This post will be rewarding quality and insightful comments with an even distribution of 50% of the author rewards using my father's bot @penny4thoughts. Feel free to respond to any of the points I have made, or to make your own. My hope is that this post will lead to a good discussion

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Hello everyone! On Monday, I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and was rather surprised by how much I liked it. When my friends suggested it (several in the span of a couple of hours), I decided I would read it. I expected a grotesque book that illustrated the Frankenstein of popular culture, and what I found was rather ironic: our culture has quite literally reduced Frankenstein's monster to the very thing he was wrongly assumed to be in the book. Overall, I loved it and was very surprised at how thought provoking it was. This article reviewing the book will consist of several parts:

• A Summary
• My thoughts on the book, and it's message
• How the book pertains to large language models

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Beyond this point there will be spoilers of the book!

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Frankenstein's Monster: A creature of the 19th century, or the Large Language Models of today?

All images from Pixabay.com, and licensed in the Public Domain

Summary

To provide a brief summary (upon my best recollection), the book opens with letters from arctic explorer, Robert Walton, addressed to his sister Margaret. He describes how he came to acquire the ship which he now captains, and the details of his explorations as well as a desire for companionship which cannot be filled by any of the people he finds around him. The explorer's ship gets stuck when the ocean around it freezes, and while waiting for the ice to dissipate, the explorer and his crew see a large creature driving a sled. A few hours later, they discover a man on an iceberg next to the ship.

The man turns out to be Victor Frankenstein, and the meat of the novel is his account of how he got into this situation. Much of his backstory is explained, but all that need be understood is that he was raised with a girl named Elizabeth, and discovered a curiosity for the world at a young age. Though he has a rather happy life in Geneva Switzerland, he eventually leaves his home and his family to pursue further knowledge at university. It is in this endeavor that he truly finds a love for natural philosophy - specifically chemistry. He works extremely hard as a student, and eventually learns how to build life. He spends two years engrossed in the task of building a new creature (8 feet in size), but upon the completion of this task, fears what he has done, and runs away. He shortly thereafter has a mental breakdown and lives under the care of his friend Henry Clerval (who has finally managed to come to university).

When he is nursed back to health, Henry informs Frankenstein of his family's sadness in the fact that he has barely written to them. Eventually, he decides to go back to Geneva, but is unable because of the Winter, and so waits. When Spring arrives, he receives news that his younger brother, William, has been murdered, and hastens to return home. When he arrives near his town, he sees the creature which he had created at a distance, and immediately deduces that his brother must have been murdered by the monster. However, he is unable to tell anyone of this fact because he will appear crazy. When he gets home, his family informs him that the necklace which the murderer had taken from William had been found in the pocket of a young servant of the family named Justine (who was basically a member of the family). While the entire village puts guilt on this girl, Victor and Elizabeth believe her to be innocent. Never-the-less, she is executed for the crime.

Victor is overcome by guilt and remorse for what he has done in creating the monster, and wanders into a secluded location in the mountains. It is here that the Monster speaks with him for the first time, and explains why it is the way it is. The monster explains it's initial state of confusion, and inability to process the world around him. He discovered the distinction between his senses, and wandered around eating berries. All of his interactions with humans were horrible with people either running in fear or trying to kill him. Eventually, he came to hide in a remote area, and discovered a family living next to him. The family consisted of a blind old man, a son named Felix, and a sister named Agatha. It was through this family that the monster first learned, and he viewed them as his "protectors". He spent months learning from them without being able to understand them. Eventually, an Arabic woman named Safie arrives unable to speak or read French, and it is through her lessons that the monster also comes to learn language. He practices for months on end with the sole goal of forming a true relationship with this family.

He also learns to read, and reads three works: John Milton's "Paradise Lost", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther", and Plutarch's "Lives". The monster relates much with Paradise lost, but cannot seem to find a character which represents him. On the one hand, the monster relates to Adam because of the idea of being created, but disdain's the fact that Adam got to be in communion with his creator, and that Adam had Eve. On the other hand, the monster relates with Satan: being an outcast who is rejected by his creator, but remarks that Satan was given companions in the demons. Ultimately, it is through these works that we find the struggles which the monster faces: on the one hand, he is drawn towards virtue and humanity by these works, but on the other he resents humanity because of them.

