Interpretation of Moxon’s Master By Ambrose Bierce
Moxon’s Master, by Ambrose Bierce, is a short story encompassing the ideas of artificial intelligence and their unique (perhaps even uncanny) ability to feel emotion and maintain sentience. It sends two primary messages - one of technological progress and our limits in technology, and one about the danger of artificial intelligence and what it is capable of.
The story begins with an argument centered around Moxon’s work and development towards creating a “thinking machine” that is able to play chess. As the narrator continues to doubt such a machine’s capabilities, Moxon argues about the definition of a machine. Moxon reasons that because machines are capable of processing thoughts and behaviors, they should be treated like real people as well - questioning the difference between the two.
After the discussion, the narrator leaves Moxon’s home - but returns a short time later. Upon arrival, they come across Moxon and the chess-playing automaton. The narrator watches on, and Moxon eventually emerges victorious. As Moxon shouted checkmate, the automaton kept silent - until it suddenly moved, without warning. It reached outwards to choke Moxon in an apparent fit of rage. Meanwhile, the narrator was paralyzed in shock, and the lights went out soon afterwards. The narrator continued to hear the screams and struggles of Moxon, and saw Moxon’s body right before passing out.
When the narrator awoke three days later, they found themselves in a hospital. By his side was Haley, the man who built the automaton (the engineer). After a short discussion, the narrator reveals to Haley about what he saw that night - but ends with a note stating that if he was asked about it again, he wouldn’t be so sure.
Moxon’s Master contains several different messages and themes - at least, from my perspective and in my interpretation. In the story, there are only three human characters - the narrator, Moxon, and Haley. Moxon is the inventor that. One interpretation I believe to be true is that these characters metaphorically connect to three different groups - Moxon symbolizing the pioneers of advanced technology, Haley as the labor force that built these machines, and the narrator as an outside observer - reporters, the media, writers, et cetera. This especially makes sense when seen through the fact that the story was written only a few decades after the end of the Industrial Revolution - one of the most prolific and active times for technological and job development.
This interpretation is also supported by the plot of the novel. The narrator’s doubts about Moxon’s beliefs and his ideas seem to mirror the level of skepticism and ridicule inventors/pioneers of technology often faced from the general public and the media. Despite his clever arguments, Moxon was unsuccessful in completely changing the opinions and thoughts of the narrator. However, he did leave a strong impression - whether that be the belief that Moxon had gone mad from insomnia and constant work, or that he was actually onto a solid idea that could make sense. This divergence between the perspective the narrator had also represents the rest of the world - one side argues that he is crazy and dismisses his arguments as faulty and flawed, while one side begins to believe the ideas for technological advancement. To support this theory, the text states, “That faith was then new to me, and all Moxon's expounding had failed to make me a convert; but now it seemed as if a great light shone about me, like that which fell upon Saul of Tarsus; and out there in the storm and darkness and solitude I experienced what Lewes calls ‘The endless variety and excitement of philosophic thought. ’ I exulted in a new sense of knowledge, a new pride of reason. My feet seemed hardly to touch the earth; it was as if I were uplifted and borne through the air by invisible wings. ’” Although Moxon had been unsuccessful in completely changing the views of the narrator, he did open the narrator’s eyes on what is feasible.
In this point of view, Bierce intends to show the world the errors and obstacles many aspiring inventors and pioneers faced throughout eras of technological development - a lack of support from the public and a disgruntled people slowly forming the labor movement. Bierce even shows the worst of cases for the pioneers that shaped our world - failure. Failure was shown in how Moxon’s own machine eventually killed him - symbolizing the disastrous effect failures had on these innovators. And, as the last line of the story states, how many of these men and women were forgotten and fell into obscurity.
However, symbolizing technological progress does not seem to be the only message written within Moxon’s Master. Another idea embedded within the story (but more clear compared to a metaphorical interpretation) would be on the general topic of developing and controlling artificial intelligence (A. I. ). Throughout the story, Moxon seems to be obsessed with developing his machine, and as stated by the narrator, often skips sleep to work on his projects. Moxon truly seemed to value this chess-playing machine, viewing it as a conscious being rather than a simple device designed to accomplish a task. At a certain point in time, the automaton showed complete autonomy and control in its playing (unlike its real, historical counterparts, which were later revealed to be fake), and there really seemed to be some being controlling the automaton, without, of course, a hidden living person controlling the machine.
