PoliteMachinesAndAnxiousHumans:EthicalInterfacesOfArtificialIntelligence InSatyajitRay's"Anukul

Satyajit Ray’s short story “Anukul” (1976) represents one of the earliest textual engagementswithartificial intelligence fromtheGlobal South, anticipatingethical questionsthathavesincebecomecentraltocontemporarydebatesonhuman–machinerelations. Departing frommany dominant Western science fiction traditions that foregroundtechnological spectacle, rebellion,orcatastrophicfailure,Ray imaginesa courteous, efficient, andethically responsivemechanical assistantwhosepresencequietly unsettles established social, moral, and economic hierarchies. This paper arguesthat “Anukul”displacesanxietysurroundingartificial intelligencefromfearsof technological autonomy to themoral dispositionsand responsibilitiesof thehuman beingswhodesign,employ,andcoexistwithintelligentsystems.DrawingonLuciano Floridi’s framework of informationethics andN. KatherineHayles’ theorisationof posthumansubjectivity, thestudyexamineshowtheshort storyand its2017 film adaptation stage artificial intelligence as a site of ethical reflection rather than technologicalthreat,exposingcontradictionsinhumanbehaviour,particularlyinrelation tolabour,care,autonomy,andmoralauthority.Throughtextualandcinematicanalysis, thepaper demonstrateshowRay’sunderstatednarrativeanticipatescontemporaryconcernssurroundingAIcaregiving,automation,andaffectivelabour.Thefilm’sfatal conclusiondoesnotsignalmachinerebellionbut insteademergesfromanunreflective delegationofethical judgment, revealingtherisksinherent intranslatingcare, loyalty,andresponsibilityintocomputationalefficiency.Ultimately, “Anukul”suggeststhat the ethical consequencesof artificial intelligencedepend lesson thesophisticationof machine intelligence thanon themoral preparednessof thehumansocieties thatdeployit