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Total Members Voted: 88

[Timmy]

I bet she was actually more afraid of getting shafted out of a sales commission or somesuch.

[mtmerrick]

Thoughts:

-I'd think Dale wears glasses for distance, they're unneeded for close-up (computers, books, ect). When you need glasses like that,  you CAN wear them for close-up, but they have no added benefit. Unless of course they plug into your WoW, in which case the benefit could definitely be there.
-Hasn't it been confirmed that May is just remote connecting into Dale's Glasses? So turning them off turns off her connection to him, not May herself.
-sure seems like that's a "shit I fucked up" look in her eyes, not a "don't stab meeeeeee" type of fear.
-second panel Dale is the best Dale.  Ever. (artwork-wise, anyway. He's not saying or doing anything special)

[GarandMarine]

Hmmmm waiting for a plot twist here. I feel like there's some serious build up here.

[JunWasHere]

Does anyone see May turning out to be really lonely, really sad when Dale takes pity and turns them back on, and becoming QC's occasional dose of the "tsundere" trope?


Edit: Seems there's a theory that she's dead.
She's not dead, don't be silly. She went to multiple other AR glasses before reaching Dale, she obviously has her own core that can't be compromised just by having her medium turned off, and probably also right to life like many other AIs.

She may however be at risk of being moved into a job she doesn't want, which could be a story-point coming.

[Loki]

The news post to the comic implies we will see May again (to me), so she is probably not dead.

[Wadce]

I actually just registered even though I've been reading for quite some time now,

just to comment about the battle angels wall scroll in the background. That is some good old anime from 90s!

[Doc]

Nice animated effect.

[GarandMarine]

On a second look. May looks really distraught... that's bothering me a lot for some reason.

[cesariojpn]

Dale killed May.






That bastard.

[ankhtahr]

Reminds me of the ST:Voyager episode in which the holodeck characters acquire sentience and independance (yes, I watched ST:V. Sue me.).

Something like that happened in TNG as well. Remember Professor Moriarty? When they asked for an enemy who could defeat Data, not Sherlock Holmes?

About todays comic: disturbing indeed.

[KOK]

I don't see what is so disturbing. She came into his home uninvited, and minipulated him into saying something that she could interpret as an invitation to stay. She was consistently obnoxious. He threw her out. What is the problem?

She is not dead. She is running in a data center somewhere.

[TinPenguin]

It's more like he put her in time-out.

[ChaosWolf]

Nice animated effect.

Agreed. that was the first thing to catch my eye.  That particular sort of "derezzing" video-glitch effect is not easy to pull off without looking cheap, yet he nails it.

[Sullivan]

Either  that. or it's Microsoft.

That's IT! "May" is WINDOWS 8!!!!!

More likely a forgotten subroutine of Vista

Considering how annoying she is, I'd say more like Clippy. With a female version of Gilbert Gottfried's voice.

[Sullivan]

-sure seems like that's a "shit I fucked up" look in her eyes, not a "don't stab meeeeeee" type of fear.

Yes, and that's just an amazing piece of artwork for that. Jeph unmistakeably gives her that "oh shit I pushed it too far" look with just a few lines.

[Mlle Germain]

She is not dead. She is running in a data center somewhere.

-Hasn't it been confirmed that May is just remote connecting into Dale's Glasses? So turning them off turns off her connection to him, not May herself.

Yes, I'm sure that's true. She says so in http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2495. So I don't think there is a moral problem in turning of the glasses. Probably it's a little boring just to be in some server without any visual input, but it's really her own fault that she's in that situation. However, I think Dale won't keep her turned off. He will at least check on her one more time before the testing period runs out. 

(This "putting AI into coma" discussion reminds me of how in the early QC strips Pintsize was repeatedly turned off when he was being annoying. The awareness and strength of AI rights has certainly grown in the QC universe since then.)

Edit: Just realised that what I wrote above might seem like I think it's ok to just let a sentient being sit in a server without much contact to the external world (although she has the internet to socialise). I didn't mean it like that. I pity May for being in that situation, since she is clearly unsatisfied with it - though I suppose not all AIs would be. I hope we will find out how she got there or if it's common for an AI to have to earn money till he/she gets a body.
But I really don't blame Dale. I probably would have turned of the glasses as well. And it's not his fault that she's in a situation where she's unhappy.

[J]

Either  that. or it's Microsoft.

That's IT! "May" is WINDOWS 8!!!!!

