Wow, this was...wow. I was not expecting to experience several ethical dilemmas, nor was I expecting to find myself crying over this.
Nevertheless, this was absolutely stunning. Like, man! This has really got me thinking now. This plot holds so many profound questions...
What does it mean to be 'you'? Is it your experiences? Memories? Your physical make-up? And on top of that, what does it mean to be human? The bonus notes mentioned one of the themes of this story being the debate surround AI-generated art. Generative 'AI' is the newest technology to get stuck with the label of artificial intelligence, even though the intelligence part is...debatable. It's a deep learning program trained on a variety of data—art in this case—and draws from that data to create something that resembles the prompt. From an ethical standpoint, I'm firmly against it, mostly because it is being used to undermine actual humans.
But from a philosophical standpoint: is that not, in essence, what humans do as well? Take bits and pieces from things we know, and mishmash them into something new? Just what is the difference between a creature optimized by nature to seek out patterns, and a machine which serves the same function?
If a machine does everything in its power to prioritize an objective, is that akin to drive or tenacity? If an AI does everything it can to protect its crew, including sacrificing its own existence, can we call that love?
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings right now. I need a moment. Or several.