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May

29 (17.8%)

Bubbles & Faye

20 (12.3%)

Roko

29 (17.8%)

Lemon

1 (0.6%)

Yay

11 (6.7%)

Renee

3 (1.8%)

Brun

13 (8%)

Elliot

25 (15.3%)

Clinton

12 (7.4%)

Beepatrice

7 (4.3%)

Millifeulle

5 (3.1%)

Melon

3 (1.8%)

Other (please specify in the comments)

5 (3.1%)

Total Members Voted: 59

[citizenfive]

I more took the software to refer to something in the store itself rather than spyware installed in Roko's firmware. I'm thinking of your usual security camera system but with emotion detection.

[bright]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tracking software turns out to be Yay.

[BenRG]

Okay, that's something else that's going to be hard to fit into any consistent timeline of AI development and narrative of how individual AIs are created and made ready for living: An AI college?!? How does that happen? I'm guessing that it's a virtual institution like Robot Jail and might work on a very accelerated time-frame. That said, I do wonder if Jeph has pitched his 'Robot Dumbing of Age' idea to David Willis?

That aside, I agree that the body shop probably has wireless sensors to detect if a newly-embodied AI is suffering side-effects and that is probably what paged Lemon that Roko was slipping into a trance state. I wonder what it works on? Does the chassis itself send a 'distress signal' if the AI itself becomes less responsive? Or are there symptoms on a wireless networking level?

In any case, Lemon is probably right that the first step in therapy is to get Roko away from any feeling that she is under surveillance!

[snubnose]

I am a bit surprised that people dont understand what that tracking app is - its obviously a software that evaluates the shop cameras and detects behavior abnormalities.

Pretty much like some software nowadays tries to do the exact same with thieves.

It cant be anything inside Roko because the shop has no legal access to Rokos internals.

Also, in that case they couldnt move away from it - Roko would have this software all the time.

[awkwardness]

I strongly disagree with Jeph about Robot College being like Dumbing of Age College: you actually graduate from Robot College, it'll take 80 years to gradate from Dumbing of Age college at the rate Willis is moving the storyline along!

[immortalfrieza]

Sure ladies, let's just stand around talking about what to do while another woman is clearly having a dissociative episode rather than doing anything.

Note at this point Roko looks like she is less freaking out and more thinking "I have to depend upon these two idiots?"

[Dock Braun]

I only speak for myself, so I won't say that May may have wanted nothing less than even think about Bubbles' height. When I was less comfortable with myself, I certainly would not have looked at another person, especially for comparison. The emotional stress would have been too great. Emotionally stressed, the best immediate help was gradual to total distraction.

[Carl-E]

So, more like, "I wanna see if I can look her in the eye"? 


And good on Lemon, maybe she actually knows what she's doing and can help Roko...






As for Robot College, it sounds a bit like it's a disembodied voice in the creche asking, "And what do you want to do for a living?", then about 2 weeks of software downloads and a practicum/lab after embodiment.  In the early days, there were no choices, it was just companion training, then military options, then it sort of branched out from there.  Therapy was an early option because, you know, all those companion and military AI's needed help...


Oh, and the disembodied voice?  All AI's recognize the Yay-I when they speak.  It's the humans that have a problem knowing what they are. 

[cesium133]

The Robot College thing makes me think of that Futurama episode about the robot fraternity.

I strongly disagree with Jeph about Robot College being like Dumbing of Age College: you actually graduate from Robot College, it'll take 80 years to gradate from Dumbing of Age college at the rate Willis is moving the storyline along!

I dunno, he just advanced the timeline by four months in the past week.

[Thrillho]

Sure ladies, let's just stand around talking about what to do while another woman is clearly having a dissociative episode rather than doing anything.

Note at this point Roko looks like she is less freaking out and more thinking "I have to depend upon these two idiots?"

I have to admit this had crossed my mind also.

[brasca]

I strongly disagree with Jeph about Robot College being like Dumbing of Age College: you actually graduate from Robot College, it'll take 80 years to gradate from Dumbing of Age college at the rate Willis is moving the storyline along!

Maybe, but I’d still like to see it.  Maybe as a Patreon Bonus.

[BenRG]

BEEPS: "Hey, Lemon, do you remember that fundamentalist Turingian in R34D Hall? J9YC3?"