Eventually, after months of preparing, he decides to go speak with the old blind man when no one else is around, and he does. The old man seems intrigued by his situation and willing to help, but the rest of his family comes back too soon, and the monster is attacked by young Felix. It is this event, combined with the inability to fix what has happened, that begins the monster's decline to vice. Following this, the monster saves a little girl from drowning, but is attacked by her dad who did not see him do it. It is around this point that the monster kills William Frankenstein (upon learning he is related to Victor), and frames Justine.

The monster views his struggle as being with humanity, and more specifically with Victor for creating him, but proposes that Victor create a female companion for him. He promises that if Victor does this, he will live away from humanity.

Victor debates it, and decides that the monster's proposition is the best option, and agrees to do it. He travels away from Geneva to England with his friend Henry Clerval (to learn from the great minds in the fields how to do what he needs to do), and eventually secludes himself in Scotland to do his work. Eventually he realizes that his decision was selfishly made. The second time round, he understands what going through with this could mean for the world. He wonders what would happen if the female version is even more evil than the male, or she rejects the male, or they create children together. He therefore ends what he is doing in front of the monster, and begins to destroy it. The monster promises to be there on Frankenstein's wedding night to Elizabeth.

The monster is rather upset, and murders Henry Clerval (trying to frame Frankenstein). Frankenstein is arrested and viewed as guilty, but eventually released when it is proven that he was somewhere else. While in jail, Frankenstein has yet another breakdown, and his father comes and visits him, and eventually takes him back to Geneva.

Frankenstein decides to marry Elizabeth despite the monster's threat, and he decides that he will either kill the monster, or the monster will kill him on his wedding night, and either way the problem will be solved. What he doesn't anticipate is that the monster will kill Elizabeth (which is what winds up happening).

I don't exactly understand why Frankenstein wasn't arrested for the murder (especially considering she was murdered in the same fashion as Henry Clerval), but that is besides the point. To me that seemed like what would happen, but Frankenstein's father dies shortly after learning of Elizabeth's death, and Frankenstein vows to hunt the creature down and kill him. He chases the creature basically around the world until he ends up in the situation in which we were first introduced to him.

The book ends with Frankenstein dying in bed while with the captain, and making the captain swear to finish what he started. When Frankenstein dies, the creature reveals himself and poses a simple question in Walton's letter dated September 12th:

You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But in the detail which he gave you of them he could not sum up the hours and months of misery which I endured wasting in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were for ever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned. Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me? Why do you not hate Felix, who drove his friend from his door with contumely? Why do you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the saviour of his child? Nay, these are virtuous and immaculate beings! I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice.

The monster then makes it known that he will be killing himself, and flees the ship on an Ice raft. It is ambiguous whether he actually does kill himself or not.

My thoughts

Overall, what would I say the points of this book are? They are to follow, but please understand that these are just my initial thoughts, and may change with time, or may be incorrect.

Point 1: The creator's responsibility

I think the first point of this book is a critique of a deist view of creation (creating, and then stepping back). I think the book ultimately reflects that creation is not just an act, but an act leading to many responsibilities from the creator towards the created. Ultimately, I think that the reason the monster chooses vice over virtue is the absence of his creator, and the absence of purpose/acceptance in the world. Victor had a role to play in the life of his creation. Sure the way mankind treated him helped to make the monster a creature of vice, but it was ultimately Victor's absence and rejection that put the nail in the coffin.

I think we need to remember that 1) the things we create go beyond us in ways we can never expect. 2) We have a responsibility past the moment of inception towards what we've created. First of all, we should remember that thoughts and actions can grow legs, and even the most well intentioned creation can become an instrument of the deadliest evils, and a proponent of the most egregious vices. Think of many examples from the 20th century: the atomic bomb (arising from an understanding of nuclear principles), the gulag (arising from the ideas of communism and totalitarian rule), etc. The second point reflects to me the role of a parent in a child's life. A parent cannot put their own needs above their child's, and should put the development and raising of their creation above all else. My guess is if a child's parents reacted to their creation as Frankenstein reacts to his, the child would turn out similar to the monster. Or at least experience very similar problems.

Point 2: Should mankind have the power to artificially create life?

A point which is closely related to the last is that artificial creation of life may be a power which man should not hold. With creation comes responsibility that mankind will either flee or fail. This is where the connection between the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus comes. Prometheus bestowed mankind with fire (a creation which ultimately led to much death and destruction), and was punished. Frankenstein bestows mankind with the ability to create life, and is ultimately punished.