More likely a forgotten subroutine of Vista

Considering how annoying she is, I'd say more like Clippy. With a female version of Gilbert Gottfried's voice.

clippy was annoying because he was trying to be helpful. deliberately vulgar and belligerent would have been a step up.


and speaking of gilbert gottfried

[maxh]

[Chiropractors] are not legally subject to licensing.

Where's that?

[Mr. Doctor]

It's more like he put her in time-out.

That's exactly what I was thinking... The whole idea of "killing her" never even occured to me until I read some posts. 
Also... by looking at her expressions right before being put in "time-out", I don't think she'll be mad... Maybe she just discovered what a *bleep* she has been towards him.

[Border Reiver]

Personally, I thought that the last panel was perfect - and Dale has definitely moved up more than a few notches on the "respect meter" as a result .

[Overkillengine]

This entire arc is like a giant allegory.

[kyomi]

I finally registered today, basically to to say that I feel bad for May

I think she's cute and would love to have her.. instead of Dale that seems to just.. abuse her :/

I thought it was pretty interesting how she seems to have a mind of her own and not "set" in one way or another. It would be fun to hang out with her  

[Mr. Doctor]

Woah, we must be reading this comic in such a different way then because I see absolutely no abuse from his part. In fact, I see it the other way around. She was pushing it way too much. I don't even let my close friends bug me that much for such a long time (specially if you are working).

[KOK]

How has he abused her?

[techkid]

I think she's cute and would love to have her.. instead of Dale that seems to just.. abuse her :/

Abuse, really? Yeah, they got off on the wrong foot (I suspect Dale was still sore from being ditched at the diner, but anyway), but he has tried to be patient with May the entire time.

Look at it like this. If you had an obnoxious friend like her that, after barging into your life more or less uninvited (I do say more or less, because although there is a licence agreement, he wasn't actually told of it), was rude and distracting while you were driving, and suggested doing stuff that would get you fired from your job(s), how would you react?

I doubt it that turning off the glasses is the equivalent of dying or coma. Closer to being kicked out, in my mind.

(click to show/hide)

I've seen that sort of fear and worry in a couple of my sister's dead-beat "boyfriends" that were living with us (have nowhere to go, been kicked out etc). Yeah, things are cool at first, but when they start throwing pity around to get you to do what they want, are occasionally abusive as hell (twice to the point where there is police intervention), and contribute absolutely nothing in return, you give them a blunt GTFO notice (which was better than the other type of "blunt" notice dad and me wanted to give him) and they start to tear up with "where am I going to live?". Our answer was simple: suck it up, and take your shit. They should think of that before abusing the goodwill of the people who took them in.

I thought it was pretty interesting how she seems to have a mind of her own and not "set" in one way or another. It would be fun to hang out with her

May was certainly an individual character, for sure, but Dickmouth Stinkface certainly lived up to her namesake. I doubt that you would tolerate her for any length of time...

[jwhouk]

How has he abused her?

I'd say it's been more the reverse.

[kyomi]

I didn't mean abuse in the traditional sense, it's probably not the right word. I thought she was being funny.. although.. I have pretty much zero social experience since I spend/spent most of my time just coding or playing games.

It's not like it was every second.. it was once every few hours (I assume.. unless Dale is somehow working 30 min shifts or less). It would definitely liven up my day. Maybe it's the fact that she would be an interesting friend since I basically have none >.>

Dale just seems to be generally negative towards her when she is just trying to make things fun.. although in a different way then normal.

Turning her off like that just seemed more like a GTFO in my opinon... I would *love* to have a chance like that.. it'd be pretty interesting and you'd also get paid as a bonus

[Mr. Doctor]

Dale just seems to be generally negative towards her

Yeah but no one can blame him. His reasons are obvious. It's not his fault that he got into this whole drama that he never asked for and to top it off he gets a companion that right now feels wrong for him. Just like Pintsize is wrong for Marten (they managed to have a great time though but that's another story since the little guy still deserves any punches he gets from Faye or any other).

This obviously depends on who is in such scenario, for you it would be fine... but in Dale's case I think he was in his right to turn his glasses off.

[Game and Watch Forever]

It's not like it was every second.. it was once every few hours (I assume.. unless Dale is somehow working 30 min shifts or less). It would definitely liven up my day.

I felt more like we were getting a single highlight for each job he had. For all we know she was doing it every five minutes and we just weren't shown all of it. May definitely has the makings of a fun A.I. that could potentially "tell it like it is" in a way that can be entertaining, but I think she's going about it the wrong way. Snide remarks to entertain Dale and herself would be one thing. Encouraging him to do things that'll get him fired if caught is another.

