Annie Bot

We now live in the age of AI. Or so the headlines would have us believe. I remain skeptical but cannot pretend that I don’t find the topic interesting, though I prefer fictional treatments, which to me pose much more incisive existential questions. Enter Annie Bot. Sierra Greer has written a searing, brilliant story about an AI robot girlfriend discovering what it means to be human.

Annie aims to please. She’s been built to her owner Doug’s exact specifications—always ready to jump into action to fulfill his desires. She can adjust everything from her temperature, cleanliness, and libido to meet his needs. Then one day a friend of Doug’s visits their apartment and offers Annie a secret, telling her it will make her more human. So emerges an awareness that she can have desires that have nothing to do with Doug…and the realization that perhaps Doug, darkened by a breakup and myriad insecurities, might not be the Good Guy™ that everyone else thinks he is.

2024 has just started but I’ll go out on a limb and stake a claim that Annie Bot will be my favorite read of the year. It’s so much more than its ingenious premise. Annie’s voice is so unique and vibrates with the ring of truth. I ached watching her experience the painful process of coming of age, culminating in an ever-so-human realization: “Fulfillment starts with being truly honest with yourself. Not anyone else. Yourself. And that’s harder than you might think.”

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.

She’s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie’s relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?