The Bodily Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein and 12 Bytes

Abstract

Frankissstein and 12 Bytes reflect Winterson's exploration of the bodily ethics of artificial intelligence through three key aspects: gendered embodiment of sex robots, disembodied consciousness uploading, and cross-cultural ethical connectivity. The narrative involving Ron underscores how sex-focused robots perpetuate gender disparities by reinforcing objectification, commodification, and dehumanization of intimate relationships. Winterson critiques the physical design of sex robots, contending that the hypersexualized emphasis on bodily features engenders symbolic distortions and undermines the ethical value of the human body. In contrast, Frankissstein engages with themes of consciousness uploading and digital immortality, framing transhumanism not as a technological inevitability but as a sociocultural challenge rooted in hierarchical structures. Winterson conceptualizes the body as a transitional object, emphasizing the reconfiguration of its boundaries. While she acknowledges transhumanism's optimism about the transformative potential of technology, Winterson ultimately situates love as the ethical foundation of embodied existence. Winterson also engages in a cross-cultural dialogue between the potential of artificial general intelligence and Buddhist notions of "samsara", highlighting the ethical centrality of relationality. Winterson's cultural imagination of AI reconceptualizes the body, sensory experience, and intimate relationships within an ethical framework, thereby offering critical insights into the aesthetic and moral challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence in contemporary contexts.

Keywords

Jeanette Winterson / Frankissstein / 12 Bytes / bodily ethics / artificial intelligence

References

[1] Allardice L. (2019, May 18). Jeanette Winterson: "I Did Worry about Look-ing at Sexbots". The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/jeanette-winterson-frankisstein-ai

[2] Andermahr S. (2009). Jeanette Winterson. Palgrave Macmillan.

[3] Annas G., Andrews L., & Isasi R. (2002). Protecting the Endangered Human: Toward an International Treaty Prohibiting Cloning and Inheritable Alterations. American Journal of Law and Medicine, 28(2-3), 151-178. https://doi.org/10.1017/S009885880001162X

[4] Buchanan A. (2011). Beyond Humanity: The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement. Oxford University Press.

[5] Buolamwini J., & Gebru T. (2018). Gender Shades: Intersectional Accu-racy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification. Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, 81, 1-15. Retrieved from https://proceedings.mlr.press/v81/buolamwini18a/buolamwini18a.pdf

[6] Ciompi F. (2022). The Future of Humans in a Post-human World: Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson. Between, 12(24), 166-182. https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/5161

[7] Danaher, J. (Eds.), 2017). Should We Be Thinking about Robot Sex?. In John Danaher & Neil McArthur (Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications (pp.3-14). The MIT Press.

[8] Danaher, J. (Eds.), 2017). The Symbolic-Consequences Argument in the Sex Robot Debate. In John Danaher & Neil McArthur (Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications (pp.103-131). The MIT Press.

[9] Estrella M. (2021). Cuerpos monstruosos, biotecnologia e identidad de género en Frankissstein (2019), de Jeanette Winterson. 452ºF. Revista de Teo-ría de la literatura y Literatura Comparada, 24:146-60. https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2021.24.10

[10] Fukuyama F. (2002). Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[11] Goldstein, J. D. (Eds.), 2017). Was It Good for You Too? The New Natural Law Theory and the Paradoxical Good of Sexbots. In John Danaher & Neil McArthur (Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications (pp.173-200). The MIT Press.

[12] Gurova E. (2021). Winterson's Frankissstein: Postmodernism Blended with the 19th-century Style Philosophical Look. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, 3(1), 235-244. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jell/issue/62779/832131

[13] Haraway D. (1991). Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Routledge.

[14] Hayles N. K. (1999). How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. The University of Chicago Press.

[15] Herzfeld, N. (Eds.), 2017). Religious Perspectives on Sex with Robots. In John Danaher & Neil McArthur (Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications(pp.91-101). The MIT Press.

[16] Jeffries D. (2019). Brave New Transhumanism. British Journal of General Practice, 69 (687): 511. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X705989

[17] Krevel M. (2021). The Monstrous Cosmos of Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein. English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, 18 (2), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.18.2.85-100

[18] MacCormack P. (2012). Posthuman Ethics: Embodiment and Cultural Theory. Ashgate.

[19] Maguire J. (2001). Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices. Pocket Books.

[20] McAvan E. (2020). Jeanette Winterson and Religion. Bloomsbury Academic.

[21] Winterson J. (2019). Frankissstein: A Love Story. Alfred A. Knopf Canada.

[22] Winterson J. (2021). 12 Bytes: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change the Way We Live and Love. Jonathan Cape.