The Outer Limits: Glitch

Work Title: The Outer Limits: Glitch
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: Glitch
Year: 2000
Writer(s): Michael Burman
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Ron Greenstein
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Anurag Mehta
"Original" Writer: Own work?: No
Summary:

from wikipedia.org Tom and Wendy seem like the perfect couple, happy together and very much in love. But at night when Wendy sleeps, Tom has terrible memories about being stuck in a burning building with a crying baby. The nightmares, however, aren't real and neither is Tom. He's an android and the "memories" are bugs placed in his artificial intelligence by his creator, the late Joe Walker. Walker had originally created Tom to save humans from fires and other dangerous situations. However he anticipated that his colleague, Dr. Edward Normandy, might try to militarize the android and use him as a cyber-soldier-spy and planted the bugs as a way of forcing Normandy to upgrade Tom so the android could think for itself.Wendy is revealed to be another android secretly developed based on his wife.By creating Tom and Wendy the scientist and his wife could live forever.

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: Wikipedia
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Present day 2000.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Android
  • Description of the technology: Androids. Artifical human beings. They appear human, but inside are constructed of circuit boards, wires, etc. They are mobile, and equipped with tracking devices - they are monitored from a base. The scientists at the base see and hear everything the androids see and hear. They interact as if they are human. They are generally pleasent, but want to be free and autonomous.
  • Nature of task or activity: Two androids interact as husband and wife. Then they interact with their creators as they flee.
  • Performance of the Technology: Works well, but escapes from the scientists.
  • Description of creator(s): The creator is a scientist named Joe Walker and his wife. They are white. Joe Walker is now deceased but created an artificial intelliegence program to inform the androids.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): to help humanity. andoirds could be soliders and fire fighters. But then, the goal changed to advance technoloigy into being life - free.
  • Description of users of technology: The androids are a white couple in thier 30s. The scientists they interact with are white, male, and older than 35.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: The presence experience is as if interacting with a human.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: at first, the androids think they are human. Then they find out - scientists know they are androids, but others do not.
  • Valence of experience: the androids initally are upset, but then are happy to be free, together, and have a limitless life. The scientists find the experience fine, until the androids escape. then they must search for them.
  • Specific responses: distorted memory and social judgments, more intense parasocial relationships,
Long-term consequences:

The androids escape from the scientists and live happily ever after. They have the abilty to create other androids and love each other.

Other:

Coder name: Amanda Scheiner
Coder email: amandags@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University