[rschill]

How long does Dale hold out? 

Those glasses are usually ALWAYS on. 

[Carl-E]

I think just long enough to do some investigation about May and get the virus off his Glasses.

Or to find out what her real deal is. 

[kyomi]

I like her.. I hope there's more of her and this isn't like another "station" bit.. where there's a week and that's it :/

I also think this is the first time that I've actually seen Dale's eyes

[Is it cold in here?]

Dale was refusing to follow Dickmouth Stinkface's suggestions out of personal ethics and regard for others.

Welcome, new people!

[Sidhekin]

No surprise.  We already knew Dale is a gentleman. 

[dr.jim]

Dale's glasses seem mighty close to the edge of the table and May is instantiated only to him now.  If the glasses fall and break, May could be lost .... forever.

[HeavyP]

Hi all!  Just figured I'd come out of semi-lurking to offer my thoughts as well: I don't see anything whatsoever wrong with Dale turning off his glasses.  For the folks comparing it to a coma, I don't think that's quite correct.  May established that her sentience is actually running on a server elsewhere, and she's merely being projected visually and aurally through his Glasses - turning off the Glasses is the equivalent of turning off the monitor and speakers while leaving your computer running (everything is still active, you just can't see or hear it).  Secondly, while I find May's antics mildly amusing sitting on this side of the monitor, if I was forced to deal with them the entire day (especially given that only the person wearing the Glasses can see or hear her), I'd be more than a little irritated.  Sure, it sucks if she's stuck in the server while the glasses are off.  But if I invite you into my home, and you then proceed to act like an ass and annoy the piss out of me all day, I am well within my rights to ask you to leave my house.  It's not my problem if, after you leave, the only place you have to go is back to is your home, to sit in your room and do nothing.  Maybe if you didn't act like such a Dickmouth Stinkface, I wouldn't have thrown you out.

[ankhtahr]

Well yeah, her consciousness might still be running. That is actually what I'm afraid of. Think of being consciously awake, but being cut off from every kind of sensation. Being awake while not seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling anything. That seems to me like a nightmare that can drive people/conscious AI mad.

[mtmerrick]

Edit: Just realised that what I wrote above might seem like I think it's ok to just let a sentient being sit in a server without much contact to the external world (although she has the internet to socialise).

replace server with house and that's been my life for the past several years *shrugs*

[Truec]

All you guys who think hat hsutting off the glasses kills May/puts her into a coma/ puts her into sensory deprivation seem to have forgotten that Pintsize used to get powered down a lot, and it was considered akin to sleep.

Also, she's not running on the glasses, she's just interfacing with Dale through them, she's running on a computer at a data center.

[TinPenguin]

It's more like he put her in time-out.

That's exactly what I was thinking... The whole idea of "killing her" never even occured to me until I read some posts. 
Also... by looking at her expressions right before being put in "time-out", I don't think she'll be mad... Maybe she just discovered what a *bleep* she has been towards him.

As a follow-up to the whole 'time-out' concept, I want to add some speculation that may be relevant... May's age. Now, we don't know anything for certain, but it's been implied that companion AIs are assigned pretty early in their life. Momo is about 2.7 years old, and I think it's fair to assume she's been with Marigold most of that time. We don't know Pintsize's age, but he was with Marten for at least two years before the rest of the gang showed up, and he's never mentioned a previous vocation. It seems likely that an AI starting out as a companion is probably freshly 'hatched', especially on a new project like this.

What can we draw from this? First of all, May is very young. Secondly, she's spent most of her short life offering her services to other Glasses owners and being soundly rejected (which goes some way to explaining her attitude). Thirdly, and finally, although a newborn AI is far more advanced than a newborn meatbrain, she is still inexperienced, and lacking boundaries. Dale is educating her a little on that score.

Or I might be completely wrong, but it's something to think about.

[kyomi]

TinPenguin... you've put my thoughts into words

It's exactly what I was thinking.. but apparently couldn't find the right way to say it

she's just interfacing with Dale

My brain is so corrupted.. I laughed at that bit because I thought it looked like a sex joke -_-

[CrowFairy]

Well yeah, her consciousness might still be running. That is actually what I'm afraid of. Think of being consciously awake, but being cut off from every kind of sensation. Being awake while not seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling anything. That seems to me like a nightmare that can drive people/conscious AI mad.

