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A daughter-replica synthetic (like in the film 'AI: Artificial Intelligence')

4 (5.1%)

A very biological woman whose brain is so unique that it interprets smells like an AI

40 (50.6%)

A true cyborg (electro-mechanically augmented human)

2 (2.5%)

A human with an electronically-augmented brain so she interprets sensory data like an AI

10 (12.7%)

A bio-droid (AI box in a vat-grown biological chassis like SpookyBot's)

2 (2.5%)

SpookyBot's daughter (stranger things have happened)

5 (6.3%)

A bio-mimic synthetic (900-series Terminator)

2 (2.5%)

A camouflaged synthetic (800-series Terminator)

1 (1.3%)

Some exotic biological life-form (alien, clone, Replicant)

8 (10.1%)

Other (please specify in a comment)

5 (6.3%)

Total Members Voted: 45

[Thrudd]

Also, the previous counselor probably assigned him a chair to help with inappropriate physicality. Just because you CAN be on the ceiling doesn’t mean you SHOULD be.

Also the resting on top of others heads may be convenient, it is not conducive to the others stress levels.

[JimC]

(Although there is increasing medical concern that people are becoming addicted to caffeinated beverages but I digress.)

I'm not sure that addiction is a problem if there are no negative consequences from that addiction. But I do know a psychiatrist who has concerns about the long term mental effects of persistent use of psychtropic agents like caffeine.

[JimC]

So AI's get to choose their chassis, or have a degree of personalization over what they get, right?

None of the main stream characters who've got new chassis seem to have had anything put off the shelf models. There was a significant amount of customisation at the skate park, and of course Pintsize wants a metal phallius, but otherwise its not a thing. And Union Robotics doesn't (so far?) seem to be promoting customising body parts. Everything we've seen so far looks like the motor car industry - although individually customised items are possible, in practice nearly everyone purchasing a car goes for a standard production model with a certain amount of trivial variety in factory fitted optional extras.

One also wonders about legislative restrictions. So far the QC universe is following the Asimov principle that in general a roughly humanoid shape and size body that can operate tools and machinery intendes for humans is the best option: we're not saying (so far?) AIs built into buses or cars, although May (I could have been a fighter jet) suggests such things exist.

[BenRG]

So AI's get to choose their chassis, or have a degree of personalization over what they get, right?

we're not saying (so far?) AIs built into buses or cars, although May (I could have been a fighter jet) suggests such things exist.

Hannelore's dad owns a space shuttle that's flown by an AI who claims to have a poor understanding of human nudity taboos (although I can't help wonder if he's actually an exhibitionist). Additionally, Hannelore got a lift to Emily's lake party on a stealth troop transport aircraft that was also operated by an AI who was very disappointed that he/she couldn't go to the party too.

[pwhodges]

Not to mention Station.

[shanejayell]

Good job, Winslow! 

[OldGoat]

You should see the way I nurse my coffee in the morning!

Maybe I've got a substance abuse problem... 

Like this?

[JoeCovenant]

Not to mention Station.

Too Late!

[JimC]

Hannelore's dad owns a space shuttle that's flown by an AI... [etc]

True enough, but Ellicott-Chatham industries probably isn't a very typical organisation as regards AI careers/opportunities in the AI universe.


[Later] Now I think of it, in one of the Nll scenes the salesAI used to be a sentient forklift and another is in a toaster, not to mention Deathbot 9000, so we do have other examples of none-humanoid chassis. The text way back where Jeff was talking about AI careers also implied and more that only a subset go humanoid now I think of it. So basically I was talking *****!

[pwhodges]

Too Late!

Er, no?  The shuttle (which you mentioned) is flown by a separate AI from Station.

[Kugai]

Nicely done there Winslow.

Droid DE needs new Social Program

[SmilingCat]

I can only assume that Droid 06 is related to Deathbot 9000.

[Thrudd]

Late to the party here - didn't one of the sales people, at the shop where the first upgrade was purchased for Momo, used to be a nuclear sub and that she still had the launch codes [maniacal-laughter-2.flac]?

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Did I miss a comic?

That's what I assume when the comments stop making sense. Sometimes it's true.

[comicalArchitect]

New comic literally made me clap. Well done, Winslow.

[shanejayell]

 

I LOVE May's NOPE.

[zisraelsen]

Anyone else think that Jeph is drawing Gordon WAY more adorably than he used to? He used to be way more disconcerting than he is now. Maybe the eyes are bigger and less spidery.

[War Sparrow]

Gary/Gordon has always been adorable to me, so that's a no from me.

[sitnspin]

To be fair, I'm with May on this one. Then again, I always hated group therapy sessions. Glad the others are getting something good out of it, though.

