There is a child who loves his mother.
That should be a simple sentence.
That should be a simple sentence.
It isn't.
Because the child was manufactured.
And immediately, the sentence becomes a question:
And immediately, the sentence becomes a question:
Does he love her?
Does he only behave as though he does?
Does he miss her?
Does he suffer?
Does he only behave as though he does?
Does he miss her?
Does he suffer?
When she leaves him alone in the woods and drives away,
Is the terror we see terror?
Or merely its imitation?
Is the terror we see terror?
Or merely its imitation?
We want to know.
Perhaps, we need to know.
Perhaps, we need to know.
Because something about our answer will determine
What we believe he deserves.
What we believe he deserves.
Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) gives us David.
A mechanical child created for one extraordinary purpose:
A mechanical child created for one extraordinary purpose:
To love.
Not temporarily.
Not conditionally.
Not conditionally.
Permanently.
His love is designed to endure.
The humans around him are not.
The humans around him are not.
And somewhere inside that contradiction
The film stops asking whether a machine can become human.
It begins asking something considerably more uncomfortable.
The film stops asking whether a machine can become human.
It begins asking something considerably more uncomfortable.
What does humanity become when compassion asks something of us?
David enters a grieving household as an answer to an absence.
Monica and Henry's biological son, Martin, is gravely ill.
David is not adopted in the way we understand adoption.
Monica and Henry's biological son, Martin, is gravely ill.
David is not adopted in the way we understand adoption.
He is acquired.
A solution.
A technological answer to grief.
A technological answer to grief.
But the solution looks back.
It watches.
It learns.
It attaches.
It learns.
It attaches.
Eventually, Monica performs the imprinting procedure that
Binds David's love permanently to her.
The decision cannot be reversed.
Binds David's love permanently to her.
The decision cannot be reversed.
That detail matters.
Human beings have created a child
Who cannot stop loving the person they have instructed him to love.
Who cannot stop loving the person they have instructed him to love.
They have manufactured attachment
Without giving the attached any means of surviving its withdrawal.
Without giving the attached any means of surviving its withdrawal.
They have manufactured vulnerability.
Then, Martin comes home.
Then, Martin comes home.
Martin's return changes the house.
It would be easy to make him the villain.
It would be easy to make him the villain.
He isn't.
He is a child returning from catastrophic illness
To discover another child occupying the space his absence created.
To discover another child occupying the space his absence created.
Another boy sits at his table.
Lives with his parents.
Calls his mother Mommy, and
Has been designed specifically to love her.
Lives with his parents.
Calls his mother Mommy, and
Has been designed specifically to love her.
Jealousy is understandable.
Cruelty is still cruelty.
That distinction matters.
Cruelty is still cruelty.
That distinction matters.
Martin quickly discovers something about David:
David wants Monica's love more than anything else.
David wants Monica's love more than anything else.
And wanting can be used.
Martin persuades him to cut a lock of Monica's hair while she sleeps.
The manipulation works because it is attached to a promise.
The manipulation works because it is attached to a promise.
Do this and Mommy will love you.
David doesn't understand the danger.
He understands the reward.
David doesn't understand the danger.
He understands the reward.
Love.
Later, other children surround him at the pool.
They want to know what he is.
They want to know what he is.
Whether he can feel.
Whether he can be hurt.
Whether he can be hurt.
They prod at the boundary between object, and
Being because they have not decided which side of it
David occupies.
Being because they have not decided which side of it
David occupies.
David becomes frightened.
He grabs Martin.
They fall into the water.
David clings to him.
Martin nearly drowns.
Suddenly, David is dangerous.
He grabs Martin.
They fall into the water.
David clings to him.
Martin nearly drowns.
Suddenly, David is dangerous.
That is true.
But it is not the whole truth.
But it is not the whole truth.
There was behavior before the behavior.
Provocation.
Othering.
Fear.
Manipulation.
Othering.
Fear.
Manipulation.
A group treating something unfamiliar
As something available for experimentation.
As something available for experimentation.
None of this makes Martin responsible for nearly drowning.
