Abstract
‘What are the implications of the virtual for the human?’ provides an analysis of contemporary identity crises as they are related to authenticity. It does this by way of a psychoanalytical reading of four narratives about artificial beings which are representative of the genre: 2001: A Space Odyssey, AI, Blade Runner, and Frankenstein. By pitting the human against the artificial being, we are presented with certain difficulties in determining alterity and in determining what these very difficulties might mean to us.