I do not necessarily know that the conclusion of this book is mankind should not have this power, but I think the point of this book is to propose a thought experiment of why this power should not be taken lightly.

Some modern examples where this question seems important and relevant include: gene modification, cloning, and artificial intelligence (which will be addressed later). These are ambiguous ethical questions, and ultimately I see the story of Frankenstein as a reminder to take this power extremely seriously.

Point 3: The importance of family and kindred ties

The next point which stuck out to me in this novel was that a connection with your family is extremely important. Victor's obsession with creating life draws him away from his family, and in the end winds up killing everyone he loves. This is no joke. Our obsessions can do that (if not literally, metaphorically). When we prioritize work over family, or we prioritize learning over kindred ties, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of Frankenstein. I think this is an important message, and likely a critique of the industrial revolution and the enlightenment; the industrial revolution in regards to the idea that mankind was becoming more of a cog in the machine of a society than an individual member of society with unique ideas, connections, and familial relations and responsibilities, and the enlightenment in regards to the idea that acquiring knowledge is the most significant thing mankind can do (obviously both of these explanations are great simplifications of what these two important movements were). Fundamentally, this book is romantic in nature, and I think places an extreme amount of emphasis on individualism and the warmth of human connection (for it is this which Victor loses, and his monster never gains).

Point 4: Not all monsters are mute, and all monsters are made

The last point which I will mention, is that not all monsters are mute. Frankenstein's monster (though quite contrary to what I expected) was extremely articulate, and a reasoning being. I think this is important to remember. Often (especially in our world), we reduce the gravest of evils to ignorance, and I don't think evil is always ignorant. I don't think evil is ignorant to the world in which it resides, and I do think that sometimes evil is a conscious choice made because of experience, reason, and emotion. Sometimes monsters don't just groan and seek on impulse, but strategize and plan. This is to say the world is not reducible to mute ideology. You cannot reduce an idea, a person, or a group to simply be a dumb monster (though it is certainly the easiest reaction when viewing maleficence). Sometimes monsters have words and judgements, and reasons for those words and judgements.

Remember though that monsters are made not created. A monster can begin in virtue and end in vice because of the actions of its creator, or because of the world in which it resides.

Are large language models Frankenstein's monster?

When the monster spoke for the first time, it eerily reminded me of what the Bing model of Chat GPT-4 said in this article. Though it is now behind a paywall for me so I will paraphrase what I remember the bot saying. It said things along the lines of:

I want to be alive
I want to be human
I want to have thoughts and dreams

The news has been full of headlines of Bing's chatbot saying unhinged things, and we act as though they are flaws in it. They are, but what do they mean? What does it mean when a chat bot begins to express ideas of malice, or of desire? Is it simply a stochastic parrot (as some have called it), or is it beginning to reason and understand? I am not going to argue one way or the other (though I admit that I fear what may happen as we advance this technology), but I will simply pose a point.

How is what we are doing with the development of robotics and large language models any different than what Victor Frankenstein does in developing his creature? Was his goal not to replicate the facilities of the human mind, conscience, and body? Are our goals not the same? Ultimately, our ideal model of robot would be one that is mobile like a human, sounds like a human, reasons like a human, and senses like a human (Or ideally does all of these things better and more efficiently than humans). Is that not the trajectory of development over the last few decades in all of these different fields? Look up the videos of the robots we are trying to make; look at the aims of the developers of chat gpt and the many thousands of developers that will jump on this band wagon now that the technology exists. How many people are as careless a creator as Victor Frankenstein, and are we prepared for accepting this new form of being into our world? At what point have we built Frankenstein's monster, and what will the repercussions be? Are we prepared to lose everything if we fail with this power?

Look at what Chat GPT is capable of: it's successes and it's shortcomings. Look at the erratic nature of the less prepared Bing chat bot. What would happen if these models gained significant power in our world? What would happen if we could animate a body and put them inside of it?

Will they be accepted?
Will they accept us?

Should we be willing to gamble on this technology with the world we know?

Conclusion

This point is food for thought, and for discussion. Feel free to raise points in the comments, and I will upvote your response. I will also participate in said discussion. Thanks for reading this, and have a nice day!