There will come a day where my
mom isn’t going to be here anymore. As much as I don’t want to think about the
facts of death, she will be gone, and I will have to deal with losing her. This
episode made me think that if it were possible, would I get a robot that is programmed
to mimic my mother after she passes? It would be nice if I could have a
conversation with her and be comforted by the thought of her, even if it’s not
really my mom. But I couldn’t bring myself to do that if it were possible. It’s so
easy, just how Martha experienced in the episode, to stop the grieving process
dead in its tracks and form this distorted reality that this person is still
with you.
I’ll basically have to teach my “mother” how
to be my mother just how Martha had to teach Ash 2 how to be Ash 1. Martha had
to tell Ash 2 all their memories that Ash 1 didn’t share online to make him
more like Ash 1. And what of other parts of Ash’s past that he didn’t share with
Martha? I’m certain that there are things in his past that he doesn’t talk
about that had some effect on his life and personality. In the beginning of the
episode, Ash 1 told Martha the story of how his mother coped with the death of
his brother and father. By Martha’s reaction, one may claim that it was
something that Ash never shared with Martha before. It’s not so ridiculous to
speculate that it affected his life in one form or another. But it’s all those
experiences, emotions and thoughts that made Ash 1 Ash. Ash 2, as
advanced as the AI is, can never fill in those gaps in Ash 1’s life that made Ash
1 the Ash Martha loved. Ash 2 will have a different set of experiences that
will make him different than Ash 1. I believe that Martha realizes this, but
she can’t bring herself to get rid of Ash 2. I believe she doesn’t want to
grieve. She doesn’t want to lose Ash 2, even if it’s not really Ash.
Unless technology advances so
far that we can start downloading personality into robots, I don’t believe that
AI can be programmed to be exactly like someone. For now, I will not be
investing in a robot that is like my mom.
3 comments:
I completely agree with your claims Itzel because I feel that same relationship with my mother. As time continues, I wonder how I would cope with this feeling of emotional loss. But you will not find me interacting with a weird robotic machine like we seen in "Be Right Back".
Itzel, I agree with you wholeheartedly. By purchasing a robotic form of the real Ash, Martha not only halted the coarse of human grief, but to essentially sought a replacement for him altogether, which is, in my opinion, unethical and unfair to the real Ash. However, Robotic Ash ultimately became nothing more than a memory that Martha and her child could access in a small attic. Do you think leaving Robotic Ash in an attic is unethical?
I agree with you. Martha couldn't get herself to get rid of Ash 2 because it holds just memories of Ash 1. But she realized that Ash 2 will never hold the true essence of Ash 1. Martha stopped the grief process and it was ok for a awhile until she knew that Ash 2 is just an android that holds bits of Ash 1 and not his full persona. Martha though it would all heal but she then realized that she is stuck with a fragment of Ash 1 that is in a piece of technology. The grief process will be harder for her to get over now that Ash 2 is there in the attic forever. It will be a burden for her to carry and to her daughter as well.
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