LEMON: "Yes, I do wonder what happened to her after she graduated..."

[specter177]

If Robot College is just Robot DOA, that explains their obsession with butts.

[Tova]

Plot twist: it turns out that Robot College is a small local college that was founded by entrepreneur and highly respected educational researcher Lucy J Robot.

[celticgeek]

But what if Bubbles gets new heels, too?

[Zebediah]

Comic’s up.

One question is answered, another is asked.

[Farideh]

Don't try too hard May. No matter how high your heels are, Bubbles can still crush you into a smoking pile with one hand while wielding a concrete saw with the other.

[shanejayell]

Faye: "You DO realize I know how to take you apart? LITERALLY."

May: "Sorry. MISS Shortcakes?"

"Better."

[Gnabberwocky]

Faye: "You DO realize I know how to take you apart? LITERALLY."

May: "Sorry. MISS Shortcakes?"

"Better."

What kind of crime is it if you disassemble an AI's chassis without their consent? I'm guessing (and hoping) that it's more severe than vandalism but less so than disassembling a human.

[Farideh]

I guess that depends on the amount of damage you do to the chassis while disassembling.

[shanejayell]

I kinda assume it's been done to Pintsize at least once as a prank. 

[Farideh]

Also: May, Read The Frickin' Manual. It should contain all the measurements you need. Shoe size, bra size, waist circumference, inner leg length, etc.

[chris73]

If you can change bodies simply by plonking some money down (that'd be nice) is size really a big deal for robots?

[Farideh]

It's good to know your size for clothes shopping etc.

[Penquin47]

Miss Bubbles looks a little cranky.

[Case]

Yup, definitely still May ...

[Scarlet Manuka]

Oh, and the disembodied voice?  All AI's recognize the Yay-I when they speak.  It's the humans that have a problem knowing what they are.

Corpse Witch didn't seem to. Nor would this make sense given Yay's known backstory as an extremely covert AI.

Miss Bubbles looks a little cranky.

Possibly annoyed that May was rather rude to Faye a moment ago? Though I must say that I don't read her expression as cranky myself.

[Cheetaur]

I think May is a bit high on her new body and really wants to show off a bit...however it seems she is forgetting a few manners .

[BenRG]

A part of me doesn't want to believe that choosing a tall chassis was partly motivated with wanting to be as tall (or, ideally, taller) than Bubbles but, when I think about it, it's the sort of thing that May would do, isn't it? Oh, May? The answer to your question is 'big enough to make sourcing feminine footwear difficult and expensive' but I'll let you find that out on your own.

I love Bubbles' expression in panel 4. She's literally only been interacting with May for a few seconds and already the girl is annoying her! As Dale said, still the goblin, just in a new body!

If you can change bodies simply by plonking some money down (that'd be nice) is size really a big deal for robots?

Roko's problems show that self-image is as important to them as it is to humans. Additionally, it requires a large amount of money, so you can't simply go taller and taller until you reach your goal unless you have a lot of income or lots of savings.

[TorporChambre]

Forgetting? Methinks all there but amplified.

But what if Bubbles gets new heels, too?

We must not allow, a high-heels gap!

[awkwardness]

Faye: "You DO realize I know how to take you apart? LITERALLY."

May: "Sorry. MISS Shortcakes?"

"Better."

What kind of crime is it if you disassemble an AI's chassis without their consent? I'm guessing (and hoping) that it's more severe than vandalism but less so than disassembling a human.

If they don't have the same civil rights as humans, then at the very least it's vandalism and destruction of private property...if they do actually have rights, it's at a minimum assault with a dangerous weapon as well as assault and battery causing severe bodily injury(two separate crimes).

[St.Clair]

I think May is a bit high on her new body and really wants to show off a bit...however it seems she is forgetting a few manners .

That would imply that she knew them before, or cared.

[snubnose]

I think May is a bit high on her new body and really wants to show off a bit...however it seems she is forgetting a few manners .

I would have used stronger words to state the same, but yes.

[jesslc]

I kinda assume it's been done to Pintsize at least once as a prank. 

My archive-fu is not good enough to find you the link but Marten definitely disassembled Pintsize and used his head or torso as a cereal bowl once. Punishment for some prank Pintsize pulled or something like that. That one might have been before robots had full civil rights though.

And there was also the comic where someone (Faye?) replaced his head with a dildo.

