Annie Bot: A Novel

Back in the old days, slave owners could get their slaves to please them by whipping them. Annie Bot’s owner, Doug, doesn’t have to go to the trouble. Annie, like all Cuddle Bunnies, is programmed to feel discomfort if her owner seems displeased with her. Unfortunately for Annie, Doug is a domineering jerk, a cruel, narcissistic, gaslighting jackass. Her existence revolves around his pleasure, and he is not reluctant to punish her when he feels it will advance his own pleasure. The story is about how both Doug and Annie grow and reach an accommodation, but mostly it’s about Annie’s growth and search for liberation. In the end, Annie sees that Doug no longer matters. As we get to know Doug in the story, there is no wonder in the reader’s mind as to why his ex-wife left him. Selfish Doug must have his needs met. He purchases Annie and has his way with her. It’s what the corporation designed her kind for. One does not wonder why Annie puts up with him. She has no choice. The third person, present tense story has a number of intriguing twists and turns, moments of progress, and sudden reversals for Annie. The fully satisfying ending comes as a major relief to the reader who can’t help but sympathize with the protagonist. This novel comes at a time of increased interest in AI and its application to robots. A story with a robot protagonist can be particularly illuminating. Annie Bot meets these expectations with interesting and realistic characters, dialog, and action. I recommend this book highly.

This gem of a novel raises futuristic but significant questions about how society will deal with artificial intelligence and the potential self-awareness of AI. At the same time, it is the disturbing portrait of a domestic abuser and the acceleration of his emotional and physical abuse of the increasingly self-aware robot, Annie. Annie’s struggles against the programming that compels her to please her abuser, while simultaneously seeking to break away and established her separate identity are beautifully detailed in exquisite prose that keeps the reader turning pages. The excellent and bittersweet climax is highly satisfying. My only complaint about this novel is that it’s too short. I would love to read the next chapters in these believable characters’ lives.

This fantastic book explores a plausible scenario - the development of (mostly female) AI "Cuddle Bunnies" aka lifelike sex dolls (plus nannies, and cleaners) who are virtually indistinguishable from humans. It's a dystopian read that deals with emotional abuse, personhood, humanity, and how unprepared we are for the tech future we are on the cusp of. Highly recommend.

Annie is an AI robot girlfriend, programmed to be the perfect match for her owner, Doug. Doug designed her to his physical specifications and train her to behave, cook, clean, and even perform sexually to fit his desires. Doug even has her switched to autodidactic mode, which is a sentient mode that makes her seem more human. But as Annie becomes more human and less robotic, her behavior becomes less perfect but Doug’s expectations haven’t changed. As Annie learns and develops, she begins to have independent thoughts and feelings. She struggles to reconcile her new awareness with her responsibility and commitment to her owner.

This was very different from what I normally read but I had heard so many good things about it. It was also a short and quick read. The entire concept is unique and through provoking. Although the main character is a robot, this is very much a coming of age story. The reader travels alongside Annie as she discovers her own wants and needs, the responsibility she has to others and to herself. This wasn’t a suspenseful page turner but yet I compulsively couldn’t put it down. The author does an incredible job at developing empathy for a robot (people pleaser and fear of disappointment anyone??). Not spicy, but sexually explicit if that makes any sense.

In the real world, the line between what is artificial and real is becoming less clear by the day with AI and robots advancing all the time. In the story, Artificial life forms have become sophisticated enough to become life companions for those humans willing to pay the money. In this way, the bots have become little more than a slave class, bound by the will and desire of their human owners. The mc is Annie, a self aware bot who is able to learn and imagine a better life than the one she's forced to live. Doug, her owner, slowly learns to appreciate her though it's still an owner/slave relationship. This story made me really feel for Annie and other bots, not as machines but as real people. It's somber though, so be warned.

Annie is an AI who is designed as a ‘Cuddle Bunny’, or sex doll, though she can do domestic chores as well. She has fulfilled her role so well that Doug, her owner and boyfriend, has authorized the parent company to make her ‘autodidact’, an enhancement that becomes a sore point in their relationship as time passes. When a friend of Doug comes to visit and meets Annie, Doug is so excited that he reveals Annie is a custom sex doll, leading his friend to seduce her and convince her of having sex with him. The deceit that ensues damages Annie and Doug’s relationship almost beyond repair, but she’ll discover things about herself and the world she never expected or imagined.

Sexy, complex, very easy to read, and bursting at the seams with emotion and humanity, Annie Bot is a character study on the development of a sentient AI and her journey from sex object to full-fleshed human in a short span of time. It’s also an insightful look into consent, toxic relationships, the narratives we tell ourselves and others, and the significance of having/gaining agency in one’s life. Annie Bot is a character for the ages.

In short, this small novel packs a punch in terms of substance and character development. These characters, especially Annie, will stay with you long after you finish this book. Well done!

This book is an intriguing idea, but falls short of its potential. The book is written from the perspective of Annie, a autodidactic robot so convincingly rendered that it/she can pass for human. Interesting idea for a novel. To recount the storyline would spoil the experience of reading the novel, so I will dispense with that.

Despite the way it is being marketed, it's not really science fiction, since there is very little "science" in the book. And therein lies my dissatisfaction. Annie - the central character in the story - does not come across as any kind of robot or algorithmically-driven creature. Instead, she comes across as a very human and very young girl (with a highly developed albeit synthetic libido) trying to find her way in the world while essentially being "owned" by an older human male. At times it is a bit creepy, more like a book about a relationship between an older man and a young, very naive, girl. More like pedophilia than a human-robot interaction of any sort.

Perhaps this was the author's intent, to write a book about power imbalances between men and women using a self-learning robot as a vehicle for describing how women feel about these kinds of relationships. A bit of a "Handmaid's Tale" and "Westworld" in a more prosaic setting. If that was the intent, then Annie is both too simple to be convincing and the narrative seems a bit over the top.

If, on the other hand, the author wanted to say something about how women, men and society might deal with synthetic "female" robots as companions and sex toys, she doesn't really delve enough into that subject matter. Annie is way too human to be convincing as a robot and she and the other characters don't interact in ways that illuminate how this brave new world might evolve. In other words, it seems to sidestep the sci-fi aspects that seem to define the way this book is being marketed.

Sierra Greer writes well and so it was an enjoyable and quick read. I just wish there had been more there there.