character
Frankenstein
A creator who builds something they cannot control.
Origin
Victor Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, assembles a living being from corpses and then abandons it in horror. The creature is unnamed in the book, but popular culture has called it 'Frankenstein' anyway. The subtitle of the novel โ 'The Modern Prometheus' โ names the theme exactly.
Modern usage
Used to argue that a creator bears responsibility for what they create โ AI, social platforms, weaponizable research. 'A Frankenstein monster' = a system its creator can't rein in.
Tags
creator
technology
horror