This week in AP Lit we were introduced to lots of comics, one comic particularly caught my eye by the title of, “Alex + Ada.” I really liked this one, it’s probably my favorite one out of the ones I read. I liked the structure, it was very blocked out and easy to follow, which made it much easier to read. My friend, Libby, and I went to Mayhem right after school the day we read that comic just to see if we could find the next volumes in the series.
I feel like “Alex + Ada” should be made into a movie, it’s intriguing and dramatic, I was constantly waiting to see what happened next. I think my favorite part was that it followed the life of an average guy, I enjoy stories that are more realistic because it allows me to believe in a different, plausible, life other than my own. The story followed the effects that technological advances have on humankind and the advances that they talk about seem possible! We have no idea what could happen in the next 10, 50, 100, 500 years. When Ada came into Alex’s life I was very confused and a little bit weirded out about the whole “robot-companion” thing. It was bothersome that Ada had no personality, which is normal since she’s a robot, but it shows that she isn’t necessarily made to be a good friend or companion since she isn’t allowed to have a personality. Alex shouldn’t have been looking for more in their ‘relationship’ simply because Ada’s entire existence is based upon artificial intelligence. The whole concept of a robot rebellion is weird to me because robots just aren’t human, there’s no reason why a robot deserves access to basic human rights because they just aren’t human!
Think of it like this, if a person purchases one of these and commands it to commit a crime, the robot won’t be serving the punishment, the person who commanded the robot will have to face punishment since the robot was just a technological tool used to commit the crime. “Jailbreaking” robots and allowing them to have a personality is unrealistic because their entire existence is predicated off of their owner’s desire to purchase them and humankind’s desire for more technological advances.
Even though that’s how I feel about the robot revolution, that doesn’t mean I’m not emotionally attached to the characters now:) I just really want Alex and Ada to fall in love and have their happily ever after, but again, the only reason I feel that way is because Ada is portrayed as a real being and she’s portrayed as a victim who deserves to be sentient. I definitely want a happily ever after for those two, but that doesn’t necessarily change my opinion about a ‘robot revolution,’ robots aren’t people.
Teri Deewani 