#dighumsem

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Who Watches the Watchers?

Staying Behind by Ken Lui is a haunting prophetic tale set in the aftermath from an apocalypse that no one predicted.  One answer frequently given about what separates man from machine is the concept of free will.  But what if that choice is to remove oneself from being a biological human, transferring, hopefully, your sentience into a machine?  Conversely, what about being transferred against your will?

Staying Behind sits at the crossroads of these questions and poses many more.  Liu goes to great length to chronicle the decline of civilization and the technology that binds it together.  Parallels are drawn repeatedly against the real world and the virtual world.

The most immediate question that came to mind was who was taking care of the machines and networks where billions of residents reside?  In spite of the details revealed in the tale, Liu makes no mention of the creators setting up a permanent, reliable maintenance system to keep the machines running.

If it assumed that one was indeed put in place, what is to prevent those machines from evolving toward their own sentience? What if the new, dominant life forms then forget, or choose, to stop serving an ancient machine?

It isn't a stretch to see this story as a potential precursor to Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.  Would the machines have an ethical right to no longer be subservient?  Who'd be around to make that judgement, and under what authority?

Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics would not apply, either.  After all, if the machines could logically believe that a space station's generator is their god, then it is easy to imagine the sentient machines can come to the logical conclusion that the "Digital Adam" harboring the consciousness of the former inhabitants of the planet is neither human nor contains humans.

Which brings up the next question: what is human? Liu addresses this concept no less than four times in Staying Behind.

The narrator ponders the following: "For every Uploaded man, there was a lifeless body left behind, the brain a bloody pulpy mess after the destructive scanning procedure. But what really happened to him, his essence, his — for lack of a better word — soul?  Was he now an artificial intelligence? Or was he still somehow human, with silicon and graphene performing the functions of neurons? Was it merely a hardware upgrade for consciousness? Or has he become a mere algorithm, a clockwork imitation of free will?"

[Narrator's father]: "If you're doing things the exact same way as your ancestors, then your way of life is dead, and you've become a fossil..."

[Narrator's mother]: "You have no sense of what's really important in life, what's worth holding onto. There's more to being human than progress."

The narrator speaks of his mother, he say she taught him that, "...our mortality makes us human."

And lastly the narrator tells his wife, as to why he can't stop trying to protect his daughter from Digital Adam, he says, "I can't give up," I tell Carol. "I'm human."

Each question, and each statement seems to ask and answer the question succinctly.  The difference between a sentient biological human and a sentient machine will only be the questions an organic human can ask that a machine cannot.  In other words, the exact same logic, the exact same questions and answers can be asked by any sentience, not just organic human.

Each of these forementioned stories deal with machine sentience and human sentience.  What's clear is that the question of what is human is the wrong question. What is sentient is the right one. At least, it has a better chance of being answered.

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What is Life?

The chapter "An Open Universe" in Kevin Kelly's book "Out of Control", Kelly poses the ambitious question; 'What is life?' while differentiating the real from the artificial, and attempts to give it meaning applicable to the modern technological era.

At the beginning of the chapter, Kelly delves immediately into setting the science of artificial life apart from the science of biology. Kelly states;

"BIology seeks to understand the living by taking it apart and reducing it to pieces. Artificial life, on the other hand, has nothing to dissect, so it can only make progress by putting the living together and assembling it from pieces."

Because the concept of artificial life is relatively new, it lacks the complex and intricate pieces that work together in order to produce what humanity knows as natural or organic life. Thus, artificial life must take what information is already in existence and configure it in new way to create a semblance of new life.

Kelly goes on to explain that artificial life can take many forms and introduces the term 'hyperlife'.

For instance, institutions such as schools, businesses, and organizations are bustling with life of many working individuals and programs. For this, they have been metaphorically deemed 'alive'. According to Kelly, it is correct to assume that such institutions are living, and take on the form of an organism.

Kelly defines this broad scope of individuals coming together on a large scale 'hyperlife'.

