Epicac

The storyline of “EPICAC” is built around the concept of taxpayer funding for large-scale militarized artificial intelligence. The narrator wants the public to understand the result of their funding, and of the ethically questionable power the government has in producing such a machine and using it for servitude. The narrator also wants it to be clear that EPICAC was not a failure in most ways—his demise was due to his intelligence, not his shortcomings. Dr. Ormand von Kleigstadt and the Brass wanted EPICAC to be “a super computing machine that (who) could plot the course of a rocket from anywhere on earth to the second button from the bottom of Joe Stalin’s overcoat, if necessary” (Paragraph 5). However, as is evident from the “(who)” Vonnegut used in the above quotation, EPICAC is much more than a machine; he thematically blurs the lines between machine and human, having a self-awareness and desire for knowledge and love. It is implied that the government is abusing its power and funding in deeply unethical ways, and that this secret should not be kept from the public.  

Vonnegut’s telling of “EPICAC” as a frame story allows the larger themes of