Title: He, She and It
Publication Year: 1991
Plot: In the middle of the twenty-first century, life as we know it has changed for all time. Shira Shipman’s marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, so she has returned to Tikva, the Jewish free town where she grew up. There, she is welcomed by Malkah, the brilliant grandmother who raised her, and meets an extraordinary man who is not a man at all, but a unique cyborg implanted with intelligence, emotions–and the ability to kill….
Miscellaneous: It won the Arthur C. Clark aware for best science fiction novel.
The discussion around Marge Piercy’s He, She and It was absolutely riveting. As a result, I didn’t take as many notes as I usually do, as I was engaged and helping facilitate discussion. There’s a quote on p. 55 about that concerns “loving too hard” and the necessity for a balanced life. We talked about what it does to someone when they are consumed and driven solely by love as opposed to balancing your life in a somewhat more healthy manner. When you are validated and purposed (in your mind) for love, you give power to those you love, and that can go away. It can be controlling. This wasn’t quite where I thought the discussion would start, but it was interesting nonetheless.
We then started talking about the rights of AI. What rights do a robot have? In the novel, there is tension when Yod’s rights are discussed. Should he be paid? Can he/it be a parent? In the future, could there be a civil rights movement for AI? Piercy weaves background and information from many different stories and traditions in her story to get us to think about this question. Frankenstein, Pygmallion, and a lot of Jewish mysticism show that the question of who is human and who isn’t has been around for a long, long time.
We were diving all around the novel. Towards the end of the story, Yod says a weapon should not be conscious, and since he was designed as a weapon, he can’t help it. This got us thinking about the way we are “hard-wired’ as humans (which is an interesting way to put it–we have wires!). How programmed are we? How much choice do we have in our lives? Do we simply react as we are “programmed” to react? One reader said this is what he loves about science fiction–it asks these questions about humanity. He said this rang true because for him, being in prison, he asserts that much of society does not deem him “human” in various senses of the word. He is a prisoner and has sacrificed his rights, therefore they view him as less human. “I herald sci-fi for asking and exploring these questions,” he said.
We then got into a speculative phase regarding the future. Could we see ourselves becoming attached to AI? If something is “programmed” to love us or form a relationship, how does that change things? We agreed that it does change it! In relationships, there needs to be tension. We need to work through things and change and grow. If we don’t have that tension, we become too comfortable and don’t appreciate what we have. Ideas of the future are filled with dreams of AI and the role it will play. It’s unknown, but we agreed that there will be some serious consequences and ramifications if we aren’t careful.
Yod is able to have an existential crisis–does this make him human? Humans have always wondered what their place in the universe is. If a robot/cyborg does it, how does that change our perception of the AI? And if humans have chips and mechanical parts, does that make them less human? It was a wild discussion and very thought-provoking. Marge Piercy is a great and talented provocateur.
Feel free to leave any comments on Piercy, the novel, or anything else below.
We’ll be talking about The Left Hand of Darkness next week.
Until next time,
E.