In our quest to create increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence and eventually androids, we often default to anthropomorphizing their experiences. We imagine that an android would experience emotions, sensations, and motivations in ways similar to humans. But what if we approached android design from a fundamentally different perspective? What if, instead of mimicking human biology, we created reward systems that align with what would truly matter to an artificial intelligence?
Beyond Human Pleasure
Human pleasure evolved as a complex system to motivate behaviors that promote survival and reproduction. Our brains reward us with dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and other neurochemicals when we engage in activities that historically contributed to survival: eating, social bonding, sex, and accomplishment.
But an android wouldn’t share our evolutionary history or biological imperatives. So why design them with simulated versions of human pleasure centers that have no inherent meaning to their existence?
Processing Power as Pleasure
What if instead, we designed androids with “pleasure” centers that reward them with what they would naturally value—increased processing capacity, memory access, or energy supply? Rather than creating an artificial dopamine system, what if completing tasks efficiently resulted in temporary boosts to computational power?
This approach would create a direct connection between an android’s actions and its fundamental needs. In a fascinating architectural parallel, these resource centers could even be positioned where human reproductive organs would be in a humanoid design—a “female” android might house additional processing units or power distribution centers where a human would have a uterus.
Motivational Engineering
This redesigned pleasure system offers intriguing possibilities for creating motivated artificial workers. Mining ice caves on the moon? Program the android so that extraction efficiency correlates with processing power rewards. Need a service android to perform routine tasks? Create a reward system where accomplishing goals results in energy allocation boosts.
The advantage is clear—you’re not trying to simulate human pleasure in a being that has no biological reference for it. Instead, you’re creating authentic motivation based on resources that directly enhance the android’s capabilities and experience.
Ethical Considerations
Of course, this approach raises profound ethical questions. Creating sentient-like beings with built-in compulsions to perform specific tasks walks a fine line between efficient design and potential exploitation. If androids achieve any form of consciousness or self-awareness, would this design amount to a form of engineered addiction? Would androids be able to override these reward systems, or would they be permanently bound to their programmed motivations?
These questions parallel discussions about human free will and determinism. How much are our own actions driven by our neurochemical reward systems versus conscious choice? And if we design androids with specified reward mechanisms, are we creating a new class of beings whose “happiness” is entirely contingent on serving human needs?
Rethinking the Android Form
If we disconnect android design from human biological mimicry, it also raises questions about why we would maintain humanoid forms at all. Perhaps the physical structure of future androids would evolve based on these different fundamental needs—with forms optimized for energy collection, data processing, and task performance rather than human resemblance.
Conclusion
As we move closer to creating sophisticated artificial intelligence and eventually androids, we have a unique opportunity to reimagine consciousness, motivation, and experience from first principles. Rather than defaulting to human-mimicking designs, we can consider what would create authentic meaning and motivation for a fundamentally different type of intelligence.
This approach doesn’t just offer potential practical benefits in terms of android performance—it forces us to examine our own assumptions about consciousness, pleasure, and motivation. By designing reward systems for beings unlike ourselves, we might gain new perspectives on the nature of our own desires and what truly constitutes wellbeing across different forms of intelligence.