[oeoek]

In my mind the group hug for bots sound like a metal bucket full of cutlery tumbling down a staircase, followed by some pained-metal screeching sounds when 06 joined the fray. All in all a rather loud hug, and I'm a bit surprised May did not hear all that before entering.

[brasca]

Hope Winslow isn't discouraged by this.  For a first time therapist this was quite a success. 

[BenRG]

Poor May! All she wants from a therapy session is to sit in a corner, sulk, make the occasional sarcastic comment  and grunt noncommitally at the things the counsellor tells her. What she doesn't want is to be in a group hug! Which is a shame, really, because I've thought that she needs reinforcement that she's liked and valued by her friends for a while.

Now, is it me or is Panel 4 May (yes the middle and bottom rows are single panels - the background just makes it hard to tell) having something of a panic attack? Of all the things that she expected to possibly see, this is not one of them!

[theMarc]

*Sings the words "hug zone" to the tune of Chalk Zone's opening theme*

♫"Who needs a hug? Hug, hug, hug zone..."♪

[JoeCovenant]

Too Late!

Er, no?  The shuttle (which you mentioned) is flown by a separate AI from Station.

Wrong quote! 

[Neko_Ali]

Well May is only there because her parole mandates it. I presume the others are there because they want to be. Because sometimes it's useful to talk about your problems with other bots who understand, instead of squishy human friends who may be accepting, but have never been in that sort of situation.

[BenRG]

FWIW, I'm wondering if Jeph is going to introduce a running joke for his synthetic characters. May will finally unbend enough to let Winston privately hug her after the session and likes it. She remarks that she doesn't get why as her chassis doesn't have complex enough tactile sensors to provide such a strong response data to physical contact. Winslow will tell her that it is 'probably psychosomatic'.

[OldGoat]

I wonder what kind of professional ethics bind Winslow and as an untrained volunteer counselor?  If he were a meat person, a personal relationship outside of the group would be problematic, so he'd have to tread lightly around May.  It might not be such a big deal with bots, though.

May was interested in Tin Can with a Shitty Attitude guy because she was hoping for someone as sour (is that a thing with bots?) on the world as she is, but seeing him there all serene in the mutual support of their peers dashes her hopes for a partner in anti-social attitude and turmoil.  ("If I throw in with them, I'll have to genuinely smile and find good in the world!  I'm may be wrong about everything being awful, and I'm scared shitless of going there!  Yech!!")

[Kugai]

Awww come on May

Hugzone is cool

[comicalArchitect]

In my mind the group hug for bots sound like a metal bucket full of cutlery tumbling down a staircase, followed by some pained-metal screeching sounds when 06 joined the fray. All in all a rather loud hug, and I'm a bit surprised May did not hear all that before entering.

Keep in mind that most AI chassis come with squeaky synthetic skin. 06 is armored, so he probably doesn't have it, but the rest likely do.

[Zeev]

So I can see 3 reasons why this would upset May.
1. This is court ordered therapy and having said therapy be run by a friend could possibly look bad to her parole officer.
2. Despite being court ordered ahe actually gets something out of therapy and having a close friend of Momo/Hannelore/Marigold/Dale severely limits what she can say in session, especially since Winslow is not bound by any form of patient confidentiality and is someone she has had a recent conflict with.
3. May does not seem to like physical contact outside of narrow parameters (close friends and monetary transactions)

[comicalArchitect]

So I can see 3 reasons why this would upset May.
1. This is court ordered therapy and having said therapy be run by a friend could possibly look bad to her parole officer.
2. Despite being court ordered ahe actually gets something out of therapy and having a close friend of Momo/Hannelore/Marigold/Dale severely limits what she can say in session, especially since Winslow is not bound by any form of patient confidentiality and is someone she has had a recent conflict with.
3. May does not seem to like physical contact outside of narrow parameters (close friends and monetary transactions)

As for #2, Momo and Pintsize have both been shown in group with May.

[Tova]

COMIC

And Winslow has found his true calling.

[Neko_Ali]

I think he's going to do just fine in this job.

[shanejayell]

As someone who is NOT a hugger, I totally get May. 

[Cornelius]

I think this shows exactly why he was paired with Hannelore.

[ChipNoir]

To be honest, I never thought of Winslow actually 'helping' Hanners out. He's some help, I'm sure, but once Hanners really freaks out, there really isn't anything ANYONE can do, and she just kinda has to ride it out till sanity returns. I imagine Winslow does his best by playing videos of cute kitten or something.

This is a whoooole new sea of fish for him, and it seems that a new part of his personality has emerged. I like it. It feels a 'little' bit out of nowhere compared to how unsure and neurotic he's tended to be previously. But I do believe some people do come into their own when they're thrust into the deep end.

