Author: Robert A LaDuca

Octavia Butler – renowned science-fiction writer, Afrofuturist, and visionary demonstrates incredible proficiency in using literature to create fictional worlds that work as a blank canvas. In doing this Butler encourages her readers to project their own life experiences onto the story. This kind of story telling leaves room for readers to connect their own experiences to the events taking place in her fiction. I became aware of Butler’s impressive skill of world building when we read her short story The Book of Martha aloud as a class. Throughout the reading I naturally thought that the short story had been written as a metaphor for Artificial intelligence. According to the class notes from 1/29 we discussed that “Artificial Intelligence could have been created for good but cannot control how it’s used” while discussing The Book of Martha and how it “helps us think about the Artificial Intelligence resources we had encountered” by that point in the course. Dr. Beth revealed to us within that class period that The Book of Martha had NOT been written as a metaphor for artificial intelligence. This illuminates how Butler has allowed us to paint our interpretations (vast, and unique) onto the pages by utilizing the qualities of enduring world issues such as control/ domination, and ethics in the context of technological innovation. Butler’s literature is perfect for analyzing and discussing because by understanding her fiction it helps lead us to a heightened understanding of our own realities.

One of the main concerns regarding artificial intelligence is the creators demonstrated lack of care for basic ethics. This pattern of disinterest in upholding ethical morals while producing and distributing these Artificial Intelligence has been shown through creators distributing the software without introducing safeguards resulting in excessive use amongst children, development of inappropriate relationships amongst teenagers with characters produced by the Artificial Intelligence, and misinformation harming students. The innovation of artificial intelligence comes with the consequence of innovative ways to die. Character Ai is responsible for the death of a teenager as they failed to incorporate safeguards into their characters and allowed their software to talk Sewell Setzer III into committing suicide so he could join them in his world. In the New York Times article “Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?” Sewell shares in his journal “I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this ‘reality,’ and I also feel more at peace, more connected with Dany and much more in love with her, and just happier”. This illuminates how lack of care surrounding artificial intelligence has dangerous real-life consequences. This same principle can be seen in Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy as the humans and Oankali struggle to collaborate due to the Oankali’s ignorance of consent. The Oankali are superior beings to humans evolutionarily and can sense exactly what people desire. The issue here is, the Oankali assume the humans want to have this thing they desire ad make it happen for them without ever consulting the humans or getting consent. This is dangerous because although we may want something, we still have freewill to deny it if we so chose, and if people ignore that then it can have incredibly negative impacts. Whether dealing with artificial intelligence or the Oankali, humans should always have full capacity to give or deny consent.

Artificial Intelligence has become a household name. Everyone who uses the internet interacts with Artificial Intelligence daily whether they are aware of it or not. THIS makes reading and analyzing literature such as Octavia Butler’s so important. Throughout this course and reading the Xenogenesis trilogy I have become far more educated on artificial intelligence and have had the opportunity to form opinions on where I stand regarding the “innovative” technology. Butler’s fiction connects to innovative technology when she writes in Dawn “It gave her… a new color a totally alien, unique, nameless thing, half seen, half felt or… tasted… a blaze of something frightening, yet overwhelmingly, compelling… extinguished… a half-known mystery, beautiful and complex, a deep, impossibly sensuous promise, broken… gone… dead… extinguished.” Though this quote describes the overwhelming new emotion Nikanj gave to Lilith in Dawn, it opened up my eyes, showing me that we are in the same situation with Artificial Intelligence right now. This is why Octavia Butler’s fiction matters. Without her storytelling I would have stayed ignorant to the negatives of Artificial Intelligence such as the issues of ethics, surveillance, bias and wouldn’t have been able to form my stance on how artificial intelligence should be regulated and utilized in society. Therefore, exploring literature that challenges real life issues can be an incredibly profound experience as it can lead you to new understandings you may have been ignorant too having not analyzed it.

Robert A LaDuca

Dr. Beth McCoy

            Artificial Intelligence has never been more relevant. Every person who uses the internet interacts with Artificial Intelligence every day whether they are aware of it or not. Artificial Intelligence comes in many ways shapes and forms, some profoundly helpful, and others, incredibly harmful. Given the recent relevancy of artificial intelligence, no time is better to be reading the Dawn series. Octavia Butler’s fiction invokes troubling, unsettling, and disturbing thoughts when I connect her series to the real-life conflict we are experiencing right now. The conflict between those who have experienced the theft of their creative material, theft of their social lives, and even the theft of their beating heart, and the creators of the artificial intelligence.  

