Hiroko Komatsu Explores Birth, Violence, and Robot Consciousness at ICP

Hiroko Komatsu's project "Human, Animal, Robot" examines the ethics of creating life, both biological and artificial. The work questions on what grounds humans claim the right to bring new life into the world and who granted this privilege. Komatsu references the anti-natalist position that "the world would be better if humans were left unborn," noting that this view is inherently paradoxical because the person holding it must already be alive and cannot choose to be unborn. Birth is described as a unilateral act over which the newborn has no rights, a form of violence exercised by those who bring the person into existence. The project asks whether there is any justification for a "structure that allows a being to be born onto this earth." Extending this logic, Komatsu questions whether the one-sided creation of a sentient robot can also be considered violence. The work cites philosopher David Benatar's ethical argument that the "perception of pain = evil." The text is presented on the website of the International Center of Photography (ICP).