"Does This Unit Have a Soul?" - A Review of The Mechanical

The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The question of consciousness and self-awareness is one that has preoccupied many people, from philosophers to biologists to computer programmers and robotics experts. Rene Descartes is famous for the pronouncement “I think, therefore I am”, but before and after Descartes many others have tried to answer the same question: how do we know we are aware? From that question springs many, many others: does awareness of the self imply intelligence? Does it imply the existence of a soul?

This question has, naturally, interested writers of all stripes, who have explored the idea in their own way. However, some of the most interesting explorations into the nature of consciousness occur in the realm of science fiction, where aliens and artificial intelligences all act as vehicles for exploring the meaning of consciousness, self-awareness, and free will. The quote used in the title is actually from one of the games in the Mass Effect sci-fi video game series, and is uttered by a character who comes from a race of robots with what is called “synthetic intelligence”. This is distinguished from “artificial intelligence” in that, though both are created by another intelligent being or beings, a synthetic intelligence is not merely a copy or an imitation of its creators: instead, it is a valid and genuine form of intelligence, capable of identifying itself as being different from those that made it.

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