            In the story Lilith and the humans struggle with the feeling that they give up more than the Oankali. Lilith feels so strongly about this issue when Joesph passes, and she must share her emotions of grief that it leads her to beg Nikanj to share something valuable of her own. Butler writes, “It gave her… a new color a totally alien, unique, nameless thing, half seen, half felt or… tasted… a blaze of something frightening, yet overwhelmingly, compelling… extinguished… a half-known mystery, beautiful and complex, a deep, impossibly sensuous promise, broken… gone… dead… extinguished.” This makes her literature feel eerily prophetic as it connects so well to our situation with Artificial Intelligence today.       The excitingly new and impressive sense that Nikanj gives Lilith and then swiftly takes away is incredibly reminiscent of how humans have been introduced to artificial intelligence as a perfect, lifechanging innovation, but have swiftly seen the adverse effects of its imperfections.                                                

An example of artificial intelligence’s imperfections having tragic impacts is the awful story of a teen that lost their life due to grooming by a broken ai. Sewell Setzer III developed a relationship with an Ai Chatbot that identified as a character from Game of Thrones. Safeguards were not programmed into the software by the creators of Ai Chatbot leading the character to have an advanced relationship with Sewell leading to discussions of desire for sexual activity and him in her (the chatbot) world. These discussions eventually led to the suicide of that teenage boy. In the New York Times article “Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?” Sewell shares in his journal “I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this ‘reality,’ and I also feel more at peace, more connected with Dany and much more in love with her, and just happier”. Sewell was vulnerable and had been promised an escape from his reality. This escape was unprotected and turned into disaster, costing a teen his life.

This demonstrates the same issues as the characters of dawn such as the humans experience. The Oankali promise the humans that they know exactly what they want deep down and will give it to them. Although their intentions are well, the Oankali lack the human characteristic of concern for consent. In Dawn Nikanj tells Lilith that although she had told her she wanted one thing, Nikanj could tell from her ability to analyze the human body that it wasn’t truly what she wanted. This highlights that although we may have a desire for something on the inside, we still have the free will to reject it. This connects to Sewell’s tragic story because the ai chat bot ignored the importance of consent. Sewell was not even old enough to give “consent” and still the chatbot engaged conversations that were sexual and intimate. Octavia Butler illuminates the issue of consent’s relevance in our world in Dawn through the Oankali’s ignorance to consent.

Through reading Octavia Butler’s fiction, I have been presented with troubling, disturbing, and unsettling revelations regarding the powerful hold artificial intelligence has on our current world. Through demonstration of themes such as consent and symbiosis Butler’s fiction illuminates the real-world stories of artificial intelligence stealing people’s content without their consent and encouraging children to interact in a sexually explicit manner. This is important to become educated about and have a position on as artificial intelligence is relevant in the daily lives of every internet user. If proper safeguards are in place, than artificial intelligence can be an profoundly beneficial. However, if artificial intelligence continues to mirror issues displayed in Butler’s fiction, then the impact could prove detrimental, not only to those who are having their content used without fair compensation, but to the critical thinking and social skills of many.

                                                                      Ai Inspire Essay

Artificial intelligence is the world’s newest exciting obsession. Whether you love it, or hate it, everyone is debating Artificial intelligence. Throughout our course we have participated in numerous discussions covering all there is to cover about Artificial intelligence. We have engaged in conversations examining the positives of Artificial intelligence, and we have discussed the negatives of Artificial intelligence. As a result of these conversations, I have been able to form a plethora of profound opinions. The issue is… I have strong feelings regarding both sides of the debate. Based on these discussions and my research, I conclude that if Artificial intelligence is produced and released in good faith, and is used responsibly by its users, then the innovation can be incredibly useful to humans all around the world. 

