Hello all you happy people! I hope you’re doing all right; I’m dying in 30°C heat because the Americans, along with their Russian allies, have decided to kill all life on this planet.

But hey! At least we’ve got the Major, right?

And as always guys, if you want to support me you can subscribe to the website, Patreon, or buy me a hot chocolate.

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama

Oh yeah it’s this one. One of the few times Canada gets mention in fiction, and naturally it’s one of the creepier episodes.

Also, this is yet another loose adaptation of Robot Rondo. I guess that chapter stuck out in the minds of anime writers, huh?

Something that the AI-boosters have not thought all the way through yet is: what happens when the AI’s get sapient and start demanding rights? Forcing a conscious organism to perform labour is slavery, regardless of whether that consciousness rose from a machine or a biological organism. AI development won’t lead to greater automation; quite the opposite.

The good news is that a rise of sapient sexbots will mean the end of a lot of creepy men. The bad news is the male pop will drop like 60-70%.

Something else the AI-boosters haven’t thought through: what happens when somebody develops new AI? I don’t mean an update to an old model; I mean a whole new product. How will the now-sapient machines respond? How will the companies making these things respond? How will customers react when their favourite machine-person is discontinued?

Humans are emotional animals. We develop deep attachments to things like rocks and bugs. A computer or a phone that can actually talk to us, not just predictive text on a screen but actually communicate, that’s going to be a whole ‘nother level of attachment. One I don’t think we’ve correctly understood yet.

Assuming AI’s can simulate or experience emotions somewhat like we can (and I don’t think that’s an unfair assumption, given recent developments), an AI-driven media or even one with just a lot of AI’s in it would naturally react heavily to their fellow AI’s committing suicide.

Shouldn’t there be a secretary or something? A receptionist.

We humans are a superstitious bunch.

This goes back to my earlier point: we are, between developments in AI and in vitro fertilization, reaching a point where we can manufacture people. If that doesn’t make your hair stand on end, I don’t know what will.

Being caused by a virus is a bit of a cop out, honestly.

Yeah, much as I love Tachikomas, I don’t think a tank that can ask for souvenirs is going to help us out militarily personally. Like, again, this is the problem with a fundamental claim from the AI-boosters: that artificial intelligence is going to help us automate more. And I just don’t think that’s true. A thinking creature, machine or otherwise, can get distracted. It can decide that it doesn’t want to do a certain task, that the task is not worth the creature’s time or effort, that it is illegal or beneath the creature’s dignity. Which is cool and all, but it’s not gonna make my toasters or cars any faster, now is it?

This is all kind of coming across as though I’m anti-AI, and I’m not. I think Artificial Intelligence is cool! And could, potentially, benefit us all. But I do think the way AI is currently structured is fundamentally unsustainable, unethical, and hard on an already suffering environment. All of these are solvable problems, but the question is not ‘can we’, but ‘will we’?

A lot of the art in this season is kind of ugly, and the Jeri model here is a good example. It’s hard to see why this kid would get so attached to this doll and not a better-looking doll or a real human. But humans are emotional creatures and we get attached to the weirdest things so?

That’d be a bolder statement, dude, if you weren’t killing off other androids just so you don’t have to give up your sex doll!

Ah, the good old straw expert. I’m not surprised Batou flipped out.

Couldn’t you guys have just… knocked? I assume you have a warrant

It’s a nice apartment. More, better and bigger apartments are a definitely a (possible, assuming we sort out materials and other limitations) benefit of more automation. Again, though, I just don’t see how AI will help with that.

While Togusa and Batou were off doing the real work, it looks like the rest of Section 9 were having fun knocking around the Yakuza.

In real life, Canada does not have a draft and has not had one since World War 2. Mind you, there were two more world wars in GiTS: SAC, so it’s totally possible that we re-instituted a draft.

And hey! At least we’re not part of the fucking US unlike damned near every other future science-fiction show.

I mean this in the nicest possible Americans, but you can all die in nuclear fire. The sooner the better, actually.

SAC also gets diplomatic immunity right: countries won’t extend it if you keep breaking the host country’s laws. Especially if you’re just some snot-nosed kid of a diplomat, not the actual diplomat.

For the most part, the dub is better than the subtitles for this series. However, this is one part where it falls down.

Speaking from personal experience there, Batou?

This is not a healthy relationship.

Togusa definitely thinks so.

They blended those CGI cars into the 2D environments pretty well, I think.

Take your tongue out of your cheek when you say that, Batou.

Who’s using a flip phone in 2030?

So now the question becomes, why did the Jeri chose those words specifically? Was it just a ‘stochastic parrot’ choosing the words that were most suited for the situation at hand?

Or did she have a Ghost after all?

And we get some foreshadowing on the Major’s backstory.

Screenplay by Yoshiki Sakurai

Poor Tachikoma.

I wonder what will happen AIs get curious? Probably pick up a lot of viruses, honestly.