Developing Android Technology

Interestingly enough, during the film Be Right Back, I did not experience the "uncanny valley." Ash 1 and Ash 2 are completely identical, the only difference is we know for a fact that Ash 2 is a robot because Ash 1 is dead. The only part of the film that was a bit unnerving was the fact that Martha attempted to replace Ash 1 with Ash 2, which leads me to believe the development of such human-like technology could pose several mental health concerns. Because Martha invested in the technology that put digital Ash 2 into a human-like android, Martha never truly got past her grief. If she had truly healed, she would have completely disposed of Ash 2 and accepted the fact that nothing could bring him back. Instead, she hid Ash 2 in her attic and allowed her child to visit him on the weekends.

Personally, I could never invest in said technology after losing a loved one. As grim as it sounds, when I lose a loved one, I would prefer to allow them to live on only in my memories. I don’t save keepsakes, and I don’t attend funerals. I would prefer to move on with my life as quickly as possible because no one (and nothing) would ever replace a person so near and dear to my heart. The film also posed some very interesting questions, such as: How did Martha introduce Ash 2 to her daughter and what does her relationship with Ash 2 consist of? Clearly, Martha’s daughter knows Ash 2 is not her father because she did not call him “dad,” she called him Ash. Does she think of Ash 2 as just a walking memory of her father, or does she think of him as her fairy godfather that cannot leave the attic? The world may never know.

Even though I am opposed to purchasing an android for grieving purposes, I would love to purchase an android as a personal assistant. We already have artificial intelligence advanced enough to tweet like an actual human being, but imagine a world where you have your very own android that knows you so well, it could write your papers! No one would be able to tell the difference between your papers and your android’s! Imagine having an android that looks, thinks, and reacts so much like yourself that you could have your android show up to class, possibly record the lecture with its eyes, and take notes for you when you’re in bed with a nasty hangover. The possibilities are endless.