DID. I don't see that there's any problem at all with that.

Though, from what you've said, I don't know why it would be a problem for the AI to know that it is in any other form. It seems you're suggesting that some forms are more suited to intelligent beings than others. But I'm sure there could be logical reasons for that, depending on the story.

[CovenantJr]

From a philosophical point of view, I suppose it depends on whether the AIs know what they are. If they know they're machines created by someone else, I don't see that it would be an issue for them to look like machines. After all, we don't yell at God or whatever higher power you believe in (if any) "Why God? WHY? Why don't I look like an antelope? " lol

But I think it's entirely possible that whoever originally created them would make them in their own image, so if the AIs were created by humans, it wouldn't surprise me to find they look like humans.

[Tulizar]

But I think it's entirely possible that whoever originally created them would make them in their own image, so if the AIs were created by humans, it wouldn't surprise me to find they look like humans.

I agree. If humans made them, then why wouldn't they make them in their image?

Even if humans didn't make the machines, it might satisfy the reader to imagine the AI in human form. I think it could be used as a technique to convince the reader of the humanity of the machines. It's easier to associate human emotions with something that looks human, than with something that looks like R2D2.

[CovenantJr]

Very good point, Tulizar. It didn't occur to me to consider the matter in terms of the narrative advantages

[Worm of Despite]

All right, very good points by all, and it's made me remember some ideas I've always had about the AI in my book. First off, they live in a society where all they know is basically filtered down from the one entity that spawned them: Anabus. This "Anabus" is their "God" so-to-speak, and he's created them--not humans. Humans created Anabus, but that's where it stops--because, well, the said Anabus destroyed them. Anyway, that aside, these machines have no knowledge of a human race before them. They're were basically lied to by their creator.

They believe they're unique--special. They believe that the stuff that makes them up--the mechanical stuff inside--is just as real/normal in the sense that we think about our organs. I mean, not to say they don't know what's inorganic or what's organic, but they simply believe they're completely normal--that they've always lived on the planet and they're the only species upon it. If they were to realize that there was a race before them--one that created their very God--and then realized that they were in fact soulless machines (they believe they have souls), then I believe it'd at least be hard to cope with. Maybe that helps clarify!

And now that I think of it, they're pretty ignorant indeed to the truth about their existence. None of them except a very select few know that there's metal below their skin. All the AI built by Anabus are basically soldiers that never really learn much outside of their programming, because after they're made they stay in one set place until a war happens, and then they're sent off. And the only way to find out if they have something metal--inorganic--beneath that skin is if they're shot and can see where the bullet sparked off. But they're usually dead before they realize that truth. So yeah, they don't know they're machines. It would be an awful realization if they knew the whole truth, suddenly. I mean, they think they're people, just like us.

Hate to rant on, but these aren't just machines. They're like us--they're introspective, they wonder about their place in the universe, like us. And to have it all answered for them--to know where exactly they came from, and that they might not even be "real", would put them in some kind of depression for a while, I'd suppose. I mean, it's like telling them "here's exactly what you are, and it's much less than you ever expected."

[The Leper Fairy]

Maybe Anabus made them as a semi-replacement/memorial to the species he destroyed? I dunno, that might not be able to fit in at all.

[Worm of Despite]

That's a good idea, but Anabus made them purely for self-gain. Although, there are other reasons, but they're merely lies that the masses accept (such as saying he "was lonely". Kind of a God syndrome-mentality-thingy.) But anyway, I think I've formulated enough reason to not change the book and keep it the way I've written it: in that they all appear human. Better to keep it that way, I say, instead of re-doing everything by making them look more machine-like.

I mean, as far as the AI is concerned, they think they're living beings just like us. As I said, only a very select few know that they're actually machines, and they don't tell anyone. They fear the hysteria the truth would cause and also fear what would happen to them much more if they spoke out. Plus, all of them are just fighters, mostly; they believe what they’re told at face value, pretty much. That's mostly due in part to the centuries-old, fascist government over them. And there are no schools of science or anatomy or such, and nobody's about to cut themselves open to find out if it's metal or flesh inside!

[Fist and Faith]

and then realized that they were in fact soulless machines (they believe they have souls), then I believe it'd at least be hard to cope with. Maybe that helps clarify!

....

Hate to rant on, but these aren't just machines. They're like us--they're introspective, they wonder about their place in the universe, like us. And to have it all answered for them--to know where exactly they came from, and that they might not even be "real", would put them in some kind of depression for a while, I'd suppose. I mean, it's like telling them "here's exactly what you are, and it's much less than you ever expected."

I can't truly know how you're dealing with knowing this about yourself, but it doesn't bother me. I prefer it to most of the more popular beliefs. Maybe your AI would be ok with it too.

[Worm of Despite]

Eh, my AI aren't me, as goofy as that sounds. They're not atheists that don't believe in the soul or the afterlife. It’d be like a Christian finding out without a doubt that their God did not exist--that they had no souls. So it'd be quite a blow--an altering of their perception of reality. Kinda like entering the proverbial Matrix! For example, one of my characters who's been mentioned in snippets of the book I post, Maccabree, turned from a very charismatic individual to a very depressed one when the truth was laid down before him.

[Worm of Despite]

Woops, double-posted. Silly Foul.

[Fist and Faith]

I imagine some Christians would be terrified, some would be depressed, and some would feel liberated. Some would say, "Yes! Now I can do whatever the hell I want!" and others would think that the moral code they had been taught was still a good one. I assume your AI are split on the matter too?