Challenging Boundaries: Humanity, Technology, And Islamic Ethics in Ian Mcewan's Machines Like Me
Abstract
Rapid progress in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized debate on humanity, ethics, identity and technological advancement. In the context of the contemporary world, Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me engages in such debate through a parallel world setting in which sophisticated androids exist alongside humans. The novel raises serious issues on topics such as consciousness, morality, freewill, and the future interaction of human beings and intelligent machines. This research evaluates Machines Like Me through a combined perspective of post humanist theory and Islamic ethics, the first to critique traditional concepts of human-being through technology, while the second offers a moral guideline in evaluating technological development by means of the terms of Khalifah (vicegerency), Karamah (human dignity), Amanah (trust), and Taklif (moral accountability). Through qualitative textual analysis this study interrogates representations of human-android relationships, the projection of human fears and desires on to manufactured beings, creator responsibility, and robot individuality. The android Adam becomes a significant point of reference in analyzing the shifting border between humans and technology due to the androids often superhuman morality and rationality compared to humans. McEwan’s novel ultimately presents a moderate viewpoint which is not to embrace technological development but to create a space of coexistence where both exist yet create serious moral dilemma. The novels Islamic perspective emphasize the significance of maintaining moral responsibility, justice, and dignity in a technology dependent era, and insists technology be ethical in order to benefit, not threaten the values of the people. The integration of literary analysis and Islamic ethics here offers an entirely new interpretation in today’s discourse on artificial intelligence.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Khalifah (vicegerency), Morality, Karamah (human dignity), Amanah (trust), and Taklif (moral accountability).
