Is anyone watching the new AMC show Humans?

The Nurse Ratchet-bot is to me the least appealing character on the show. I wouldn't tolerate her for five minutes. I'd turn her off or dismantle her if I have to--except in the show's world that's probably a criminal act that would put you in prison.

I think she's an attempt by the show's creator to explore what would happen if things were reversed. Though she was assigned to him, she obviously doesn't take orders from him (a violation of Asimov's First Law of Robotics--which IMO is another problem with the show). John Hurt's character isn't her owner. The government has basically declared him mentally incompetent (his memory loss), so he's basically under house arrest with Nurse Ratchett as prison guard, more or less. She's owned by the government, not by him, so he doesn't have owner's rights.

So how would one, as a human, deal with being in a situation like that?

The show has tremendous potention. Things about it bother me, though. Very strong "Battlestar Galactica" vibe, not so much with cylons as enemies, but with all the intrigue and double-dealing humans engage in. And now we have these synths who are capable of the same thing. At least one conscious synth is no longer bound by Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. So this is an exploration of that. Which I find intriguing.

What happens to robot morality when the robot is no longer bound by the Three Laws? The synths still care about things. They have emotions, empathy, goals, fears. Many intriguing possibilities for exploration, synth morality, synth religion. What would they make of human religions?

Perhaps my biggest complaint about the show is the very wooden performance in the first 3 episodes of the actress playing Anita. It's just boring. I can't help but compare her to Brent Spiner's performance as Data, who was able to portray an android without emotions, without ever being wooden. Data is alive in a way Anita is not.

/r/Futurology Thread Parent