Detroit: Become Human is a video game that argues that artificial intelligence is capable of personhood and challenges the audience, science fiction fans, to consider the philosophical implications it brings up. This is done through several mechanics including the protagonists’ relationships and how their very existence affects the society they live in. This game is an adventure game set in the futuristic year of 2038. The world has accustomed itself to employing androids to do the jobs most people do not care to do. The player experiences the world through three android protagonists: Connor, Kara, and Markus.
The main mechanic used in the game is the relationships the protagonists have with the people around them. Connor uses his free will for the good of others to guide the player to believe machine sentience is a positive evolution. Connor is a police officer android that helps solves cases while obeying his orders. However, he is given the option of his life to protect a child. This choice of deviance shows that, impulsively, an android is capable of making good moral choices even when his life is in on the line. Morality is a trait usually attributed to humans. Giving this trait to an android helps build the case that androids can be considered people. The relationship between Kara and her owner, Todd, is used to give a sense of empathy with the android. Todd represents the everyman who has lost his job to the rising popularity of automated industries. He takes this anger outboth Kara and his own daughter Alice. Kara deviates to protect Alice from this abuse. This scene presents a very relatable scenario that is more and more common in this age of automation. However, it is set up to lead the player to build an affinity to the android and to despise the fairly more relatable human.
The relationship between Markus and his owner reveals that androids are capable of having deep relationships with other people. Markus’ owner, Carl treats Markus more like his own son than a machine for servitude. He even encourages Markus to think freely and make decisions of his own. And, as Carl dies in front of Markus, Markus begins to shed tears and even exclaims “dad” to Carl. This relationship is a stark contrast to that of Kara and her owner. Playing through Markus’ point of view, you sense the relationship of father and son instead of master and servant. It is very similar to if not identical to regular human connections. The reveal that Alice is an android is a great example of why it is difficult to determine who or what is human. Through the game, Alice is presented as a human girl because she gets cold, hungry, and sleeps. Kara is also ordered to take care of her at the beginning of the game. Eventually, it is revealed that she has been an android meant to replace his biological daughter. This is eye-opening to the player because as she exhibits free will and emotions through the story, you are also hit with the realization that she is an android as well. This helps the argument in that even if you were not convinced that androids could be human up to this point, it presents human to truly be an android.A deeper look into the connections formed by main characters reveals an effective method the game uses to support its argument.
Another mechanic used throughout the game is the public opinion bar. The public opinion bar help to show that the android can contribute directly to social relationships. There is a bar meant to represent the public opinion towards the android revolution. This bar is directly affected by the actions you execute as their leader, Markus. The bar ranges from supportive to hated. News coverage represents what part of the bar the player is currently at. This is something other machines are not capable of. Commonly, machines have been the medium of social interactions between humans. However, in the game, the androids are seen the same way as people would see other people in a revolution instead of machines doing programmed actions. The news coverage shows how the public debated how they feel about the androids. After the exposition of the game, the anchors debate the legitimacy and morality of the uprising.
After analyzing the mechanics of the game, the argument presented is supported by several excellent examples. It is also done in a way to allow the audience to draw their own conclusion about personhood and if it applies to artificial intelligence.
Source:
Quantic Dream. Detroit: Become Human. Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2018. PlayStation 4
