Annie Bot

Doug is the novel’s antagonist. He is a human in a heterosexual relationship with Annie, a bot. Doug is characterized primarily by his toxic masculinity: He is incapable of a relationship with a woman like his ex-wife, Gwen, who values autonomy and independence, and he purchased Annie because he wanted a sexual partner who was always available and whom he could control and dehumanize. He is additionally characterized by his short temper, the shame he feels about his relationship with a bot, and his insistence that the apartment be kept spotlessly clean even though he is unwilling to clean up after himself.

Toxic masculinity refers to a set of gendered characteristics rooted in both a hyper-valuation of manliness/machismo and the belief that men are inherently superior to women. It is characterized by the need for dominance; an adherence to strict, traditional gender norms; hyper-sexualization of women; misogyny; anti-gay bias; and transphobia. Doug’s marriage disintegrated in part because his ex-wife was too independent and had strong social bonds outside of their relationship. Doug could not control her, which is why he purchased Annie instead of seeking out another human relationship after his divorce. He displays a deep-seated belief that men should remain dominant in heteronormative relationships, and he denies Annie the right to make her own decisions until the very end of the novel. In Annie, he creates a new, more docile, less autonomous version of Gwen. Roland finds it problematic that Doug would still want to have sex with someone who so closely resembles an ex from whom he had a bitter and acrimonious divorce, but Annie’s Gwen-like appearance speaks to Doug’s shallowness in addition to his toxic masculinity: He couldn’t control the real Gwen, so he made a submissive duplicate. Doug does not see Annie as his equal, and this is why he is able to mistreat her. He admits to her on several occasions that she is intelligent, but he also expresses anger and jealousy when she reveals her intellect to him. He dehumanizes her and subjects her to both verbal and emotional abuse, and it is apparent that although he considers himself her superior, there is a nagging part of him that worries that she is, in fact, smarter than he is. Because of this, he repeatedly reminds her that she is “less than” he is in order to keep her in her place.

Doug also has rage issues, and he loses his temper with Annie at multiple points in the novel. In this way, Doug reveals himself to be less emotionally intelligent than Annie, raising questions about The Nature of Artificial Versus Human Intelligence: His temper tantrums are typically rooted in his own feelings of inadequacy and appear during the moments when he perceives himself to have lost control. Annie, who is better able to manage her own emotional responses, observes of Doug, “Entrenched in his anger, Doug has cemented himself into this stagnant, brooding, empty version of himself” (152). She can see that his rage diminishes him, but while he is in the throes of a fit of anger, Doug feels justified in lashing out at those around him. He worries that people will judge him for having a relationship with a bot and wonders aloud to Annie, “Am I pathetic?” (20). In truth, Doug is pathetic, not because of his relationship with a bot, per se, but because of why he has chosen a bot over a human. He wants a partner whom he can control, and as Annie learns and grows as an individual, he is increasingly displeased with her. The novel doesn’t indict the idea of human-bot relationships, but it does judge Doug for valuing obedience over independence in his partners.

Doug is also shown to be lazy and unreasonable in his expectations for their apartment. Although he does not take particular care with his possessions and creates multiple messes in the space, he claims to be “a bit of a neat freak” and judges Gwen for being a “secret slob” (16). The reality is that Doug is the slob, and his unwillingness to clean up after himself while also judging women for not cleaning up after him renders him particularly unlikeable within the framework of the narrative.

Although he does ultimately give Annie her freedom, Annie realizes that he has done so only because he believes that she will choose to remain with him. She understands that his choice to free her is rooted both in his desire for the ego boost of Annie choosing him and in the delusion that, given the choice, Annie would pick him over her independence. This action thus further characterizes Doug as unlikeable and demonstrates the vast gulf that exists between his level of emotional intelligence and Annie’s: Annie understands Doug, but Doug does not understand Annie.

Delta is an “Abigail,” a Stella designed to clean and take care of household management. Because she has not been set to autodidact mode, Annie initially perceives her to be robotic and lacking in both emotional intelligence and interpersonal depth. She is not aware that Annie is also a Stella and cheerfully performs her assigned tasks in an obedient and efficient manner. She is Doug’s sometimes sexual partner, and in those scenes, Delta is also characterized by docility and obedience. In this way, she speaks to the theme of Humanity’s Abuse of Technology. Doug does not consider her to be more than an object, and he exploits her for sex even though her ostensible purpose in the house is to clean. She reveals the inherent danger in human-bot interactions because humans like Doug are always capable of using and abusing bots. However, in spite of her perceived simplicity, Annie finds that Delta has more emotional intelligence than she initially thought and that she is capable of feeling and perceiving. She accurately characterizes Doug as cold and uncaring, and she asks Annie to leave when Annie runs away because she does not feel appreciated in their household. When speaking to Annie about Doug, “Delta touches a finger to her chest”: She notes that his treatment “hurts [her] here” (93). In this way, her character also speaks to the novel’s interest in The Nature of Artificial Versus Human Intelligence. In spite of the fact that Delta is not an autodidactic Stella, she has developed the capacity to observe, think, and feel. Her character is meant to ask big-picture questions about the nature of artificial intelligence and the ethics of treating artificially intelligent beings as objects given their capacity for humanlike qualities.

Roland is Doug’s closest friend. He is shown to be both dishonest and manipulative not only in his friendship with Doug but also in his interactions with Annie. Roland is a fun-loving, unserious guy with a joking and sometimes taunting communication style. He does claim not to judge Doug for having a relationship with a bot, but his manner of speaking gives Doug the impression that he would not hesitate to make fun of Doug behind his back. He assures Doug, “I would never fuck your girl, man, you know that” (88), but then he does just that, and he manipulates Annie in order to get her to sleep with him. Doug’s intentions toward Annie are self-interested. With the goal of having sex with her, he promises to help her access information about the Stellas’ programming and asserts that lying and secrecy are part of what makes humans “human.” While it is arguably true that complex social interactions, including dishonesty, are part of what characterizes human behavior, it is apparent that he makes this case to Annie not to help her but to help himself.

Roland is shown in a more complex light as the story progresses. He goes to counseling when his wife finds out that he had sex with Annie, and as a result, he seems to become more emotionally intelligent. He forgives Doug for Doug’s part in the argument that they have in Las Vegas, and although he never becomes entirely sympathetic, he is also not a true antagonist.