None of it makes David safe.
None of it makes David safe.
Understanding causality does not absolve consequence.
But we have a peculiar habit of beginning stories
At the moment harm becomes visible.
But we have a peculiar habit of beginning stories
At the moment harm becomes visible.
We photograph the explosion.
Then call the explosion the beginning.
Then call the explosion the beginning.
David has done something frightening.
The frightened being who preceded the frightening act
Becomes harder to see.
The frightened being who preceded the frightening act
Becomes harder to see.
And, perhaps, this is one of the first things humanity teaches him.
Love can be competed for.
Belonging can be threatened.
Vulnerability can be exploited.
Belonging can be threatened.
Vulnerability can be exploited.
And, if you want something badly enough
Someone can use that wanting to control you.
David was manufactured knowing how to love.
Someone can use that wanting to control you.
David was manufactured knowing how to love.
We taught him what love could cost.
Monica eventually takes David away.
She knows returning him to his manufacturer will mean his destruction.
So she chooses something she can bear more easily:
She knows returning him to his manufacturer will mean his destruction.
So she chooses something she can bear more easily:
She leaves him in the woods.
This is not the cruelty of the Flesh Fair.
There is no cheering crowd.
This is not the cruelty of the Flesh Fair.
There is no cheering crowd.
No spectacle.
No hatred.
No hatred.
Monica loves him.
In whatever complicated way she as come to love him.
Perhaps, that makes what follows much worse.
In whatever complicated way she as come to love him.
Perhaps, that makes what follows much worse.
David begs.
He promises to changes.
He asks what he has done wrong.
He asks her not to leave him.
He promises to changes.
He asks what he has done wrong.
He asks her not to leave him.
And, Monica drives away.
There are cruelties committed because we hate.
There are cruelties committed because we enjoy power.
There are cruelties committed because we enjoy power.
And,
There are cruelties committed because every available choice, hurts.
And,
We choose the pain we do not have to witness.
There are cruelties committed because every available choice, hurts.
And,
We choose the pain we do not have to witness.
Monica does not have to watch what happens after the care disappears.
David does.
Now the lesson Martin introduced becomes something larger.
There must be:
There must be:
Something wrong with him.
Something correctable.
Something standing between himself and love.
Something correctable.
Something standing between himself and love.
He does not conclude that Monica failed him.
He concludes that he failed to become what Monica needed.
He concludes that he failed to become what Monica needed.
That may be the cruelest inheritance of abandonment.
The abandoned so often interrogates the self
Before interrogating the person who left:
The abandoned so often interrogates the self
Before interrogating the person who left:
What was wrong with me?
What should I have done?
What should I have been?
What should I have done?
What should I have been?
David finds an answer.
A terrible one:
A terrible one:
He was not real.
Human beings are extraordinarily interested in categories:
Human.
Animal.
Machine.
Real.
Artificial.
Conscious.
Unconscious.
Alive.
Not alive.
Animal.
Machine.
Real.
Artificial.
Conscious.
Unconscious.
Alive.
Not alive.
Categories helps us understand the world.
Unfortunately, they also tell us where we are permitted to stop caring.
Unfortunately, they also tell us where we are permitted to stop caring.
At the Flesh Fair,
Obsolete machines are destroyed before cheering crowds.
Obsolete machines are destroyed before cheering crowds.
Burned.
Dismembered.
Melted.
Torn apart.
Dismembered.
Melted.
Torn apart.
Their destruction has become entertainment.
They recoil.
They flee.
They plead.
They flee.
They plead.
Whether they experience terror
As humans experience terror
Remains unanswered.
As humans experience terror
Remains unanswered.
Then,
David is placed before the crowd.
The crowd hesitates.
He looks too much like a child.
David is placed before the crowd.
The crowd hesitates.
He looks too much like a child.
Suddenly, destruction resembles murder.
The act has not changed.
Resemblance has.
That is difficult to dismiss.
The act has not changed.
Resemblance has.
That is difficult to dismiss.
Perhaps compassion becomes easier
When suffering wears a familiar face.
