Singular Creatures : Robots, Rights, and the Politics of Posthumanism

Welcome to posthuman life: could non-human consciousness be an evolutionary step forward? In __Singular Creatures__ Mark Kingwell plumbs the depths of cultural and political meaning in the apparent transition to posthuman life. Can humans and their own creations co-exist in a cyberflesh world, or is a struggle for superiority inevitable? Singular Creatures is an attempt at sketching the field before any deadly battle is joined. "Anxiety about non-human intelligent machines is a longstanding theme of cultural production and consumption. These range from tales of golems and Frankenstein's monster to the evil overlord scenarios of contemporary film and television franchises: Star Trek, the Alien series, and the Terminator sequence, as well as Her, Black Mirror, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and many, many other less mainstream cultural artifacts. The source of this anxiety is clear. Non-human conscious entities may turn out to be superior to any biological form of life, allowing a stride across human ambition in a moment dubbed "the Singularity" by AI insiders. This is the turning point when non-human entities advance and reproduce in a manner that surpasses and subjugates biological forms of intelligent life. Although today's artificial intelligences fall notably short of this level of sophistication, Mark Kingwell argues that we are already more than human in important ways, and likely to become more so as time goes on. In Singular Creatures Kingwell plumbs the depths of cultural and political meaning in the apparent transition to posthuman life. Our immersion in technology, now comprehensive to the point of invisibility, has altered forever what it means to be alive. The politics of posthumanism flow directly from our own situation, at once dependent on technology and afraid of its effects on current and future experiences. More than a century after playwright Karel Čapek coined the word robot--rooted in the Czech robota, meaning "servitude" or "drudgery"--in his 1920 allegory about the alienation of forced labour leading to a violent workers' revolt, Čapek's central question continues to haunt us still. Can humans and their own creations co-exist in a new cyberflesh world, or is a struggle for superiority inevitable? Singular Creatures is an attempt at sketching the field before any deadly battle is joined."-- Provided by publisher Anxiety about non-human intelligent machines is a longstanding theme of cultural production and consumption. Examples range from tales of golems and Frankenstein's monster to the evil overlord scenarios of contemporary film and television franchises: Star Trek, the Alien series, and the Terminator sequence, as well as Her, Black Mirror, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and many other less mainstream cultural artifacts. The source of this anxiety is clear. Non-human conscious entities may turn out to be superior to any biological form of life, allowing a stride across human ambition in a moment dubbed "the Singularity" by AI insiders. This is the turning point when non-human entities advance and reproduce in a manner that surpasses and subjugates biological forms of intelligent life. Although today's artificial intelligences fall notably short of this level of sophistication, Mark Kingwell argues that we are already more than human in important ways, and likely to become more so as time goes on. In Singular Creatures Kingwell plumbs the depths of cultural and political meaning in the apparent transition to posthuman life. Our immersion in technology, now comprehensive to the point of invisibility, has altered forever what it means to be alive. The politics of posthumanism flow directly from our own situation, at once dependent on technology and afraid of its effects on current and future experiences. More than a century after playwright Karel Čapek coined the word robot – rooted in the Czech robota, meaning "servitude" or "drudgery" – in his 1920 allegory about the alienation of forced labour leading to a violent workers' revolt, Čapek's central question continues to haunt us. Can humans and their own creations co-exist in a new cyberflesh world, or is a struggle for superiority inevitable? Singular Creatures is an attempt at sketching the field before any deadly battle is joined.

Anxiety about non-human intelligent machines is a longstandingtheme of cultural production and consumption. Examples range fromtales of golems and Frankenstein's monster to the evil overlordscenarios of contemporary film and television franchises: StarTrek, the Alien series, and the Terminator sequence, as well asHer, Black Mirror, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and many other lessmainstream cultural artifacts. The source of this anxiety is clear.Non-human conscious entities may turn out to be superior to anybiological form of life, allowing a stride across human ambition ina moment dubbed "the Singularity" by AI insiders. This is theturning point when non-human entities advance and reproduce in amanner that surpasses and subjugates biological forms ofintelligent life. Although today's artificial intelligences fallnotably short of this level of sophistication, Mark Kingwell arguesthat we are already more than human in important ways, and likelyto become more so as time goes on. In Singular CreaturesKingwell plumbs the depths of cultural and political meaning in theapparent transition to posthuman life. Our immersion in technology,now comprehensive to the point of invisibility, has altered foreverwhat it means to be alive. The politics of posthumanism flowdirectly from our own situation, at once dependent on technologyand afraid of its effects on current and future experiences. Morethan a century after playwright Karel Čapek coined the word robot -rooted in the Czech robota, meaning "servitude" or "drudgery" - inhis 1920 allegory about the alienation of forced labour leading toa violent workers' revolt, Čapek's central question continues tohaunt us. Can humans and their own creations co-exist in a newcyberflesh world, or is a struggle for superiority inevitable?Singular Creatures is an attempt at sketching the fieldbefore any deadly battle is joined.

Anxiety about non-human intelligent machines is a longstanding theme of cultural production and consumption. Examples range from tales of golems and Frankensteins monster to the evil overlord scenarios of contemporary film and television Star Trek, the Alien series, and the Terminator sequence, as well as Her, Black Mirror, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and many other less mainstream cultural artifacts. The source of this anxiety is clear. Non-human conscious entities may turn out to be superior to any biological form of life, allowing a stride across human ambition in a moment dubbed the Singularity by AI insiders. This is the turning point when non-human entities advance and reproduce in a manner that surpasses and subjugates biological forms of intelligent life. Although todays artificial intelligences fall notably short of this level of sophistication, Mark Kingwell argues that we are already more than human in important ways, and likely to become more so as time goes on. In Singular Creatures Kingwell plumbs the depths of cultural and political meaning in the apparent transition to posthuman life. Our immersion in technology, now comprehensive to the point of invisibility, has altered forever what it means to be alive. The politics of posthumanism flow directly from our own situation, at once dependent on technology and afraid of its effects on current and future experiences.More than a century after playwright Karel Capek coined the word robot rooted in the Czech robota, meaning servitude or drudgery in his 1920 allegory about the alienation of forced labour leading to a violent workers revolt, Capeks central question continues to haunt us. Can humans and their own creations co-exist in a new cyberflesh world, or is a struggle for superiority inevitable? Singular Creatures is an attempt at sketching the field before any deadly battle is joined. Cover 1 Singular Creatures 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Preface 8 1 Past Imperfect 18 2 The Future Is Always Present 40 3 After Work 76 4 Future Imperfect 120 5 Second Valley 142 Acknowledgments 166 Notes 170 Bibliography 218 Index 236