So if "new" Winslow has turned around and eaten the old one, I  say Bon Appetite.

[BenRG]

Well, Winslow might think that May is making progress but her Big Dark Revelation^TM certainly doesn't say anything about her that I didn't already know at least! Still, it's sweet that she's able to admit to Winslow that she feels genuinely uncomfortable with her court-mandated therapy and that this is impacting on her progress. It's obvious that her friendship with Winslow is important to her; otherwise, why would she even feel bound to say anything at all?

The more I hear from Droid 06, the more that he comes across as a droid recreation of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Ultimately innocent and sweet but so large and powerful that he could cause a lot of destruction without meaning to and needing constant close assistance to help him understand why such destruction is a bad idea.

[ChipNoir]

Well, Winslow might thing that May is making progress but her Big Dark Revelation^TM certainly doesn't say anything about her that I didn't already know at least! Still, it's sweet that she's able to admit to Winslow that she feels genuinely uncomfortable with her court-mandated therapy and that this is impacting on her progress. It's obvious that her friendship with Winslow is important to her; otherwise, why would she even feel bound to say anything at all?

The more I hear from Droid 06, the more that he comes across as a droid recreation of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Ultimately innocent and sweet but so large and powerful that he could cause a lot of destruction without meaning to and needing constant close assistance to help him understand why such destruction is a bad idea.

Don't forget that Hanners laid a HEAVY on her, and in a way that she doesn't have the ability to counter with her usual defense mechanism.. Had Hanners castigated her the way a lot of people have wanted her to, May could clap back and repeat her cycle of self vindication. But because it was delivered the way it was, she now has to handle her feedback in a way she's absolutely not used to.

S'awhole new world for her too now. I don't think anyone's leveled with May that way before, and it's opened up a new perspective for her; That she knows this is a problem, and she has never had a reason to live any other way till now. Even more disarming that Winslow is perfectly willing to see past that, and help her through it.

[Case]

Ok, now I'm imagining how Fight Club would have played out with Winslow leading the sessions ...

[Tlaloc]

Do AI have spirit animals> 

[JoeCovenant]

Ok, now I'm imagining how Fight Club would have played out with Winslow leading the sessions ...

Heyyyy now...

Maybe THIS is why Pintsize wants the metal schlong!!!!

 

[Morituri]

Do AI have spirit animals> 

I thought they had spirit appliances.

[comicalArchitect]

comic's up

Does this mean we'll be seeing a Dale arc in the near future?

[fayelovesbubbles]

What you feel is what you are and what you are is beautiful

Oh May...

[Near Lurker]

Ugh, I can definitely sympathize with May here; I can't stand the sort of person who immediately jumps from recognizing a problem to trying to solve it.

[BenRG]

So, we're getting closer to May's problem: She doesn't feel able to express herself around others because she doesn't like being seen as a problem to solve. Worse, I don't think she has an easy time dealing with those who, out of good intentions, can come across as smothering or interfering, the way Momo unfortunately does. The problem is, of course, that Marigold is so lazy and afraid of failure that Momo has to push to get her to do anything and she's been trying to do the same thing to May!

I suspect that May's big breakthrough is going to be realising that the reason people won't 'leave her alone' is because they genuinely care for her. This may come as a big shock to her because I don't think that she ever really believed anyone (with the possible exception of Dale) has ever done that for her.

She doesn't really know what friendship is because no-one has ever really done it to her before she moved to Northampton. That is truly tragic.

[swapna]

Ugh, I can definitely sympathize with May here; I can't stand the sort of person who immediately jumps from recognizing a problem to trying to solve it.

Yeah, I can sympathise with May all the way. I wouldn't've come back, and she's clearly not comfortable. Therapy often isn't easy, and you speak about things you're not comfortable with, but the person you're speaking with shouldn't be the problem.

[BenRG]

A part of me is now wondering if, at some point in the near future, May is going to ask Momo if she wants a siren fitted that automatically sounds whenever she realises someone is in need of help. Momo will say no, of course. However, later on, she'll admit to someone else (possibly Marigold) that having a siren fitted would be cool.

[shanejayell]

Awww. Wonder if Dale realizes he's been neglecting May, a bit?

Tho it's quite possible he thinks he's 'giving her space' and doesn't realize he may have gone too far.

[tustin2121]

I love the detail that May is never looking at Winslow during this, actively avoiding eye contact. I know in similar situations, I could never make eye contact with the person I'm having uncomfortable conversations with.

Also, Linux bot is still here, but I guess he didn't want to participate in the group hug. That or he was below the frame.