In Robot Suicide: Death, Identity, and AI in Science Fiction, Liz W. Faber blends cultural studies, philosophy, sociology, and medical sciences to show how fictional robots hold up a mirror to our cultural perceptions about suicide and can help us rethink real-world policies regarding mental health.
Liz W. Faber is assistant professor of English and communication at Dean College and adjunct instructor of scientific and academic writing at University of Maryland Baltimore's Graduate School.
Faber's detailed, compassionate analysis of the possibility of and reasons for robot suicide reminds us to look at more than the obvious. In reading Robot Suicide we are transported to a deeper consciousness, where we recognize the humanity of our robot companions--not inherent, but because we created them in our own image. This book is a vital contribution to our understanding of sci-fi, robots, the social conception of suicidality, and transitively, of ourselves.