AM through the seven theses

While not a monster in the traditional style of, say, a werewolf or a vampire, AM's status as a monstrosity is validated through Cohen's Seven Theses. AM defies categorization by existing in the realm between computer and human. It is created by man, both metaphorically and physically; an aberration that is entirely science fiction and yet wholly possible. Finally, AM represents a self-destructive human nature, and thus it embodies a perverse desire.

AM is portrayed as a mixture between godlike power, human hatred and the cold efficiency of technology. Like Cohen says, it is an amalgamation of the things we cannot understand and therefore fear. The only dissonance with Cohen's theory is that AM does not defy logic; he instead harnesses it and rewrites it. His omnipotence grows from human faith in technology. In terms of scale AM is incomprehensible, his reach unimaginable. He defies placement.

At the same time, AM is man-made. He is the direct result of fear towards others, the sort of fear that drives a nation to create a weapon capable of genocide. From this desire for destruction, AM is born. In this he embodies the seventh thesis. As he destroys the last remaining bastions of humanity, he temporarily brings them together. Though his victims are not always a united front, AM is an enemy more worthy of fear than other humans. He is a reflection of paranoia that brings into question the values of nationalism that propagated the Cold War and the Nuclear Age.

But perhaps AM transcends the period in which he was created to represent something far more timeless: The human instinct to incite war. It is a destructive, perverse desire that motivates man to kill, and in a way by punishing others for homicide and murder we are punishing ourselves and our dark histories. Without violence, we could not have survived this long, and yet that violence will potentially doom our entire race. In part, believing in a force of evil like AM is penance for this guilt. If there is a force of evil assaulting us and destroying us, perhaps we aren't the bad guys we suspect we really are. This is a perverse desire that AM brings attention to, which is the basis for thesis VI. It is easier to fear AM than it is to fear ourselves.