I’ve got an article out today about a sci-fi trope I’ve always found rather curious: the robot who wants to be human. As you know, robots are near and dear to my heart, and how they’re treated in-narrative speaks volumes to me about empathy and humanity.
In “You Will Be Assimilated: Data vs. The Borg” I discuss the cultural implications of the trope and how it relates to assimilation and colonialism. And I cover more than just Star Trek–we’ve got Xenomorphs, pod people, Cybermen, and more.
We as biological entities are positive we understand what losing ourselves to the artificial would be like. And yet we fail to lend a similar understanding to how a robot might feel upon assimilating into the biological, because we can easily see the horror in personally being overtaken, but refuse to see the horror when we overtake.
To read the full article, head on over to The Book Smugglers.
Happy reading!
~Marina
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