As we continue to advance technologically, the boundaries separating man from machine will blur. Masamure Shirow, in his Ghost in the Shell series, depicts in stylistic animation the blending of man and machine. GitS is set in a realistic future in which it is not uncommon for ordinary people to be cyberized – to have cybernetic implants in the brain and have cybernetic prosthetic body parts. The series is realistic because in the present time, cybernetic engineering is growing rapidly. The urban warfare in Iraq means a lot of soldiers are losing limbs due to explosions. Fortunately, our advanced medicine means that losing a limb no longer means losing life. America is leading the charge into the frontier of human cybernetics. In the place of destroyed flesh and bone limbs, some veterans are getting outfitted with nearly fully functional mechanical ones.
Ghost in the Shell deals with not only the philosophy of man adapting to cyberization, it also deals with artificial intelligence. As America leads the charge on human cybernetics, Japan is making major inroads on artificial intelligence. ASIMO, the premiere AI prototype has toured the world showcasing his intelligence. Using speech recognition, visual recognition and various other if/then’s, it is able to appear fully functional. When you look and see ASIMO function, he inspires the same kind of response that cybernetic veterans who, when they are looked upon, inspire. The response can be described as reluctant ambivalence. Reluctant ambivalence is redundant, to be sure. However, it is accurate. To see ASIMO serve a table showcases an irrefutable feat by humanity, but the idea of a robot serving you rather than being served by a too-perky waiter is plain weird. Similarly, we are taken back when we first see a cybernetic arm in place of flesh and bone.
The way Ghost in the Shell handles cybernetic philosophy is as stunning as the visual imagery it conjures. Not only does GitS present us with the world to come it questions the philosophy of itself, and the characters posit their own answers to the questions of their day. For some, the debate over cyberization is simple: cybernetic enhancements are better, so everyone should do it. The main characters in GitS are the members of an elite special police unit called Section 9. Togusa, a newly recruited Section 9 officer is unique from his other Section 9 counterparts – he is still mostly human aside from minor brain enhancements that allow him to communicate with the net with his mind. He has no prosthetics and still even prefers using his old, reliable revolver pistol rather than the standard issued weapons. Togusa is surprised that he was selected to join Section 9, out of all the other candidates who were mostly cybernetic. Togusa asks his commanding officer, Major Kusanagi, who is completely cyborg why he was chosen:
T: Major, l've been meaning to ask you. Why'd you ask for a guy like me to be transferred in from the police? M: Because you're a guy like you. T: Huh? M: An honest cop with a clean record. And you've got a regular family. With the exception of your cyber-net implants, your brain's real. No matter how powerful we may be fighting-wise a system where all the parts react the same way is a system with a fatal flaw. Like individual, like organization. Overspecialization leads to death. That's all.
In any situation, past present or future, where a task needs to be completed, the team working for a solution is a sum of the parts. If all parts of a team are cyborg, they are missing the predisposition of an uncyberized human. Often times throughout the series, Togusa elucidates a solution to a problem that only someone who is not fully cyborg can reveal. By diversifying her group with the addition of Togusa, Major Kusanagi acquired Togusa’s ‘human touch’ that the other cyborgs lack and AI cannot attain.
Ghost in the Shell is a great vehicle for understanding the not-so-distant future with our lives being cruising towards cyberization.