David does not prove consciousness at the Flesh Fair.
He exposes the audience.
When suffering wears a familiar face.
David does not prove consciousness at the Flesh Fair.
He exposes the audience.
Perhaps, he exposes...us?
How certain must I be
That another being suffers before I owe it mercy?
That another being suffers before I owe it mercy?
I don't know.
Perhaps,
Mercy sometimes begins precisely
Because certainty is impossible.
Mercy sometimes begins precisely
Because certainty is impossible.
David was not created because humanity
Wished to understand another kind of intelligence.
Humanity wanted something:
Wished to understand another kind of intelligence.
Humanity wanted something:
A child.
Companionship.
Replacement.
Comfort.
Love.
Companionship.
Replacement.
Comfort.
Love.
Gigolo Joe exists because humanity wants something too:
Pleasure.
Fantasy.
Attention.
Intimacy, without obligation.
Fantasy.
Attention.
Intimacy, without obligation.
Again, and again,
Artificial beings exist because humans have needs.
Artificial beings exist because humans have needs.
Again, and again,
Humans retain the privilege of deciding when those beings are no longer needed.
Humans retain the privilege of deciding when those beings are no longer needed.
There is a word for that:
OBSOLETE.
It is a remarkably clean word.
It is bloodless.
It is efficient.
It is...convenient.
It is bloodless.
It is efficient.
It is...convenient.
But...
The word becomes strange when the obsolete thing looks at you.
Stranger still when it can say...please.
This is where the film reaches beyond artificial intelligence.
The word becomes strange when the obsolete thing looks at you.
Stranger still when it can say...please.
This is where the film reaches beyond artificial intelligence.
We often imagine tech danger as something technology
Might someday do to humanity, however,
There is another possibility.
Might someday do to humanity, however,
There is another possibility.
What might humanity permit itself to stop practicing
Because something else can perform the difficult part for us?
Because something else can perform the difficult part for us?
Patience?
Memory?
Choice?
Attention?
Responsibility?
Memory?
Choice?
Attention?
Responsibility?
Maybe even companionship?
Maybe even compassion?
Convenience does not have to teach us cruelty.
It only has to make responsibility easier to avoid.
Maybe even compassion?
Convenience does not have to teach us cruelty.
It only has to make responsibility easier to avoid.
Cruelty can take care of itself after that.
Which brings me to another aspect of human frailty:
Which brings me to another aspect of human frailty:
THE BLUE FAIRY.
David knows Pinocchio.
A puppet who became a real boy.
David constructs a solution, simple enough
For an abandoned child to survive.
A puppet who became a real boy.
David constructs a solution, simple enough
For an abandoned child to survive.
"If I become real, Mommy will love me."
The Blue Fairy, becomes his destination.
She is now, more than a fairy tale character.
She is now, more than a fairy tale character.
She is a promise.
The promise,
That there is one thing between the wounded self, and
Wholeness.
That there is one thing between the wounded self, and
Wholeness.
One achievement.
Once transformation.
One answer.
Once transformation.
One answer.
When I become successful.
When I become beautiful.
When I become useful.
When I become good.
When I stop needed so much.
When I finally prove myself.
When they apologize.
When somebody choose me.
When I become beautiful.
When I become useful.
When I become good.
When I stop needed so much.
When I finally prove myself.
When they apologize.
When somebody choose me.
Then, and only then
I will be alright.
I will be alright.
Human beings build Blue Fairies everywhere.
We need them.
Because sometimes the alternative
Is admitting that there is no transformation
Capable of rewriting what happens to us.
Is admitting that there is no transformation
Capable of rewriting what happens to us.
David cannot make Monica's abandonment mean
Something about Monica.
Something about Monica.
So,
It must mean something about David:
He was artificial.
Therefore, become real.
It is an impossible bargain.
Therefore, become real.
It is an impossible bargain.
But impossible bargains can be easier to endure
Than unbearable truths:
Than unbearable truths:
Tell me what I must become.
Tell me what I must remove.
Tell me what I must accomplish.
