Will I love Annie Bot?

I’m fascinated by the ways AI and intimacy are becoming intertwined.

We already trust AI with our deepest thoughts, questions, and secrets. Increasingly, people are forming intimate relationships with this software that knows them so well. The more it learns about us, and the better it becomes at anticipating what we want, the more complicated our ideas about desire, consent, and control become.

Like my book, Annie Bot asks whether a choice can truly be yours if someone (or something) has been designed to shape it. If technology can influence or even manufacture desire, what does consent look like?

A badass woman whose not quite a woman. I was absorbed in this speculative sci-fi tale. It’s an easy and quick read yet the characters are well enough developed that I became furious on the protagonist’s behalf. I liked that it had me asking many questions on the grey moral landscape that is robotics and artificial intelligence. 

I found the protagonist relatable in spite of the fact she wasn’t human. She was programmed to please a man, yet discovered a form of self-actualization through reading. Her growth as a character was refreshing and I was rooting for her the whole… show more.

Annie is the perfect companion. She cooks, she cleans, she never leaves the apartment and she is always ready for physical intimacy. However, she is not human, she is a bot and Doug is not just her partner but her owner and master. Over time as the plot develops Annie’s thoughts become more complex and she develops strong feelings that closely match those of humans, like anger and anxiety.

As I read this intriguing book, I had great empathy for Annie and hoped that she would eventually reach a state of safety and contentment. It’s a timely book as AI… show more.