Fictional prototypes of AI–human coexistence and relationality

This study examines how fictional portrayals of artificial intelligence (AI) shape cultural imagination and readiness for AI–human coexistence. Drawing on 42 works ranging from ancient mythology to contemporary film, anime, and games, it analyzes AI characters as narrative constructs endowed with agency, emotional expression, or social roles. Using a descriptive coding framework across four relational dimensions—form of address, relationship structure, autonomy, and emotional depth—this study identifies six recurring narrative types (Tools, Helpers, Caregivers, Partners, Seekers, Transcenders) and synthesizes them into three broader phases of coexistence: Instrumental, Relational, and Autonomous. This analysis introduces the concept of typological shift to describe how AI characters move between types over narrative time, revealing dynamic patterns not captured by fixed classifications. The resulting phase-specific coexistence model illuminates how emotional engagement, functional complementarity, and mutual independence are balanced differently across narrative contexts, whereas relational-phase narratives foreground trust, care, and sustained interaction, autonomous-phase narratives highlight tensions arising from divergent goals, expanding forms of agency, or limits of mutual understanding. By conceptualizing fictional AI as cultural prototypes—as sites of ethical rehearsal and ethical imagination—this study contributes a comparative framework for understanding AI as a social and moral counterpart. The findings have implications for cross-cultural AI ethics, design imaginaries, and public engagement with emerging AI systems, underscoring the importance of cultural imagination in preparing societies for AI–human coexistence.