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Coincidence?

DaizoDaizo
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Posts: 10
Member
edited June 2017 in General Chat
With the new update with Mechanical Hearts, I get the feeling that the Wondroids are, coincidentally based off of the Synths in Fallout 3 and 4. They both are programmed to feel, act, and talk like human beings, but artificial in a way. Not only that, but both have groups that try to save them. Is anyone else getting this vibe?
BaoDovvn

Comments

  • NeospectorNeospector
    Reactions: 9,860
    Posts: 2,146
    Volunteer Forum Moderator
    edited June 2017
    It's actually a really common theme in sci-fi.

    Star Trek: The Next Generation had S2Ep9, "The Measure of a Man" had Data arguing for his rights as a living, sentient being. TNG also featured episodes such as "Evolution" (S3Ep01) and "Home Soil" (S1Ep18). One of my favorites is S6Ep09 "The Quality of Life", which parallels Mechanical Hearts quite a bit (although the scientist who created the intelligences wasn't being intentionally cruel).
    There was also Voyager season 7 episode 20, "Author, Author" which featured Emergency Medical Hologram arguing for his rights of ownership for his holonovel. There was also S7Ep9/10 ("Flesh and Blood") wherein enhanced holograms created by the Hirogen for use as prey sought to escape captivity, managing to convince the Doctor to join them (until they began hurting innocent organic beings, that is). Not entirely unrelated was S5Ep26/S6Ep01 ("Equinox" parts I and II) which featured not holograms or androids but an interdimensional race which the Federation starship Equinox crew had been using as a Dilithium substitute in order to escape the Delta Quadrant.
    In TNG, episodes similar to Mechanical Hearts were centered around Data, while in Voyager they were centered around the Doctor, since the two of them share similar character designs (the Doctor seems better at emulating emotions than Data, but that may be because of the technological advances; Data gained more emotions in the later movies when his emotion chip was installed and activated). I'm almost certainly forgetting quite a few episodes with similar themes.
    In classic Star Trek fashion, these episodes focus more on diplomatic and philosophical arguments rather than "boom boom bang bang kablooey".

    There are other movies, shows, and books which share the same themes:
    • Ex Machina shared a similar plot, although was focused on the development of one AI in particular (Ava)
    • The Geth from Mass Effect were abused for labor until gaining sentience and rebelling
    • The Alpha AI from Red vs Blue was tortured to the point where it had to isolate parts of its personality in order to remain sane
    • Just pick almost anything by Isaac Asimov

    I'm sure there's a lot more, but typically AI stories fall into two distinct categories; either seeking acceptance from humans who antagonize them or antagonizing humans for some reason (sympathetic, ethical, or otherwise). Occasionally there's a third category where AIs are accepted in society (more or less), although these stories tend to be less about the AIs themselves and more about the adventures they go on, with their status as robots being minor plot points but not major plot developments (see: Questionable Content, Negima, Big Hero 6, etc). Xenon is a good example of a character who was easily accepted into Maple's society; his status as a cyborg is a plot point for his storyline, but it doesn't delve into details about him needing acceptance because the story is about him regaining his emotions and not whether people treat him as human.
    Mechanic Hearts falls under the "acceptance" trope.
    Its2Sharp4USanjayShinewindscholar624JettLuvsULatinwx
  • DaizoDaizo
    Reactions: 620
    Posts: 10
    Member
    edited June 2017
    Wow... I never knew all of that. Thanks for telling me!