Thursday, October 30, 2008

Super-Toys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss and Artificial Intelligence

David, a preschool boy who struggles to express his feelings to his mother and ponders the question of what is real; his mother Monica Swinton, who struggles to endure the loneliness of her typically isolated lifestyle; and her husband Henry, who is involved in the development of intelligent robots that will be able to serve as social companions for humans. At the end, it is revealed that the couple has been waiting for permission to have a child. David is not a "real" boy.

David, a young robotic boy, is the first android ever programmed to feel human emotion. As an experiment, he is used as a substitute for a couple who have had their terminally ill son, Martin and frozen. When Martin is unexpectedly able to return home, it sparks jealousy between the two boys over their mother's love. Helped by another android, David begins his quest to find someone who can help him become 'a real boy' just like Martin.

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