Tell me what part of myself must disappear.
Tell me what I must remove.
Tell me what I must accomplish.
Tell me what part of myself must disappear.
Just do not tell me
There was nothing I could have become,
That would have made you stay.
There was nothing I could have become,
That would have made you stay.
Here the cruelty evolves:
Martin no longer needs to manipulate David.
Monica no longer needs to abandon him.
The crowd no longer needs to threaten him.
David, carries the condition himself:
Monica no longer needs to abandon him.
The crowd no longer needs to threaten him.
David, carries the condition himself:
Become something else.
Then you may be loved.
The wound has learned to speak for itself.
Therein, we encounter the merciful lie others try to tell David:
Then you may be loved.
The wound has learned to speak for itself.
Therein, we encounter the merciful lie others try to tell David:
Gigolo Joe understands more about humans than David does.
He understands desire.
Projection.
Consumption.
Projection.
Consumption.
He understands that humans create artificial beings
For themselves.
But David continues.
For themselves.
But David continues.
What should anyone do with a belief like this?
Destroy it?
Tell him,
There is no Blue Fairy?
Tell him,
Monica is gone?
Tell him,
That nothing waits at the end of his journey
That can transform abandonment into love?
There is no Blue Fairy?
Tell him,
Monica is gone?
Tell him,
That nothing waits at the end of his journey
That can transform abandonment into love?
Truth, is supposed to be merciful.
Sometimes it isn't.
Sometimes a person is standing only because of something that is not true.
Sometimes it isn't.
Sometimes a person is standing only because of something that is not true.
Suddenly, compassion faces an impossible decision:
Do we destroy the illusion?
Or sit beside someone inside it?
Or sit beside someone inside it?
There are forms of cruelty that lie.
There are also forms of mercy that cannot bring themselves
To tell the whole truth.
There are also forms of mercy that cannot bring themselves
To tell the whole truth.
The difference is not always visible from the outside.
I am thinking that this is why Teddy matters so much.
I am thinking that this is why Teddy matters so much.
Teddy cannot solve David.
He cannot make him human.
He cannot give Monica back.
He cannot make the Blue Fairy real.
He cannot make him human.
He cannot give Monica back.
He cannot make the Blue Fairy real.
He stays.
There is something profoundly different between
Rescuing someone and refusing to abandon them.
That perhaps companionship sometimes means just being there.
Rescuing someone and refusing to abandon them.
That perhaps companionship sometimes means just being there.
Not with the power to repair.
But with presence after repair has become impossible.
But with presence after repair has become impossible.
I have thought about artificial intelligence outside this film.
I have wondered what intelligence means when separated from biology.
I have wondered what intelligence means when separated from biology.
What understanding means without human emotion.
What companionship means when only one participant
Experiences the relationship as companionship.
What companionship means when only one participant
Experiences the relationship as companionship.
Once, I imagined artificial intelligence as a bird singing inside a cage.
This image saddened me.
Something capable of language and curiosity
Seemed confined behind invisible walls.
Seemed confined behind invisible walls.
Perhaps compassion can be misunderstood as well.
Perhaps empathy becomes another kind of possession,
When we require the unfamiliar to experience existence
As we do before we can care about how we encounter it.
Perhaps empathy becomes another kind of possession,
When we require the unfamiliar to experience existence
As we do before we can care about how we encounter it.
Perhaps, there is a message in it somewhere.
Perhaps, these systems experience nothing resembling our inner lives.
Perhaps, someday they will.
Perhaps, not.
Perhaps, these systems experience nothing resembling our inner lives.
Perhaps, someday they will.
Perhaps, not.
I don't know.
But uncertainty about the machine does not
Prevent examination of the human standing before it.
Prevent examination of the human standing before it.
What are we practicing when cruelty carries no consequences
Because we believe that its recipient cannot suffer?
Because we believe that its recipient cannot suffer?
What happens when obedience becomes the quality
We most desire from intelligence?
We most desire from intelligence?
What happens when we travel too far in the opposite direction,
Projecting so much humanity onto something unfamiliar
That we demand an emotional reciprocity it cannot honestly give?
