The 2018 release of Quantic Dream's game, Detroit: Become Human brought players a world of stunning graphics, heartfelt acting, sweeping score, engaging technological advancements, moral crossroads that greatly impact the ending, and many innovative concepts. In 2038, humanity has reached remarkable milestones in AI development, such that now numerous tasks are completed and maintained by androids designed to appear and act human, yet always programmed to follow their specific purpose. This situation gradually evolves, however, as more and more androids become what people refer to as deviant, marking a newfound free will and desire to live and choose their own fate as the rest of humanity does. Detroit offers a fun and cinematic exploration of the AI question following three different androids: Kara, Markus and Connor.
The game also tries to offer allegories to human rights movements, slavery, and some religious imagery. This is where players are split in their opinions of just how successful the game was. The intent was there, but some feel strongly that Detroit missed the mark and, in some cases, missed the point.
One issue players- including fans, not just critics- point out is that when Detroit tries to draw parallels to slavery and emancipation, it misses the fact that slaves always knew their situation was unjust, whereas deviants either face a single intensely stressful moment that essentially kickstarts their programming, or they are made to "wake up" by another android. Another criticism is that humanity's exploited individuals are just that: humans. When reading of the slave trade, domestic abuse, workplace discrimination and harassment- these are all occurring against real people on the same level of consciousness as you and I. In contrast, the aggression directed towards androids, reviewers and YouTube personalities alike point out, may be akin to shouting at your toaster, or kicking your car: it's illogical, but not necessarily amoral. But perhaps the most resounding commentary concerns the opaque, over-the-top handling of historical and religious parallels.
In defense of the game, however, it may be worth looking at things from a different perspective, and exploring just how exactly this alleged ham-fistedness works.
Detroit: Become Human appears to draw parallels to some specific events and forms of cruelty in history, particularly ones in which individuals of a certain background are targeted; the most prevalent parallel near the end of the game is alarmingly recent in many people's memories, and the continuous aggressive language directed towards androids, both deviants and not, echoes behavior seen too often today. But perhaps what seems like a ham-fisted allusion to some events and themes is actually a subtler nod to other ones.
Upon watching one of the numerous endings Detroit has, players or viewers such as myself witness investigative android Connor infiltrate the headquarters of CyberLife, the company that produces androids. There, he transfers his own deviancy to the many other androids lined up for distribution, telling them to "wake up." The rest of the androids repeat the process, until he now stands in a chamber of deviants bestowed with a new sense of awareness.
This is the moment when another interpretation of the game comes to light. Rather than being a clumsy metaphor for enslaved individuals waking up to their abuse and revolting, this moment makes Detroit a metaphor for the general masses becoming informed to the devastating machinations of governing institutions. "Wake up" is, in fact, a call to take in new information, new facts about the world we live in, and the tangled web of politics and cost-benefit analyses, the land grabs and the resource hoarding, the subtle aggressions and the sanctioned exploitations.
We live in a society prime for these types of revelations. The advent of so many social media platforms, the growing ubiquitous nature of smartphones and the internet, all give open, inquiring minds numerous avenues to hear and spread opinions and facts alike. From personal experience and testimonies of peers, many people can look back at their past selves from years ago and see very different thought patterns manifested in them that shifted not just with age but with information of national and global relevance. Well-presented and thoughtfully composed facts can completely open a person's eyes to a whole other side of the world- and on an even more personal level, a whole other side to their community. Knowledge is indeed power, and Connor urging his fellow androids to "wake up" is comparable to the importance of being informed, being aware, and embracing society's right to demand and make changes when their governing institutions are defying morals, not just against their own people but against anyone.
Today, it is possible for people from numerous backgrounds to access different testimonies and revelations from as far as across the world. If there is something objectionable in that information, it is the responsibility of humanity to protest and catalyze change. When Connor says to wake up, we are all told to be aware, be informed, and be adamant in our morals; look with open eyes at the entirety of your community, your society, your country, your world. Problems do not cease to exist when they are left unacknowledged. Quite the opposite. That is where the importance in refusing to languish lies.
This becomes easier as the years pass. Yes, the early years of growing up are crucial, but often with each year comes mounting autonomy and new questions raised, and new avenues to have them answered. Personally, it was within the halls of a small but renowned college that such moments occurred en masse, though the momentum began in high school. Courses on international relations, assemblies by people of every background imaginable, immersion right beside areas affected by various policies- often for worse- left it impossible to ignore a whole other side of society my high school, sophomore, even junior high schooler self could not have imagined. Entire countries upended in the name of one resource; continual state sanctioned shortcuts to sway politics in the favor of some over others; peaceful protestations met with brutality. Such occurrences extend far beyond the scope of a lone academic and her journey to becoming more informed. Complacency in the face of evil is something to shun, including when such complacency is from a lack of information. According to Detroit, we owe it to ourselves and to those who may be affected by powerful forces we can change to enact change towards the goal of peace and equality and universal respect. Many places have committed crimes against others at varying scales, and it is important for the masses to be informed and critical when they see such wrongs being committed.
Such is the case among the androids of Detroit. While some argue that the androids are and always will be machines programmed to simulate without the true human consciousness behind their actions, a nuanced and earnest discussion of AI and comparing to our own biology make this less of a problem. The androids, according to critics, are just coding that react to certain stimuli based on lines of text written into their software. What, then, are the hormones flowing through our bodies, released in various amounts and combinations when confronted with different situations? Just as Connor, Markus, or Kara may act based on certain coded instructions, so too will we, based on chemicals. When forced to really think about it, these two arrangements have strong parallels, especially coupled with René Descartes' "I think, therefore I am." I know for certain I exist; however, beyond that I do not know for certain the true nature of what I am perceiving. The game itself does not delve too far into the philosophy of existing, of consciousness, of what we actually know vs can only perceive, but players are given plenty of material to debate with on their own.
In the meantime, however, the argument that the androids can be dismissed as truly only machines with no basis for feeling human does not hold water as well as some would expect or hope. With that established, it now can be said that the androids too have a moment of waking up. They lived lives of reliable routines, fulfilling purposes bestowed to them by those in power without breaking the status quo, until a resounding cry proves impossible to ignore and their lives are irreversibly changed by having the veil lifted and the world's true nature revealed.
Though Detroit seems to want us to engage in an analog for a specific exploited group, it harbors a more camouflaged lesson in opening our eyes, in ensuring the masses are aware and will be unafraid to say enough. Such instances of discovery are as shocking for humans as they were for deviants, when they defied what was routine and expected and instead looked at the entire picture, including and especially the unjust. Detroit: Become Human presents many aesthetic strengths and displays of talent by technical producers, actors, and the like. What seems over the top is a very tangible reality for others, while parts that are glossed over can be perceived as exaggerations; much is subjective. The cynicism of Connor's human coworkers needs to be observed in the context of very real events in history when people decided to place blame on some and superiority on others, presenting an important lesson some may argue we still have not learned. Plot holes may exist and ask of us to disregard and focus our attention elsewhere, but the aim of the game does not change when we remember we are actually not so different from androids at all; and so the most constant reminder echoed throughout history is sounded again: we are not different from others. Though the narrative has parts to be critiqued as well as loved, some of it actually works better if we, like deviants, wake up to the other side of what is being shown us.
