Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT strips 3741 to 3745 (May 14th - 18th 2018)
efindumb:
--- Quote from: Onionvolcano on 14 May 2018, 22:06 ---I realize it's not the spirit of the story, but we've seen several AI characters switch bodies. Gender is just another choice for the wearer. If Bubbles uploads into a hunky male firefighter-bot, would things go more smoothly?
--- End quote ---
Actually, I think it's in the spirit of the story and totally relevant and would open up a whole new avenue of discussion.
awgiedawgie:
--- Quote from: Onionvolcano on 14 May 2018, 22:06 ---I realize it's not the spirit of the story, but we've seen several AI characters switch bodies. Gender is just another choice for the wearer. If Bubbles uploads into a hunky male firefighter-bot, would things go more smoothly?
--- End quote ---
But is gender a choice for the wearer? It's a software construct, but that doesn't mean that they can change it at will. It could very well be Read-Only.
Take Winslow, for example. His original chassis - an overgrown iPod - had no gender-specific features, but he still identified as a boy.
So if an AI that is coded as female gets put into a male body, it might cause a software/hardware conflict.
fayelovesbubbles:
--- Quote from: Onionvolcano on 14 May 2018, 22:06 ---I realize it's not the spirit of the story, but we've seen several AI characters switch bodies. Gender is just another choice for the wearer. If Bubbles uploads into a hunky male firefighter-bot, would things go more smoothly?
--- End quote ---
I mean...yes and no. I think the "spirit" that an AI has is male or female. Sure, an AI can switch bodies, but how they feel remains the same, I think. I don't think Bubbles or Roko or Momo would feel comfortable presenting as male, because fundamentally they are not.
I feel like it's sort of like how I could undergo gender reassignment surgery, but I wouldn't be comfortable or happy with myself afterwards. I'm comfortable as female and being a woman, and undergoing surgery wouldn't make me feel male, just dysphoria.
Dandi Andi:
--- Quote from: Onionvolcano on 14 May 2018, 22:06 ---I realize it's not the spirit of the story, but we've seen several AI characters switch bodies. Gender is just another choice for the wearer. If Bubbles uploads into a hunky male firefighter-bot, would things go more smoothly?
--- End quote ---
I disagree. Winslow identified himself as a boy before getting a humanoid chassis. Pintsize seems to be in a genderless chassis but identifies himself as male. It is explained in 347 that gender is software dependent, not hardware; though Winslow stating "I think I'm a boy" suggests that Jeph may be changing that dynamic somewhat as he humanizes the AI characters (and maybe due to taking a more nuanced approach to gender identity in general, e.g. Claire). And Bubbles seems pretty well integrated with her body. Perhaps not as much so as Roko, but certainly more so than Punchbot (who seems completely unfazed by massive physical trauma).
Regardless of how gender functions with AI, should Bubbles fundamentally alter who she is for the sake of Faye's comfort? Even if it was as easy as altering a line in a config file, is it appropriate to treat it as casually as changing shirts?
(Awgiedawgie and Fayelovesbubbles beat me to it, so a massive "Hell, yeah!" to the both of them)
awgiedawgie:
--- Quote from: pecoros7 on 14 May 2018, 22:35 ---(Awgiedawgie and Fayelovesbubbles beat me to it, so a massive "Hell, yeah!" to the both of them)
--- End quote ---
Great minds think alike.
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