The Value of Human Life

Over the past few classes, we've been discussing technology and its effects on humanity. We recently watched a film titled "Be Right Back." It was basically a story about a woman who was dealing with the loss of her husband, Ash. She was told by a friend that there was still a way she could communicate with him, but she refused to be apart of it. Her friend was persistent and signed her up for it anyways. Somehow this bot took all of Ash 1's, in this case, information online and created this bot that would respond exactly like Ash 1 would typically respond. Well, one day she found out she was pregnant and decided to tell the bot. It didn't take much for her to desire more communication between them. The bot told her that she could speak to him, and of course, she went through. Her desire grew and she wanted more, and one day the voice of Ash told her she could actually see him again, and she ordered him a robotic body. Of course she was freaked out by the new Ash, Ash 2. Over time she started to despise Ash 2, and she even tried to make him jump off a cliff. At the end of the short episode, it shows her with her child taking a slice of cake up to Ash 2 in the attic, showing us that she was unable to make him jump off the cliff.

This film creates many questions about humanity and technology. One of the questions I find myself asking is, " What is the value of human life if we can just recreate them?" It's easy to say "oh, well they're not real and people are," but if they act just as they normally would then what is the difference? I don't agree with recreating people, but I simply can't answer the question by saying "it's wrong." When do we draw the line?  I value organic life more than some robot made in a lab, even if it might be an "exact" replica of the real deal. People may say they would be the same, but I think it's impossible to create a robot that actually thinks and has free will. I think that we as humans have the ability to reason and think, but I don't think that we can create a robot that can think and reason as we do.