Klara is an Artificial Friend - a human like robot assigned to help her real child Josie get through the difficult years from 14 to college. Josie is "lifted" - a process available to the privileged members of society to give them advantages in life. Josie's best friend Rick is not among the privileged but he has been loyal to her through all of her vague, unspecified illnesses. Klara learns through observation and believes the sun to be a source of power that can help all of them. But what is she really? She is purchased in a shop where she converses with other AFs. She is to act like a friend but is compared to a vacuum cleaner. The book is an interesting exploration into the range of AI possibilities in a time that seems not so far in the future. There is also the question of what is it about being human that makes us different from machines that exhibit intelligence. What is the role of memory? of history? They all play out in the relationship between Klara and humans around her. Interesting? Foreboding? Inevitable?
No comments:
Post a Comment