Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

A new job because dancing outside of Union Robotics with a sandwich board is her dream!

1 (2.8%)

A new body because Sven has convinced her that anthropomimicary is the way to go

6 (16.7%)

A new body because she still wants to be a fighter jet (or, at least, a traffic monitoring drone)

1 (2.8%)

Go wild with experimenting on just how close to the full experience she can get with humans

4 (11.1%)

Spend a long time grumbling in front of Momo that she's spoiling her fun

3 (8.3%)

Go to Punchbot and ask for a gig at the Robot Fighting Arena; ANY gig

5 (13.9%)

Sell her soul... or at least her runtime... to the devil... or at least Spookybot to have a wish granted

0 (0%)

The probation hearing is here! What is to be her fate?

13 (36.1%)

Inception (Robo-Jail Version) - Just how much of what she's experienced is real?

2 (5.6%)

Other (please specify in comments)

1 (2.8%)

Total Members Voted: 35

[DashaBlade]

Ya know, though....

If May were able to show that she has the ability to ask for something nicely, it would represent marked personal growth on her part, and might convince whoever's in charge of giving parolees new bodies that she's capable of rehabilitation and thus worth the cost of a new(er) model chassis.

Not that I expect that would happen, but then, I can't recall May ever asking nicely for anything, so...

[Raptorofwar]

Ya know, though....

If May were able to show that she has the ability to ask for something nicely, it would represent marked personal growth on her part, and might convince whoever's in charge of giving parolees new bodies that she's capable of rehabilitation and thus worth the cost of a new(er) model chassis.

Not that I expect that would happen, but then, I can't recall May ever asking nicely for anything, so...

But it's the government.

[OldGoat]

So Roko actually has found dirt on May's manager...

I doubt it.  Roko's an old hand at bluffing, and if you run your bluff right, their guilty conscience will fills in the details.

As for asking nicely, turning on the charm can work wonders.  And if the person asked gets brownie points for moving AI chassis out of the warehouse, it's a cinch!

[TRenn]

Ya know, though....

If May were able to show that she has the ability to ask for something nicely, it would represent marked personal growth on her part, and might convince whoever's in charge of giving parolees new bodies that she's capable of rehabilitation and thus worth the cost of a new(er) model chassis.

Not that I expect that would happen, but then, I can't recall May ever asking nicely for anything, so...

"Well, if all I have to do is ask nicely, I can absolut.... I can probably.... Okay, I can't do that.

"I can get my friend Momo to ask nicely FOR me."

[OldGoat]

There's something about three robots standing in front of a door marked "Restroom" that makes me snicker.

No doubt it's a building not specifically designed for AIs, they may even have clients come in with meatfolk friends, and being a not-for-profit they take what space they can get.  Still . . .

[BenRG]

I agree with May that Beepatrice's suggested solution would be very annoying if it works.

Okay, conspiracy theorist's tin-foil hat firmly on here: I'm starting to think that this robot aid charity is a scam, based on the fact that Beepatrice has absolutely no clue how to actually help May. I'm starting to wonder if the organisation has helped a big fat zero AIs in any practical way and all they do is listen to their clients' 'sob stories' and then hand out leaflets for therapy and support groups that are all about how nothing can be changed. Indeed, it was for this purpose that this largely Federally-funded organisation was originally founded - to give needy AIs the impression someone was going to bat for them when nobody actually was. This would stop them from rocking the economic and political boat too much by working hard to change things and instead wait patiently for the assistance for which the organisation is unequipped and organisationally unable to offer.

Nelson has managed to be Employee of the Month so many times because he has held the record for  the number of AIs he manages to disabuse of any notion that anyone will give them practical assistance and, instead, that they must learn to accept their lot in life. Maybe he'll be the one to explain it to Roko (much like how O'Malley was the voice of the cynical policeman). Roko is going to get in a lot of trouble for actually offering May practical assistance by bothering people in the Department of Corrections over something that no-one (in power) is even remotely concerned about.

I've just got the impression that Roko and Beeps are going to end up having to go freelance after actually succeeding in helping May, this leading members of the Federal bureaucracy to demand that her supervisors 'do something about the loose cannon'.

[Cornelius]

... that sounds disconcertingly like the student support of a higher education institution I know. They're -were- pushing the idea that the system isn't broken, you are, and by the way, shouldn't you be in therapy for those paranoid suspicions? It took three years, misdelivered official correspondence, and threats of a high publicity law suit, to convince them - or get them to admit - that there was a structural problem.

[DashaBlade]

Nelson has managed to be Employee of the Month so many times because he has held the record for  the number of AIs he manages to disabuse of any notion that anyone will give them practical assistance and, instead, that they must learn to accept their lot in life. Maybe he'll be the one to explain it to Roko (much like how O'Malley was the voice of the cynical policeman). Roko is going to get in a lot of trouble for actually offering May practical assistance by bothering people in the Department of Corrections over something that no-one (in power) is even remotely concerned about.

In my (wildly speculative) headcanon, until it's disproven, Nelson has won Employee of the Month because he's the only one there with a license to practice law, so he's the only one who can actually get anything done. My only reason for thinking this is that it would be hilarious to picture Nelson, attorney-at-law arguing in court.

