Author’s afterword:For years, science fiction has shown artificial intelligence in robots, androids, robotic ships and machinery of all kinds. Usually, these intelligences have personalities basically like those of humans. In my mind, that raised the question of whether an artificial intelligence would truly feel emotion, or would simply show signs of emotion because it was programmed to do so. I also felt that having an artificial intelligence that kept certain personal secrets to itself, the way people do, might suggest an element of danger. If a human loaded an artificial intelligence with uncomfortable memories, what would the A.I. individual experience?
When I wrote this, almost a half century had passed since the story “Helen O’Loy,” by Lester Del Rey, was published in 1938, in Asto
