New to this forum, but am I the only person that thinks May really isn't entitled to a better body?
Here's my perspective:
1) AIs do not absolutely need bodies. They don't need one to exist. Lots of AI don't have them, and have jobs. Since an AI doesn't grow old, they don't have a finite lifespan to earn one. They are also not helpless like babies or young children, and hence do not generally need charity. They have no particular needs other then maintenance and power.
2) Large chassis are not cheap. Momo and Winslow had to be bought theirs, and their partners have implied they are not cheap (Marigold had to budget for a while, and Hannelore is super rich). Bubbles and Roko earned theirs as part of their jobs.
3) May is legitimately a criminal, and hers was not a crime of necessity or desperation. As a matter of fact, her crime was specifically trying to hijack a body - a dangerous fighter jet. May is not especially sorry for committing her crime, and has generally expressed that she would be extremely happy if she had succeeded. In short, she is only sorry she got caught. I am all for rehabilitative prison, but May is not exactly rehabilitated. Punitive prison is a legitimate social issue that applies here, but honestly the parole system (or equivalent) has not particularly failed her.
4) May has the option of a smaller, cheaper but fully functional AnthroPC chassis, like Pintsize. If she cannot afford one (perhaps she isn't allowed to sell or trade in her cruddy current one) that should be her primary goal. It would largely eliminate her maintenance costs and likely lower her power costs enormously.
So the feeling I get is that the comic implies May should get a proper body purely because... she has been released from prison? This makes no sense. Every other AI main character in the comic worked for their bodies, even ones like Winslow or Momo, who spent time being small AnthroPCs for their friends (owners? partners? I am not sure what the term is). Perhaps it is viewed as undignified, but humans do it too - it's called being a baby, and at least AnthroPCs don't have to poop all over themselves.
I get that May has limited options for work - but in real life our stupid decisions can and will affect us forever. No matter how stupid I am, if I commit murder the consequences will last my whole life. I suspect that if I tried to steal a military jet, the consequences would also last my whole life, even if that life might be only about fifteen minutes long before I get shot. Release from jail, a criminal record, and limited hiring opportunities actually seems rather lenient all things considered, especially since they gave her a body! If she chose to go without one, her expenses would drop to pretty close to zero, and even the lowest-paying (or undignified) jobs would still allow her to eventually save enough to buy a body.
I understand that May's case is meant to be social commentary on America's prison system, but the subject in question isn't exactly the best for the analogy. Real ex-cons need actual food and shelter (and a body), their medical bills can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, they may have dependents, and most importantly - they have a limited lifespan. May might have to start slow due to her early mistakes, but she has literally forever. There is no cycle of poverty for her, because AIs don't reproduce that way, and very likely not accidentally. There's no bigger picture where the consequences of her actions and prison may affect her children.
So why should she be given a better chassis?
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Topic: WCDT 4176-4180 (13th - 17th, January 2020) (Read 39400 times)