At the near end of the story, Moxon emerges victorious against the automaton in the chess match. After this defeat, the machine stayed silent for a few moments, then jumped to choke Moxon, eventually killing him. This was done in an apparent fit of rage, which should not be something displayed from machines unless they were actively programed to do so - and they were not designed to be ruthless and aggressive, so it rules out the possibility that this personality was artificial and implemented on purpose. Therefore, the only reasonable answer would be that the machine somehow gained consciousness - it began to learn human emotions, with one of them being rage. Moxon’s untimely death helps the reader to understand that though he had developed something that was a feat in terms of science, his mistake was in allowing his machine to maintain human emotions, one of which was anger and rage. This brings forth the concept of emotion within machines, and along with that, independence. Despite machines being developed to accomplish tasks, Moxon’s device ignored its program, and thus became a “deviant. ” As a result of breaking its purpose and killing Moxon, the automaton showed the reader that it indeed, it had human emotions as well; specifically, hatred and rage. It is presumed that Moxon’s device ultimately escaped, which shows that the automaton was self-conscious and wished for independence. It may have been that it already deviated from its program early on, or that it already was a cognizant and aware machine right from the start.
The fact that ultimately supports the idea that the machine was already self-aware comes from the appearance of Haley, Moxon’s workman. There are no revealed reasons for why Haley appeared right after the fire occurred, and why he wasn’t already present during the chess game. I believe that Haley knew from the start that Moxon had wished to create a self-aware machine that would be able to do more than just play chess (this is supported by the opening dialogue of the story). It can be surmised that Haley was against this, which was why Haley wasn’t present during the chess match or openly supported Moxon. In addition, when the text states, “The man was silent a long time, looking away from me. Presently he turned gravely and said, ‘Do you know that?’” With this description and dialogue, it can be assumed that Haley had already known of the nature of the murder, and and even quite possibly the nature of the machine itself. Haley, who most likely a). Knew the difficulty in creating such a device, and b). Also knew of the repercussions in developing a wholly knew sentient being, merely did the work of building the machine and abandoned the project soon thereafter. This further supports the idea that despite the ending portions of the story supporting a “machine gone rogue” theory, there is much more to prove that the faults of this machine were already known. It is even possible that they [Moxon and Haley] developed this device with the direct intent of creating a new, sentient, emotional, and thinking being.
If seen through this perspective, Moxon’s purpose for writing the story and his messages are clear - that creating devices with free will can have true consequences in society. Bierce intends to inform us that if we are not careful, we may lose control to our own machines, and proves it with the death of Moxon.
In summary, Moxon’s Master appears to be a metaphor for pioneers of technological advancement, while Haley symbolizes the reluctant working class that used their labor to make the world’s dream a reality. The narrator, on the other hand, is an outside figure - perhaps the media, recording these works of science and technology. It seems that the author wrote this book to tell the reader about the age of growth and development that the United States went through by simplifying the the events in history into a story centered around only three people.
Additionally, Moxon’s Master could also be an interpretation of artificial intelligence and its possible effects on human norms and society. Throughout the plot, the machine is mentioned multiple times, and when it is finally shown, it definitely does prove mental processing - being able to play a chess game. It was further proven, when apparently, in a fit of rage, the automaton chokes Moxon to death and causes the fire that followed. Haley may have known the dangers and problems that Moxon would have to face in owning a self-aware device, and was at the house and able to save the narrator because he intended to stop the device, along with Moxon. However, that clearly did not go to plan, and Moxon was killed before Haley reached the home. The automaton evidently left the narrator alone, and instead lit the house on fire. This leads back to the end of the story, where the narrator states that he is unsure if what he saw that night was real or not - most likely doubts of such a machine’s existence, especially with the lack of evidence of the event. On the other hand, this denial and forgetfulness may have been the result of the narrator simply wishing to forget the traumatic events he witnessed.
In conclusion, Moxon’s Master takes metaphorical themes and new concepts of the time to the next level - inserting several different possible interpretations into one, and allowing for a liberal view of the story - whether it is a story of betrayal and death, a story of technological advancement, or a story about the problems and dangerous sides of autonomous machines that have been freed by being given their own will.