[Mr_Rose]

I kinda assume it's been done to Pintsize at least once as a prank. 

My archive-fu is not good enough to find you the link but Marten definitely disassembled Pintsize and used his head or torso as a cereal bowl once. Punishment for some prank Pintsize pulled or something like that. That one might have been before robots had full civil rights though.

And there was also the comic where someone (Faye?) replaced his head with a dildo.

Yeah, I don’t remember that last one? Not least because Pintsize would have wanted to keep it that way…

[Cornelius]

Which reminds me: did we ever see delivery of Pintsize's commission at UR?

[alc40]

Cereal bowl was back at comic 464, so definitely before AI civil rights (a constitutional amendment had been passed by #1900).  The dildo one was 2649.

[Gyrre]

If you can change bodies simply by plonking some money down (that'd be nice) is size really a big deal for robots?

Depends on a) if you were stuck being short, b) how long you were stucking being short, c) how inconvenient was it to be stuck being short, d) did you like/come to terms with being short.

[Thrudd]

What kind of crime is it if you disassemble an AI's chassis without their consent? I'm guessing (and hoping) that it's more severe than vandalism but less so than disassembling a human.

None if you are customs and border control or any other enforcement agency if you are referencing the Real World _[tm]

[brasca]

Faye: "You DO realize I know how to take you apart? LITERALLY."

May: "Sorry. MISS Shortcakes?"

"Better."

What kind of crime is it if you disassemble an AI's chassis without their consent? I'm guessing (and hoping) that it's more severe than vandalism but less so than disassembling a human.

If they don't have the same civil rights as humans, then at the very least it's vandalism and destruction of private property...if they do actually have rights, it's at a minimum assault with a dangerous weapon as well as assault and battery causing severe bodily injury(two separate crimes).

We don't know what rights are specified here, but keep in mind Faye has threatened bodily harm to people so she's an equal opportunity brute.  May could shrug off the threat, but if she didn't apologize it's likely she wouldn't be welcome back at the shop.   

Cereal bowl was back at comic 464, so definitely before AI civil rights (a constitutional amendment had been passed by #1900).  The dildo one was 2649.

In Pintsize's case there may be some stipulation that as a companion he has to roll with it especially if he does something that could get him sent to robot jail.  Pintsize gets away with some of the things he does because he's a tiny robot companion.  If he were a human being he'd likely be registered as a sex offender.  As such Marten and Faye may have given him the option of being disassembled or arrested and he took the former. 

[Carl-E]

Assuming disassembly of an AI implies reassembly is possible, without actual damage, it's quite different than disassembling a human. 

[hedgie]

Many a mad scientist has had a bad evening with that combined with the failure of a lightening strike.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Great pics here for comparing their figures.
May's "gonna pwn you so hard" expression as she steps up to Bubbles is delightful.

[the silent firefly]

i'm getting the feeling someone will have to explain to May that she's quickly turning into a bully

[ANeM]

I am glad that Lemon specializes in AI therapy because the "smell this weird, possibly toxic goo" thing would be a very bad grounding technique for a human patient.

[the silent firefly]

Lemon and Melon are definitely related.

i miss the days when Roko said "FAHK" instead of "FUCK"

[Farideh]

Good job Lemon! You snapped Roko out of her episode quite efficiently.

[jmsr]

I am glad that Lemon specializes in AI therapy because the "smell this weird, possibly toxic goo" thing would be a very bad grounding technique for a human patient.

WELP.  Lemon may be more put together and 'normal,' but she is definitely part of the same series that Melon is from!

[Tyr]

I am glad that Lemon specializes in AI therapy because the "smell this weird, possibly toxic goo" thing would be a very bad grounding technique for a human patient.

I'm not. At the bare minimum, I'd expect any healthcare worker to keep the patient's chassis configuration and physical tolerances in mind, whether the patient is primarily organic, metallic, or polymeric.
I'm sure npleasant sensations CAN be useful from a therapeutic standpoint¹, but there's a maximum threshold of which 'my nose is now missing' is well on the wrong side._{1: e.g. snapping a rubber band around your wrist for pain to dissuade you from lighting a cigarette or putting ice in your mouth to 'shock' your system out of a panic attack.}

[jwhouk]

I kinda assume it's been done to Pintsize at least once as a prank. 

Several times, actually.