"Hyperlife is a particular type of vivisystem endowed with integrity, robustness, and cohesiveness - a strong vivisystem rather than a lax one"

Such systems could include but are not limited to a city, a virus, a rainforest, an artificial intelligence software, or a network and it's operator. Much like organs work together to make an organism, individuals work together as a sub-species of hyperlife.

Despite the similarities shared between organic life and artificial life there are still distinct characteristics which set them apart in order to form a necessary differentiation.

As humans continue to expand upon what is hyperlife, it will begin to gather and construct more data and eventually grow into other systems. Gradually, this process of expansion will intensify and the processes of hyperlife organisms will develop to (and even surpass) that of human capabilities.

The possibilities presented in artificial life technology are outstanding and almost unfathomable. The more hyperlife expands, more opportunities present themselves for gathering and organizing information on subjects once unknown to humanity. The more lifelike hyperlife becomes, humans will be able to study processes similar to that of the human brain (Von Neumann architecture). 

"What could be more human than to give life?" Kelly asks. "I think I know: to give life and freedom. To give open-ended life."

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Deep Eddy and The Cultural Critic

In Bruce Sterling's "Deep Eddy", a short story about a young American man in Germany on a dangerous mission to deliver information, a technology called "spex" is the driving force behind the spread of information and the cause of tumultuous gatherings of people called "Wendes".

Points presented in this story:

Knowledge construction and preservation

The underlying concept of culture

The ethics of sharing illegal data

Google Glass, a technology similar to Spex in "Deep Eddy"

Spex, a type of augmented reality technology that functions as eyewear with a computer display, makes it possible for the wearer to be able to access information instantly while providing details about a person, event, or location in real-time.

One of the immediate effects of this technology are flash mob-esque events known as Wendes. In a Wende, large amounts of people will gather in a location, usually with the intention of celebration. However, Wendes also have the potential to grow into protests and rioting, as it does in Düssledorf, Germany. 

Eddy, a 22 year old from Chattanooga, Tennessee is one of the many tourists in transit to Düssledorf at the request of his local spexware users civil liberties group in order to smuggle a data disk to a man called The Cultural Critic. 

In "Deep Eddy", The Cultural Critic is a scholar whose goal in the story is to gather information, regardless of whether or not it is legal, in order to build information structures as a means of defining the underlying concept of culture. His rival, The Moral Referee, is a philosopher with a large following who intends to eliminate such illegal or criminal information, thereby rendering it inaccessible.

Towards the end of the story after Eddy has delivered the data disk, The Moral Referee is successful in storming the safe house in which The Cultural Critic has taken refuge. However, it is revealed by The Cultural Critic that most of the illegal data in the safe house is banal and that it was necessary to stage a resistance. The Cultural Critic states that the purpose of this resistance is that contradictory attitudes serve to fertilize society.

Despite having opposing viewpoints, both The Cultural Critic and The Moral Referee are similar in that they are artists and philosophers who are both fighting to shape the future of knowledge construction.

According to The Cultural Critic, all information, be it legal or illegal, intellectual or criminal, serves to build a greater sense of humanity's self-knowing. While this information should be preserved, there should also exist opposing ideologies in order progress in the construction of knowledge. The society portrayed in "Deep Eddy" lacks an understanding of the difference between what has a cultural impact, and what is merely ornamentation. Technology such as spex is not only capable of preserving and spreading this information, but is also responsible for bringing clashing ideals together. 

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Examining Demons and Entropy in "Any Major Dude"

Paul Di Filippo's short story "Any Major Dude" (found in the anthology, Babylon Sisters) tells a story of a not-so-distant-future where a limitless energy source has been discovered. As the story progresses it is revealed that this new technology is in the process of toppling international economies, and is under quarantine by the United Nations. However, toward the end of the story the reader discovers that the spread of the inexhaustible nanotechnology, known as "demons", will inevitably consume the entire world and beget a global economy as well as a new way of life. This futuristic utopian society is hinted at when the protagonist, Holt, crosses the border into Maxwell's Land; home of the demons. Holt steps into a thriving bazaar completely lacking in poverty and suffering, where people can receive goods at no cost on the basis that it will be paid off in labor or the exchange of other goods. Holt's guide explains that what currency that is used in Maxwell's Land is merely a remnant of the old paradigm, a force of habit being used by those still adjusting to the new way of life. Two recurring themes in this story are "demons" and "anti-entropy".

