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A review by wumings
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang
1.0
maybe i'd be more engaged with the thematic questions this novella explores - about the humanity of sentient robots, the ethics of artificial intelligence, the real differences between humans and sentient non-humans - if it weren't for this strange, shocking and honestly awful little paragraph the author decided to drop that seems to lean towards justifying bestiality:
"as she did at the time, ana again tries to pin down exactly why nonsexual relationships with animals can be healthy while sexual ones can't, why the limited consent that animals can give is sufficient to keep them as pets yet not to have sex with them. again she can't articulate an argument that isn't rooted in personal distaste, and she's not sure that's a good enough reason."
yeah. and this particular so-called "argument" is never brought up again afterwards, this is all we're left with: our protagonist wondering just why is bestiality so wrong after all.
i'm sorry but what is this absurd sickening garbage??? surely we can discuss the ethics and rights of sentient AI creatures without drawing parallels to actual real life animals and bestiality???? (and maybe that was the point, that sentient AI creatures deserve the same care and respect that animals and humans do but then WHY is ana pondering on bestiality as if it's a legitimate two-sided argument???). i'm honestly at a loss for words. apart from this nasty bit of work, the novella was kind of interesting but personally, i simply can't get past this.
"as she did at the time, ana again tries to pin down exactly why nonsexual relationships with animals can be healthy while sexual ones can't, why the limited consent that animals can give is sufficient to keep them as pets yet not to have sex with them. again she can't articulate an argument that isn't rooted in personal distaste, and she's not sure that's a good enough reason."
yeah. and this particular so-called "argument" is never brought up again afterwards, this is all we're left with: our protagonist wondering just why is bestiality so wrong after all.
i'm sorry but what is this absurd sickening garbage??? surely we can discuss the ethics and rights of sentient AI creatures without drawing parallels to actual real life animals and bestiality???? (and maybe that was the point, that sentient AI creatures deserve the same care and respect that animals and humans do but then WHY is ana pondering on bestiality as if it's a legitimate two-sided argument???). i'm honestly at a loss for words. apart from this nasty bit of work, the novella was kind of interesting but personally, i simply can't get past this.