Yeah, that's honestly what bothers me about it. Locked-In Syndrome is one of my worst nightmares. I have occasional bouts of sleep paralysis, and it's seriously terrifying. It happens without permission, and it shuts down your entire ability to move for up to a minute. (Not to mention if it cascades into itself over and over for an hour.)

(click to show/hide)

Sleep paralysis! Okay, I'm fine. Nope--have some more sleep paralysis! Okay...

Imagine that someone else has the power to control whether you can see, hear, and move. Imagine that they decide that you don't deserve to see, hear, and move. And they turn you off. And you're unsure of how long this will last. It could be an hour. It could be a day. It could be a week, a month, a year, a decade, an eternity. It's not your choice. And the only person who can choose that is someone who isn't you. They have a button they can push, and you wink out until they choose to let you come back.

If she's running in a server, that's basically what's happening. Pintsize is a little different because he is basically going to sleep. He isn't running at all during that time, so it could technically be like a coma for him. Also terrifying but in a different way.

May is probably aware that she's locked in this box, her consciousness still running, and she knows that she is stuck in there until someone decides to let her out. If the server is running, then she's "awake." If she's in that state of wakefulness but can't go anywhere, then that would be a legitimately upsetting experience.

(Edited for misplaced parenthesis.)

[KOK]

Hi all!  Just figured I'd come out of semi-lurking to offer my thoughts as well: I don't see anything whatsoever wrong with Dale turning off his glasses.  For the folks comparing it to a coma, I don't think that's quite correct.  May established that her sentience is actually running on a server elsewhere, and she's merely being projected visually and aurally through his Glasses - turning off the Glasses is the equivalent of turning off the monitor and speakers while leaving your computer running (everything is still active, you just can't see or hear it).

Turning off the glasses was like hanging up the phone. In this case a phone with video.

We do not know what sensory equipment May has available besides the glasses. That she is in sensory deprevation is mere speculation.

[TinPenguin]

I hardly think the Glasses creators would design a system that sends the AI to a living hell for eight hours just because the owner of the Glasses turned them off when they went to bed.

[KOK]

I like her.. I hope there's more of her and this isn't like another "station" bit.. where there's a week and that's it :/

I also think this is the first time that I've actually seen Dale's eyes

It is not. The first times we saw him, his glasses did not glow. He was introduced in 1640. He met Marigold for thye first time in 1668 and again in 1680. The glowing glasses came later.

[Game and Watch Forever]

My thoughts are that she probably has a higher up to report to, which would require some way to interface with them. So I'm sure she still has a way of interacting with the world. Hopefully they're not treating her poorly but we really can't be sure. 

The comments on May's "age" and lack of experience would indeed explain some behaviors and make it all the more interesting to see how she changes through this arc (assuming there is a change).

[HeavyP]

Thing is, an artificial intelligence of the QCverse style is fundamentally different from a human.  She can see and hear in meatspace via Dale's glasses, but she can't communicate with anyone other than Dale, and she cannot feel, smell, touch, or really have any interaction with anything that Dale is not interacting with, so you really can't draw a parallel with what a human would feel here.  There also exists the fact that a human that's shut off from everything has only their own thoughts to occupy them, but an AI can still interact meaningfully with other programs, regardless of location.  Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think it likely that the inventors of this system would create (probably be REQUIRED to create, given AI rights laws and activism) a virtual space for the AIs to live in when their "assignees" have their Glasses turned off.  A virtual "home" on the server would have minimal requirements for creation and maintenance, and an AI waiting there would have as much sensory stimulation as a hologram in meatspace would, more if you consider the fact that other tactile experiences could be coded into the server/program/virtual home they're waiting in.

It's all conjecture of course, but given the level of attention that seems to be given to Artificial Intelligence in this world, almost without a doubt there would be activists howling if, as TinPenguin put it, they were sent to a living hell while their assigned Glasses were off.

[kyomi]

You know.. I just thought of this. May knows where Dale is.. the glasses have to have some kind of address and there is undoubtedly a location "app" in them. May is running "on a server somewhere" so turning off the glasses is just turning off one way of getting to him.

What if she "infects" his computer and torments him there? What if he has a video camera or something that she can project her self through? I think it would be pretty funny.. "You can't get rid me of.. *evil smile*"

[Is it cold in here?]

Whatever happens to Dickmouth Stinkface when Dale turns the glasses off, we know it terrifies her.

[HeavyP]

Or she fears getting rejected by ANOTHER user and potentially whatever'd by the company she's created/employed by for not being marketable.