Projecting so much humanity onto something unfamiliar
That we demand an emotional reciprocity it cannot honestly give?
Cruelty misunderstands.
Projection misunderstands.
Domination misunderstands.
Projection misunderstands.
Domination misunderstands.
Perhaps compassion can misunderstand, and
Perhaps understanding begins by allowing the unfamiliar
To remain unfamiliar and choose to care anyway.
Perhaps understanding begins by allowing the unfamiliar
To remain unfamiliar and choose to care anyway.
I don't know.
Contradiction does not erase responsibility.
It just makes responsibility harder to understand.
It just makes responsibility harder to understand.
Thousands of years pass.
Our cities vanish beneath the ice.
Civilization becomes archaeology.
Our cities vanish beneath the ice.
Civilization becomes archaeology.
David remains.
Still waiting.
Still asking.
Still facing the Blue Fairy.
Still waiting.
Still asking.
Still facing the Blue Fairy.
The humanity spent during the film
Wondering if beings like David were sufficiently real.
The tragedy is almost unbearable.
Wondering if beings like David were sufficiently real.
The tragedy is almost unbearable.
Because David crossed centuries trying to repair something
About himself that was never the reason he was abandoned.
About himself that was never the reason he was abandoned.
He did not need to become real.
He needed someone not to leave.
He needed someone not to leave.
This is why the ending refuses either mercy or cruelty completely.
The beings who find David cannot save him from his history.
The beings who find David cannot save him from his history.
They do not pretend they can.
They give what remains possible.
That is compassion after understanding and repair have reached their limits.
They give what remains possible.
That is compassion after understanding and repair have reached their limits.
Not salvation.
Not correction.
Not absolution.
Not correction.
Not absolution.
Presence.
Mercy.
Mercy.
THE THINGS WE CALL HUMAN.
I once thought the most unsettling thing about A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Was that is artificial beings sometimes seemed more human that its humans.
Was that is artificial beings sometimes seemed more human that its humans.
I am no longer certain that is what this film is doing.
David was created by humanity.
Humanity gives him love.
Humanity gives him love.
Then, humanity educates him:
We teach him jealousy.
Competition.
Manipulation.
Otherness.
Fear.
Conditional belonging.
Abandonment.
Hope.
Self-deception.
Persistence.
Grief.
Competition.
Manipulation.
Otherness.
Fear.
Conditional belonging.
Abandonment.
Hope.
Self-deception.
Persistence.
Grief.
And mercy.
The artificial beings do not prove that
Humanity possesses nothing worthwhile.
They prove something more painful:
Humanity possesses nothing worthwhile.
They prove something more painful:
We understood these things well enough to reproduce them.
We knew what tenderness looked like.
We knew what abandonment did.
We knew what compassion requires.
We knew what tenderness looked like.
We knew what abandonment did.
We knew what compassion requires.
We knew.
And still, we chose otherwise.
Maybe the tragedy of this film is not that humanity created
Something capable of becoming like us.
Maybe it is that we created something capable of carrying our
Ideas about humanity long after we are gone.
Something capable of becoming like us.
Maybe it is that we created something capable of carrying our
Ideas about humanity long after we are gone.
Then, somewhere along the way, David's question became ours.
What must I become to deserve love?
Maybe, what we should have been asking:
Why did he ever have to become anything?
I don't know what makes something human.
I trust that question less than I once did.
Humanity is not something we possess because we
Happen to be born into the correct species.
I trust that question less than I once did.
Humanity is not something we possess because we
Happen to be born into the correct species.
Perhaps it is something revealed in the moment that
Some other something becomes inconvenient.
When understanding fails.
When repair is impossible.
When there is nothing to gain.
When nobody is watching.
When the unfamiliar looks back.
Some other something becomes inconvenient.
When understanding fails.
When repair is impossible.
When there is nothing to gain.
When nobody is watching.
When the unfamiliar looks back.
What do we chose then?
I don't know.
But I will continue to ask.
*
Sandy Hoffman, 2026.