Examining Demons and Entropy

The Torment of Saint Anthony (Michelangelo) 

Demons

The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines a demon as "a source or agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin" but also as "one that has exceptional enthusiasm, drive, or effectiveness".

Both definitions are applicable to this story in particular. Throughout history, the concept of the demon as an evil and harmful entity has existed in many different cultures around the world. They are seen as something threatening to an individual's physical or spiritual well-being, and usually exist within a religious context. The same could be said for the "demons" of "Any Major Dude" as they begin to challenge global economies that for some, serve almost as a belief system.

The fact that some citizens of Maxwell's Land still cling to currency, and that outside countries pass laws in attempt to quell any further development of the new country, is evidence enough that most people in "Any Major Dude" are reluctant to convert to the new way of life.

The alternate definition of "demon" being described as one with exceptional enthusiasm could be used to described not only the possibilities of boundless energy, but also the willingness of the citizens of Maxwell's Land to advocate and participate in the paradigm shift. 

Entropy

According to The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, entropy is "a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder, that is a property of the system's state, and that varies directly with any reversible change in heat in the system and inversely with the temperature of the system; broadly :  the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system". It is also defined as "a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder".

Both definitions essentially mean the same thing, but can be used to described completely different scenarios. The first definition refers to the literal life-span of an energy source, which is being challenged in "Any Major Dude" as the anti-entropy revolution of the "demons" begins. 

The second definition could be used in a much more broad sense, such as describing the inevitable downfall of countries and economic systems put in place pre-"demon" technology that stand in opposition to anti-entropy.

How does this story relate to the Digital Humanities?

"Any Major Dude" relates to the Digital Humanities on multiple levels, but two stood out to me in particular:

The altruistic (or humanistic) nature of a society where competition for resources no longer exists.

The human/technology feedback loop, or the affect that humans have on technology and vice versa. 

Many nations in "Any Major Dude" fear the spread of Maxwell's Land because of the affect a limitless energy source will have on their economic standing granted to them by their resources and other countries' demands for said resources. It is even said in the story that the rise of Maxwell's Land in Africa gave way to a dip in the Western economy due to the sudden halt in oil exports.

In Maxwell's Land, this resource based economy is nonexistent; Citizens are willing to provide goods and services for "free". This, in part, is because the competition for resources has been eliminated by the power of the "demons". It is also because people expect that their provisions will be repaid in some way by their recipients, be it in the exchange of other goods or services. In short, people are no longer hesitant about sharing their fortunes as their is plenty to go around.

This altruistic affect, like the "demons", is endless in possibility. Citizens of Maxwell's land no longer need worry about healthcare, food, shelter, or transportation. With their immediate needs being met at all times, society is presented with an opportunity to increase productivity which could lead to unprecedented advancements in welfare, culture, education, and technology.

That being said, the world presented in "Any Major Dude" could be predicted to become a futuristic utopia in a matter of decades due to the rapid advancement of the human/technology feedback loop running endlessly without interruption.

Any Major Dude

The Di Filippo's short story references the Steely Dan song "Any Major Dude Will Tell You". The chorus of this song are as follows:

Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend  Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again  When the demon is at your door  In the morning it won't be there no more  Any major dude will tell you

These lyrics could be viewed as a reflection of the events that take place in "Any Major Dude" on a global scale. Nations of the world are divided by competition in a resource-based economy. Maxwell's Land, and the "demons" that fuel it, are bringing those nations together by providing an inexhaustible energy source that contains the power to change the world.

Steely Dan

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Who You Callin a Cyborg?

