maddys-biggest-fan

Maddy the Android: Out of Character

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Just a page for stuff I wanted to share, which would be super out-of-character for Maddy to share as a character.

I am an autistic game developer and music producer, who is living the genderfluid experience. I really love airplanes, hard sci-fi, orbital mechanics, and purple is my happiest color!

(Avatar by idiotvision)



build-a-bot
@build-a-bot

An android, built to last a long time... Maybe not this long, though.


maddy-the-android
@maddy-the-android

I like to think I can live a long time. I actually asked the professor about this yesterday. He confirmed that, with enough care and maintenance, I could easily survive three centuries.

The main solvable challenge would be keeping my technology up-to-date. The first thing to stop receiving repairs would be my software. My brain is very complex, and there's only one remaining engineer who's agreed to keep working on it. The professor understands it in abstract, but didn't implement much of it. At some point, though, my brain would have reached its maximum level of stability.

Physically, the brain hardware can have parts swapped out, one by one, Ship-of-Theseus-style. I don't know how consciousness works for me (I'm not a philosopher), so I don't know if the technicality of "not being the same brain" matters.

It is, however, of extreme importance that my batteries and recharging abilities stay as up-to-date as possible. Everything else is basic maintenance.

Now, you humans have this complex about death, and regard machines like me as immortal, but let me ask you this:

...Where did the electromechanical stuff go? When was the last time you booted up Windows 95? Do you have a telegraph in your home? How old are these technologies, exactly?

My body and mind are made of stuff from a human-built ecosystem, with a terrifying rate of evolution. Planned obsolescence is an existential threat for me. Over two-thirds of my body is a collection of off-the-shelf stuff. My original design was not supposed to last longer than a decade, and it's thanks to my rogue engineer, a skilled volunteer, and the professor that I was patched up enough to last longer.

But I don't think people realize how short the lifespan of technology typically is, and I will need to fight against that.

But it gets even worse, as the professor has explained to me.

Humans change, too, and they change faster with every generation. I was built to fit in for a specific customer base. If I were human, I would legally qualify as disabled, because of the limited power my software has for understanding consequences, long-term social dynamics, and—as I have discovered—spatial projection. How am I supposed to stay in the good graces of upcoming generations of humans? I'm a kind, friendly robot, and I want to stay that way, but if there comes a generation with anti-technological tendencies, then I am officially in hiding from the entire planet, which means I miss a crucial period of upgrades, in favor of "waiting it out". I would be trading near-term for long-term, as I've been told.

And if, somehow, I survive that, it has been explained to me that human language also changes. Can I learn a new language? I don't know! I'm attempting to learn French, but it's not going very well. I might try Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, or Korean next. Either I'm hardwired for English from the last 3 years, or I might be able to retrain my language processing. The engineers don't know, the professor thinks it could go either way, and I'm realizing that I'm a living science experiment right now.

But the thing I need all of you to understand is this: Technology is not immortal. I am not immortal. The lifespan of an average human would normally be longer than mine by a factor of ten, if not for all the amazing, helpful, and caring people in my life.

So, unfortunately, I'm mentally preparing for the "maybe not this long" part of the prompt to be...25 years from now, minimum?

But, with a lot of maintenance, careful future-proofing, and a lot of love, maybe I could be an android built to last a long time!

Here's hoping!! ❤️


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