Although those themes do occur regularly when talking about AI in science fiction, embedding them into a highly immersive video game takes interaction with AI to a new level. The ME universe does not only provide us with classical themes such as a distinct breach of Asimov’s ‘Three Laws of Robotics,’ but also gives us the opportunity to experience those issues in a more immersive way. Due to the technical developments of this generation, AI becomes more and more of an important issue to consider.

Besides clear references to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from 1818, with the creation overcoming its master, the geth narrative also has parallels to Star Trek: The Next Generation and the episode ’Elementary, Dear Data’, where an AI gains consciousness about its situation and wants to be a master itself. This act of becoming conscious can be trailed back to the Descartes cogito ergo sum and the right to be accepted as individual. Intentionally created as workers for the quarians, the geth, a race of networked AI, became conscious about their situation and started to ask questions. In Mass Effect ( ME) players are surrounded by artificial intelligence (AI) and its various ethical and cultural peculiarities and features.

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