[cybersmurf]

In my (wildly speculative) headcanon, until it's disproven, Nelson has won Employee of the Month because he's the only one there with a license to practice law, so he's the only one who can actually get anything done. My only reason for thinking this is that it would be hilarious to picture Nelson, attorney-at-law arguing in court.

My mind has Nelson as Employee of the month because he's the only one who gets stuff done.
To me, it would be funny if Beepatrice would get a hearing for them simply because everybody thinks Beeps won't get anything done, plus has a FNG (effing new guy) in tow. But since Roko is determined to get things done, AND knows her way around law amd bureaucracy, they actually achieve something.

[Is it cold in here?]

There's something about three robots standing in front of a door marked "Restroom" that makes me snicker.

No doubt it's a building not specifically designed for AIs, they may even have clients come in with meatfolk friends, and being a not-for-profit they take what space they can get.  Still . . .

All of the above, plus it serves public health if they wash their hands regularly. They'll be shaking hands with people vulnerable to organic pathogens.

[TheEvilDog]

Not sure what the building requirements are in Northampton, but I'm pretty sure that all buildings providing a service must also have restrooms, even if the occupants of the building don't need them.

[OldGoat]

Not sure what the building requirements are in Northampton, but I'm pretty sure that all buildings providing a service must also have restrooms, even if the occupants of the building don't need them.

Now that does sound like local government.

[Is it cold in here?]

Forcing a personality patch would be like forcefully brainwashing someone or slicing up their brains. There is a reason we don't do icepick lobotomies anymore.

And as long as May is under correctional control, I would not believe any claim she had consented to a patch.

Neither would Arrogant Architeuthis, I imagine.

The strip has shown wetware-based intelligences seeking change through therapy. Would patches with informed free consent be the equivalent for silicon-based people? Why have we never seen it happen? Do they prefer talk therapy?

[brasca]

Nelson has managed to be Employee of the Month so many times because he has held the record for  the number of AIs he manages to disabuse of any notion that anyone will give them practical assistance and, instead, that they must learn to accept their lot in life. Maybe he'll be the one to explain it to Roko (much like how O'Malley was the voice of the cynical policeman). Roko is going to get in a lot of trouble for actually offering May practical assistance by bothering people in the Department of Corrections over something that no-one (in power) is even remotely concerned about.

In my (wildly speculative) headcanon, until it's disproven, Nelson has won Employee of the Month because he's the only one there with a license to practice law, so he's the only one who can actually get anything done. My only reason for thinking this is that it would be hilarious to picture Nelson, attorney-at-law arguing in court.

Wonder what attorney persona he has. 

[hedgie]

The strip has shown wetware-based intelligences seeking change through therapy. Would patches with informed free consent be the equivalent for silicon-based people? Why have we never seen it happen? Do they prefer talk therapy?

I suspect that AIs either do talk therapy and support groups like us meat-beings, or maintain that to speed up the process in the outside world, use a cluster.

[Tova]

I would imagine that one AI right (among many) being fought for would be to have AI charging facilities in all buildings.

It's not too hard to imagine why. A more obvious significant goal of AI rights groups would be equal employment opportunities. Lack of AI facilities would be a barrier to employment.

AIs would also need to visit companies for meetings, to make inquiries, and various other purposes. AIs would visit people's homes as well, for all kinds of reasons. Such visitors should be catered for.

Charging facilities would be an AI analogue of restrooms, and as we've already seen, AIs can get caught short. Thus, in a world with equal rights for all, all buildings would have facilities for AIs.

Now flip that around, and it's not hard to see why all buildings should also have human facilities. Humans can work at, and visit, AI organisations. Since the QC world is already skewed towards humans, it's easy to imagine that legislation around that already exists.

One real-world example that I have encountered. Girls' schools with male restrooms. Does that surprise you as well? It really shouldn't, for precisely the same reasons outlined above - visitors and (potentially) male staff.*

* I was surprised in my specific example that they weren't unisex bathrooms, but that's another (albeit related) topic.

[Kairi]

I am in awe of the art here. Really liking the primary color thing happening. I would very much like to imagine this has been set up since they were introduced.

With grey backgrounds too? This is just extremely visually pleasing

[OldGoat]

Forcing a personality patch would be like forcefully brainwashing someone or slicing up their brains. There is a reason we don't do icepick lobotomies anymore.

And as long as May is under correctional control, I would not believe any claim she had consented to a patch.

Neither would Arrogant Architeuthis, I imagine.

The strip has shown wetware-based intelligences seeking change through therapy. Would patches with informed free consent be the equivalent for silicon-based people? Why have we never seen it happen? Do they prefer talk therapy?

Analogous to meds for us squishies.  Some embrace it and bless it for having given them their lives back, others think it's some kind of plot, and some who desperately need it have to have it forced upon them by court order.  I imagine that same range of behaviors in AIs.

(I acknowledge that there are less than excellent therapists who do inappropriately force medication upon patients.  I also know more that a couple seriously dysfunctional people who know they need their medication but resist treatment because of their personal policy of bowing their necks against any form of authority, including clinicians.  I don't think that kind of mindset would be as common among AIs who as a group would have a much better awareness of the electrochemical nature of their own brain media.)