Annie Bot

In addition to its commentary on gender roles in heteronormative relationships, Annie Bot is a meditation on the nature of artificial intelligence and what differentiates it from human intelligence. Technological advancements in the field of artificial intelligence have grown exponentially during the first few years of the 2020s, and the presence of lifelike, autodidactic companion robots in consumer markets no longer seems far-fetched. Humanity is currently grappling with a host of issues related to artificial intelligence, including the dangers that it poses to human jobs, media, and relationships. The character of Annie, because she is autodidactic, begins to approach a human consciousness as she learns and grows throughout the course of the narrative. Because she has the capacity to learn, emotional intelligence, intellect, a desire for human connection, and a desire for autonomy and self-determination, she asks the following question: If artificial intelligence can achieve humanlike levels of not only cognition but also affect, can it really be categorized as artificial?

Annie’s capacity to learn, store, and process information becomes a marker for what Jacobson, Tammy, and others see as a “humanlike” intellect. She teaches herself math, computer science, and other languages and has the ability to analyze literature at a high level.