Annie is sweet, kind and beautiful. She’s also a robot. And Annie wants to learn what it really means to be human. That knowledge, however, might just leave her questioning everything she was programmed to do.
Annie is sweet, kind and beautiful. She’s also a robot. And Annie wants to learn what it really means to be human. That knowledge, however, might just leave her questioning everything she was programmed to do.
She’s pretty and as life-like as a biomorphic robot can get.
In fact, this latest generation of Stella robots (or Handy robots if you’re seeking a male version) are amazingly realistic. Thanks to the inventive use of discarded human embryos, they come complete with actual skin. And depending on the level of detail you purchase, there are no neck seams or visible mechanical parts to give their robo side away.
Doug calls his Stella, Annie. It just seemed like a nice, sweet name to him. A girl-next-door sort of name. And Annie looks and acts like every guy’s next-door fantasy: smart, shapely, kind and, well, warm. In fact, she can raise her body temperature to whatever level you desire. (She normally runs at a cool 75 degrees to conserve battery power, but can easily slide up to 98.6 for, uh, other situations.)
Oh, and that’s another aspect to the Stellas that I should mention: These robos come in various versions depending on your desired need for them. One version is super proficient at house cleaning and cooking, another is great at childcare. And then there’s the cuddle bunny version. That version makes sure her body temperature and internal libido levels are as instantly flexible as a circus contortionist.
Annie is set with that latter focus in mind. In fact, Doug has even set her to Autodidactic mode, which helps her learn more quickly and take on much more “human” traits. That’s really much more preferrable for the cuddle bunny side of things, dontcha know.
But here’s the thing. Annie is learning and growing at unheard of rates. She’s beginning to understand the complexities of human nature much better than her creators might have imagined.
She’s still cognitive of the fact that she is Doug’s possession. And she’s completely sweet and kind. But something just happened that has made something inside her shift.
Doug’s “good friend” Roland was spending the night, you see. And while Annie was plugged in the kitchen closet for recharging, Roland approached her with seductive eyes. Annie had recognized his kind words to her earlier in the night when he and Doug were eating pizza and drinking beer. But she never thought it might lead to this.
Roland started whispering things so that Doug wouldn’t hear, things he shouldn’t be saying.
For her part, Annie has never said no to sex. But the difference was that Doug was always the one asking or demanding. She tried to back away from the approaching Roland and said, “I am confused.”
Roland, however, smiled at her and spoke of the fact that confusion is a part of learning. Then he says, “Are you good at keeping secrets?” And Annie is taken totally aback. She’s never had a secret. She’s never had the need for one. But wouldn’t a secret like this be a … lie?
Annie’s Autodidactic mode kicks into gear. If secrets and lies are the things that will make her more human, as Roland promises, shouldn’t she have them? For Doug’s sake?
And just like that, Annie’s life, short as it’s been, begins to change radically.
There are no direct references here to spiritual things. But when looked at through a biblical lens, the story can be interpreted as raising questions about mankind’s fallen nature.
Doug, for instance is hesitant to let the outside world see what he has designed Annie to be: a “sexier” version of his ex-wife who’s subservient to his demands. (In fact, he later has the factory rework Annie to have larger breasts and a thinner waist at his whim.) And his true nature peeks through when he interacts with Annie in private.
The demeaning and hurtful choices he makes when no one but Annie is watching reflect the sentiments of verses such as Genesis 6:5 and Romans 3:10-18, among others. And Doug justifies those choices. Author Sierra Greer offers us glimpses of the “loving relationship” that Doug and Annie might have had if he wasn’t the man that he is and she was, well, unbound from her programming.
In that light, we readily identify with Annie’s internal narration about the things happening to her. And a large part of that is due to her innocent perspective on things. She sees herself as an owned possession, an AI construct designed to serve. But we see her as an innocent woman being mistreated. And then as she grows as a “person,” she’s exposed to the concepts of jealousy, secrecy and lies, which, we’re told, make her more “human.”
The book sees those changes as enlightening moments. But again, we can see then as something different. Yes, her changes eventually free her from something terrible, which is a good thing. But they can also be illustrative of the innocence-corrupting nature of sin and sinful choices (Genesis 3:7-11).
None.
The two central characters are defined clearly for us. Doug is an orderly man who wants things his way. It’s suggested that that controlling side of his personality led to his divorce. And we also see Doug’s mean streak, something that drives him to do emotionally painful things that he justifies because no “real” person is watching him do them.
Initially Annie’s programming causes her to feel literal pain when she perceives that she has disappointed her owner. Through this device, the story helps us understand the guilt and shame that can shackle women in real-life abusive relationships.
The story isn’t filled with frequent profanity, but readers will encounter some uses of the f-word, the s-word, a few misuses of Jesus’ name and a handful of other profanities.
Doug never hits Annie, but he does sometimes treat her as an owned object to be sexually used at a moment’s notice. He also yanks her arm in anger at one point, hurting her and leaving a bruise behind. While venturing out on her own, Annie (and another bot) encounter dangerous situations, such as a vicious dog, etc.
Doug and his friend Roland drink beer together and Annie mentions pouring Doug “a drink.”
The world of Annie Bot raises questions about combining artificial intelligence with sex. And we witness that cross-pollination’s tendency to remove moral choices from the sexual arena.
Annie was created to be the perfect companion for Doug. In his eyes, she is an object, a possession. He dresses her in whatever skimpy clothing he desires. Annie is perpetually 21. Her breast size and weight are changed at Doug’s whim. And she has adjustable libido settings so that she’s always at the right level of excitement for him.
Doug mentions to Roland that he tried level ten a few times, but “she was like an animal.” “I once found her licking my shoes in the closet.”
The story uses this character attitude as a dramatic illustration of real-world objectification of women and the appeal of porn, especially for men. (We’re left to question the rightness or wrongness of such activity. But since Annie is essentially an abused innocent, it’s clear what the answer is.)
In that context, we’re let in on several sexual encounters between Annie and Doug (and Roland). The sex is all seen through Annie’s robotic eyes, so the interactions are always an outcome of her “programming,” but the descriptions are still detailed.
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Annie Bot has been praised for being a “feminist parable” with a strong sci-fi twist. And while there is indeed a lot of male-female relationship analogies and themes of being a “women in a man’s world” to consider here, this innocent-AI-bot-and-her-owner story has more in its hard drive.
When looked at through a biblical lens, the tale raises thoughtful questions about mankind’s unchecked sinful nature and the innocence-corrupting aspect of sin and deceitful choices.
That said, readers should also be aware that Annie’s “cuddle bunny” sexual interactions don’t shy away from lustful descriptions. And some of those situations are not only dysfunctional and misogynistic but they clearly depict emotional abuse. Foul language is also another detraction from some significant moral questions the story otherwise tries to ask.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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