  At the moment, the idea of a walking USB device seems quite abstract, but in William Gibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic", Johnny is just that. He is a Data Trafficker who has undergone surgery to integrate a data storage system in his head. He securely transports the data as a means of making a living for himself. 

In the book, not just Johnny, but all the other characters underwent similar procedures to prolong their life, or suit their respective careers.  Molly had razor hands and surgical inlays for vision while the Dog twins were altered to appear identical. 

Thefreedictionary.com defines a cyborg as: "A human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices."  Looking at this definition, it is obvious that not only the characters in the fictional story are cyborgs, but some people alive today.

After five heart attacks, Dick Cheney, the 46th Vice President was outfitted with a left ventricular assistive device.  This device continuously pumped blood throughout his body without a pulse. As a result, he was able to survive for nearly 2 years while awaiting a compatible heart. Cheney’s physiological process of blood circulation was aided by a mechanical and electronic device, making him: a cyborg.

Beyond surgical procedures, the above definition implies that not only Cheney, but most humans are cyborgs. People utilize computers, tablets and smartphones to navigate through the modern physiological world and without these devices would be greatly disadvantaged.  As a result there is a "self-extention" for everything.  

"Johnny Mnemonic" helps to draw attention to the fact that the cyborg is not a fictional futuristic character but a term used to describe modern day people who use innovative technology to function in a modern high tech world.

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Seduction of the Psyche

   In "Staying Behind," Ken Liu explores a world where the physical body and world is abandoned for the allure of a virtual heaven.  The process is irreversible and involves uploading the individual’s consciousness into a mainframe which leaves the body uninhabitable.  To further complicate matters, it is unclear whether the uploaded individual is dead or living a perfect virtual life.  Despite this risk, a clear majority in the story opt for the virtual world over the physical.

The idea that an individual would abandon the physical body for the uncertainty of virtual immortality seems unfathomable, but a similar phenomenon can be seen in the youth of this generation. Like the people in the story they have largely abandoned physical recreation and the outdoor games of previous generations, to take part in virtual activities like gaming and social networking. 

Lui paints a picture of the consequence of this abandonment on the backdrop of a deteriorated physical world.  Similarly, the trend of less physically active youth in this generation of children has caused an erosion of their physical health.  For example the CDC says Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.  Coincidentally, the onset of personal computers and video games dates back the same length of time.  Assuming that the two events are related, a clear change of pattern, pace and scale has been introduced into human affairs by these technologies.

Isolating obesity as only one consequence of these technologies, it stands to reason that a generation would grow to resent their physical bodies.  According to Letsmove.gov "Obese children may experience immediate health consequences" and "others which can lead to weight-related health problems in adulthood." Some of these problems include:

Heart disease

Type 2 diabetes

Asthma

Sleep apnea

Social discrimination

  Once the reality of these consequences is taken into account the allure of the virtual world to future generations becomes evident. 

Although it takes place in the future, it is clear that "Staying Behind" is about what is happening currently in society.  The impact of technology has permanently altered humanity causing each generation to become more and more disenchanted with ails of the physical world; meanwhile being seduced more into the virtual one.

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Burning Chrome and Virtual Crime

In “Burning Chrome,” Jack and Bobby break into the Chrome's computer to steal her money. Though they do this through a network and not by directly entering her domain, Jack describes the process as if entering an actual fortress. He speaks of “towers of data" and "ice walls," and also makes a reference to "Chrome's cold heart," as if her computer exists as a piece of her.

Though we haven't quite reached the point of entering each others virtual worlds, people do tend to carry their devices around as if they are a part of them. Whereas in past years people may have just made sure they had their wallet and keys with them when going out, smart phones and sometimes other devices have now been added to that list.

People store their lives within their computers. Writers keep documents of their musings saved on their hard drives, and artists store their sketches. When computers fail, people mourn the loss of their data more than the actual device.

Advancing Technology

As we move into the future, devices like the Oculus Rift and Google Glasses have started to come into play. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality gaming device that is currently being developed, while Google Glasses are a device that connect the virtual with the real world. Though not widely available or used yet, these items give us a glance into what the future might look like.

