"I programmed them to fear death"
In the episode “Rude Bot Rise” from the podcast Flash Forward, Rose Eveleth defines and discusses the reality of conscious A.I. To begin, Eveleth talks to computer scientist Charles Isbell about the different definitions of A.I. The three different definitions that Isbell provides vary based on the groups of people discussing the concept. Damien Williams furthers the discussion of defining A.I. by bringing up the problematic use of the word "artificial." By using the word artificial, we automatically strip the possibility of humanity from technology that possesses that A.I. The robots on the moon, for example, are programmed to fear something without the consideration of the ethics of such an action. They are forced to leave in constant fear.
Most importantly, the A.I. that we see in media is not an accurate portrayal of what A.I. would be like in real life. Science fiction writer Ted Chiang discusses his concept of the spectrum of consciousness. As the technology evolved, A.I. would likely become more and more conscious. As the consciousness increased, people would have to start thinking more about how to ethically treat the A.I. Emily programs the robots to do what she required without considering the morality of forcing a conscious being to live in fear. The consciousness of the robots is further exhibited when they send depressed poems back to Earth. Fear and depression are emotions connected to humanity and people; however, in the world of World of Tomorrow, Emily rarely references her own emotions. At this point in the movie, Emily talks more about the emotions felt by the robots than her own.
The interaction between Emily and the robots illustrate the complicated humanity in the Outernet. Emily does not seem to feel emotions in the expected way. Emotions are often associated with humans and humanity. What does that mean for the existence of humanity in the Outernet.
