AI Narrators and Posthuman Visions by Heather D. Humann (review)

Reviewed by: AI Narrators and Posthuman Visionsby Heather D. Humann Luna Huang AI Narrators and Posthuman Visions. Heather D. Humann. A Tale Told by a Machine: The AI Narrator in Contemporary Science Fiction Novels. McFarland, 2023. vii+ 185 pp. $49.95 pbk. The growing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has given rise to a surge of AI stories and a heightened academic interest in this field. Focusing on narrative techniques, posthuman themes, and the ethical ramifications of AI narratives, Heather D. Humann meticulously dissects six contemporary sf pieces in her latest work, A Tale Told by a Machine. With unwavering attention, Humann delves into a "particular kind of nonhuman narrator: Artificial Intelligence" (2), aiming to scrutinize its role and impact. Throughout her analysis, she adeptly demonstrates how the perspectives and narrations invited by AI technologies blur and challenge the conventional demarcations between the human and the nonhuman and between the subject and the object, deconstructing the anthropocentric viewpoint and unveiling the human within the realm of posthumanism. In parallel, the book allegorically investigates the portrayal of AIs as "Others" (9), providing valuable insights into research on the social constructions of gender, race, and other kinds of difference. Humann's introduction comprises one-fifth of the book's content; it explores the academic legacy of AI representations, narrative theories, and posthumanist concepts that form the theoretical foundations for subsequent discussions and outline the central themes of each chapter. This section commences by revisiting AI depictions in sf classics, categorizing AIs as "counter-ontological entities" characterized by "non-biological" attributes yet manifesting "psychological qualities" (4). Recognizing the hybrid nature of AIs, Humann then posits that conventional distinctions such as "human/machine," "natural/artificial," and "thinking/programming" are inherently unstable (5), thus contextualizing her analysis within the purview of posthumanism and postmodernism. After further elaborating on the ethical concerns and future visions of AI development, Humann proceeds to a broad exploration of narrative theory. While underscoring the pivotal role of the "narrative voice" as "a central component of the narrative act" (10), she questions the necessity of the "human voice" as a narrative premise and validates the inclusion of the "nonhuman voice" (11). Moreover, she integrates cognitive narratology, employing concepts such as "intentionality" and "theory of mind" (13), and draws inspiration from ideas such as the "uncanny valley" [End Page 107](25), "de-familiarization," and "estrangement" (26) to analyze narrative techniques in posthuman representations. Positioning itself in the framework of posthumanism, the first chapter, titled "Corporeality, Selfhood, and Narrative Shifts in Ancillary Justice," effectively scrutinizes Ann Leckie's 2013 novel through the prism of narrative elements, including embodiment, alienation, and the shifting perspectives of the AI narrator. Encompassed by this conceptual structure, the chapter investigates ontological topics related to human/AI identities and self-awareness while illuminating the ethical dynamics that underlie the connections between self and others. Within the narrative, the character Breq, functioning as the AI narrator, resides in a single human body after the destruction of the spaceship, Justice of Toren. Humann argues that Breq's dual nature, both programmable and possessing human consciousness, not only "highlights (while complicating) the distinction between object and subject" but also "raises questions about subjectivity and posthuman agency" (37). Breq's former capacity to inhabit multiple bodies and accumulate a myriad of experiences and memories leads to an exploration of the complexities of identity. Furthermore, Humann deftly probes Leckie's adept use of the AI narrator's embodiment to "highlight common assumptions about gender" (48) and to "allegorically comment on slavery" (49), thereby unveiling pertinent ethical dilemmas that mirror real-world issues. The second chapter, "The Dawning of AI Sentience in Aurora," ventures beyond topics of human/AI "selfhood and identity alongside existential questions" to address "the deployment of power dynamics and the application of ethics" (64) that arise from human-machine interactions in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Aurora(2015). Humann argues that the narrative capacities and narrative processes of the AI piloting program generate its emotions and self-awareness, particularly evident in critical decision-making moments. The argument unfolds by further illustrating that even choices made by the AI narrator, driven by the intention to safeguard the majority of humanity...