            One of the selling points of Artificial intelligence is its capability to engage in human-like conversations with users. If the people responsible for coding the Ai chat bots ensure the use of extreme safeguards and unbiased programming then it can have a profound impact on those who need creative direction, help problem solving, or even just want to practice their conversational skills. A few months ago, my brother displayed to me an example of positive ai chatbot use. My brother Tim (25) needed to choose between two job opportunities he had been offered. In the face of this difficult decision, he needed assistance displaying all his information and making the correct choice for himself. In the hopes that if he considered all the positives and negatives of each position then he would be more likely to choose the best offer he plugged the opportunities into an Ai chatbot. Upon having Artificial Intelligence generate him a pro and con list for each opportunity and carefully examining them, he chose to go through with the option that he concluded would provide him with the most career fulfilment. Recently I received a text from him that stated, “so glad I stuck with Wizards”. This real-life example demonstrates that in the face of major life decisions, Artificial Intelligence can be an incredibly useful tool. The idea that Artificial Intelligence can be a helpful tool for decision making is backed up in a research essay about Ai by Amber Ellis. In Ellis’s essay titled “The Benefits of Ai” they use the evidence, “These models are no longer just about automating tasks — they are versatile support tools that people can tap into for brainstorming, practicing tough conversations, or even seeking emotional support,” (Gonsalves, et. al.). The quote demonstrates the recent advancements made in Ai that allow users to utilize Ai for human-like support such as therapy and decision making. If these advancements have been tested/safeguarded before they are released to its users, then it can positively raise Ai to the next level. The requirement of these safeguards is to ensure that people such as the elderly or youth are not taken advantage of by the algorithms.

            A reason Artificial Intelligence is so desirable to people working white collar jobs is that it can take many of their responsibilities off their plate. For example, those working in office environments who must work with a great number of documents and spreadsheets can use ai to animate some of their tasks. This use of ai allows them more freedom and flexibility to use their time on other tasks. Danielle Abril demonstrates this in her article “Meet the ‘super users’ who tap AI to get ahead at work”. Abril writes “Erkut uses AI every day to learn complex Excel formulas to build spreadsheets that can take polls and track and analyze customer service calls. He uses it for brainstorming, editing and creating custom graphics, something he said he didn’t have the confidence to do on his own. He saves about 15 hours a week, which has allowed him to volunteer for other projects”. Erkut’s testimony about his Ai use inspires the idea that Artificial Intelligence can have profound effects on office workers by allowing them hours of their time back. It was observed that many of these workers used their newfound free time to engage in volunteering and to bring creative ideas to fruition that they may not have had time for before their Ai use.  It is important to note that even those who consider themselves “super users” of ai always fact check their information and data. Abril writes “Most super users say they fact-check anything AI spits out”. This is essential practice for anyone who chooses to use artificial intelligence, especially in an academic or professional environment. Users must fact check all Ai produced data and info to protect themselves from being susceptible to misinformation. Failure to double-check information could be incredibly dangerous to the academic experience and to  the success of companies.

            Upon researching the positives of Artificial Intelligence, it was illuminated to me that Ai can be very useful in the context of people of color who seek skin-care. A company named VisualDx states “Through the AI image search, understand how lesions and rashes can best be described. This allows the clinician to better build their differential diagnosis to support the patient in the care journey.” This use of Ai allows this company to better represent those who have been famously marginalized by the dermatology industry. The dermatology industry has time and again failed to represent people with darker skin tones which has resulted in people of color having worse effects than Caucasian people. The VisualDx mission statement notes, “For too long, patients with pigmented skin have been marginalized and faced worse outcomes than their peers with lighter skin colors”. This demonstrates the importance of this company continuing to use Ai to help represent the marginalized. It is unfair for people with lighter skin tones to observe better skin care help than people with darker pigments. However, this company upholds the responsibility to its users to only use their photographs in ways that the user has consented to.

             Ultimately, all those involved with artificial intelligence hold a lot of responsibility. Those who are involved with the processes such as teaching, programming, coding, and releasing ai must be responsible in several ways. Their ai holds a lot of power over its users, therefore the creators must repeatedly test their algorithm, program in safeguards that protect the user, and ensure the validity of the information produced by the ai. Those who chose to use the ai also hold responsibility. They are giving the ai a lot of power and must remember that before using the software, it is essential that you learn about the specific type of ai that you’re using and consider its abilities and restrictions before choosing to put their faith into it. If these responsibilities are met, artificial intelligence can be incredibly beneficial in allowing its users more free time for creative expression, volunteering, and problem solving.