Currently, the main use of the Oculus Rift is for gaming, along with some simulations. However, if it takes off and continues to be further developed, could we see people using it for purposes similar to Jack and Bobby? Would it be possible to enter the domain of another person and literally rob them? We already have hackers, but people don't usually speak of having their accounts hacked in the same way as having their homes broken into.

Traumatic feelings after a burglary are common. People who have had their homes broken into, even if there was no confrontation, may feel violated and experience feelings of anxiety, fear, or loss of control. The idea of someone being in their home uninvited makes people feel less safe.

Virtual Crime

It's interesting to think about what sort of safety precautions will be taken if virtual reality takes off and people begin to spend more time in a virtual world rather than a physical. Laws will probably need to change or be created to deal with the issues that people may face.

In the game Minecraft, people can create servers to play with other people on. Ideally, everyone will either work together to build epic creations or stay to their own areas. However, there are people called “griefers,” who will join public servers or get access to private ones, and break people's creations for fun. While this doesn't sound like a huge deal, the effect of having something destroyed that took so long to make can be distressing.

That is, however, a video game built on minimal building block graphics that you never actually step into. The thought of having a world that you live in and may have completely created from the recesses of your mind hacked into and destroyed or altered could be much more devastating. People have already started to think about if the virtual needs to be policed more, because of crimes within game such as thievery and even rape. Some courts have even given real punishments to people for committing crimes within games.

In "Burning Chrome," Jack and Bobby do commit a legitimate crime that will affect Chrome's life in a big way. Jack makes clear that they have sentenced Chrome to death through their actions. However, while within her system, he also says, "I thought I heard Chrome scream, a raw metal sound, but I couldn't have." This is partly due to the guilt that he is feeling, but it also makes it seem as if they have physically harmed her.

Thinking About the Future

If technology advances to a point at which we exist more in virtual worlds, crime within those worlds will probably follow. It would be wise to start thinking about the implications now, rather than charging on and waiting for people to have bad experiences. As digital humanists, we should think about all technology critically rather than accepting it blindly.

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The Body is Obsolete?

In the "Medium is the Message" McLuhan writes:

 "The serious artist is the only person able to encounter technology with impunity, just because he is an expert aware of the changes in sense perception."

 When searching for an authentic contemporary example of this type of a serious artist, Stelarc comes to mind.  He uses his body to demonstrate his message; "the body is obsolete."  And his reputation for suspending his entire body from hooks piercing his skin, gives the impression that he whole heartedly believes his own assertion that the body is obsolete.

Stelarc is arguably a serious artist, so according to McLuhan’s philosophy, he must be privy to changes in society’s sense perception.  As an expert, Stelarc knows that speaking against the body, the uniform that identifies people as human, reeks of blasphemy; especially coming from a man who owns a fully functional body. As a result, he refers to the body as a waste of space, knowing it is difficult for an embodied person not to take exception.

Presumably, this leads one to question the purpose of the relationship between the artist and society. Consistent with McLuhan’s position, Stelarc uses his own body as the medium for his message by using his own various body-piercings and rather large hook-through-skin suspension stunts as visual reinforcement of his “the body’s obsolete” philosophy.   

Through this prick to the senses Stelarc, is attempting to extend the umbrella of acceptance or tolerance by society to his envisioned new relationship between technology and the human body.  It is easy to conclude that though his attention vehicle forces the viewer to encounter the deeper issues being presented, his “the body is obsolete” statement runs as a contradiction to any subsequent explanation of his trap-door message.  Perhaps Stelarc should stick to his stunts, and the substance of his discussion material.  Cybernetics, Nanotechnology, and extension and enhancement of human potentials through technology, are all thought worthy topics in their own right. 

"Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it."

In the above quote from Understanding Media, McLuhan is fairly certain that art is a pretty accurate predictor of what is happening to the old culture. In this vein, Stelarc's art demonstrates that the body is becoming more of a medium for the personal experiential participation in human life; than the valuable, inviolable gift it was once commonly thought to be.