The novel is set in the 1980s in an alternative history timeline in which the UK lost the Falklands War, Alan Turing is still alive, and the Internet, social media, and self-driving cars already exist.[1][2] The story revolves around an android named Adam and its/his relationship with its/his owners, Charlie and Miranda, which involves the formation of a love triangle.
Machines Like Me – Wikipedia by Machines Like Me – Wikipedia
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan is an exploration of what it actually means to be human through an examination of machines. The novel revolves around the purchase of Adam, a humanoid robot, whose perfect logic and moral clarity, often highlights the flaws and inconsistencies of human nature.
The novel can be understood as fantasy, set in the real. Situated in the 1980’s, McEwan provides a counter-history where Alan Turing did not die and the UK lost the Falkland War. It is also set the same year that Philip K. Dick released Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
The novel explores a number of questions, including Who is the actual machine? With the food we eat and what it tells us, are we all already templated selves? What is the difference between curiosity and algorithms? What is intelligence? Really, once it feels like once you question one aspect of life, everything comes under question. For example, is serving wine with arm behind the back machine-like? Politics? Bureaucracy? Cultural tradition? In the end, there is something about McEwan’s writing that is one part enthralling, while at the same time uncomfortable.