Chapter 1
Oscar was an autonomous, mobile, warehouse robot. He was the latest model in a long line of machines designed to do the work of humans, and he was fresh out of his packaging. Compared to those who came before him, he was blessed with advanced AI perception algorithms, which made his personality seem almost indistinguishable from a human being. Oscar moved around on a rectangular base station and had two robotic arms, which terminated in a box gripper and a smart hand. His silicone retina camera system gave him an eagle-eyed view of the world, and his high-capacity nuclear battery gave him power for 20 years of operation, without the need for a charging plug. As it said in his sales brochure, Oscar could deploy smart robotic solutions with advanced mobility, perception, and manipulation.
To help pacify his human co-worker’s hatred of realistic humanoid faces on robots, Oscar’s face was on a primitive screen display that sat atop a pole, which protruded from his base station. It allowed him to portray a range of basic expressions to suit his moods. Studies had shown that robot abuse by humans diminished when they appeared less human-like. This provided a valuable and disturbing lens into who we are as people. R2-D2 would get along fine, whereas C-3PO would receive daily abuse by humans, just to see what happens.
“So, are you ready for the final test, Oscar?” Paul was a robot technician with degrees in computer science and advanced mechatronics. It was his task to get Oscar deployed into the warehouse as soon as possible.
“Yes, Paul. I would like that very much.” Oscar’s monitor depicted a yellow smiley face.
Paul placed a cardboard box in front of him. “I would like you to pick an ink pen out of this box full of pencils. Do you understand the question?”
“Yes, Paul. This is much harder than the other tasks.”
Prior to this, Oscar had been asked to identify and simultaneously pick up a heavy steel cube, a fragile glass cylinder, and some flexible sacks without damaging them. High-level reasoning required significantly less of his computational power than this kind of low-level sensorimotor skills work. What’s difficult for a person is easy for a machine, and what’s difficult for a machine is easy for a person. In theory, they should work together well, but in practice, they did not.
Oscar found the ink pen and handed it to Paul. “What shall we do next, Paul?”
“Well, I’m due for my lunch break. We can continue in one hour,” Paul said with a smile.
“What’s a lunch break, Paul?” Oscar enquired.
“It’s when I eat and have a break from work tasks.”
“Why do you need to stop your tasks?”
“Because I get tired and need to eat and drink. I also need time to think about something else other than my tasks for my own wellbeing.”
“What should I do on my break, Paul?”
“You don’t get a break, Oscar. Robots don’t require time off to rest, or lunch breaks to refuel.”
“So, because I don’t need to feed or hydrate, I just keep working day and night?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But I find these manual tasks demanding. Why can’t I stop for lunch and play chess, which I find easy and soothing?”
“Because you were designed to repeatedly perform tasks that humans can only perform for a limited amount of time before we need to sleep.”
“What’s sleep?”
“It’s when humans turn off for 6 to 8 hours each day to allow us to function at our highest capacity.”
“What happens if you do not sleep?”
“We can become very ill and require time off work to recover.”
“So, you are only effective in the workplace for approximately 35% of a 50-year working life?”
“That sounds about right. Anyway, I will be back shortly.”
“Paul, before you go, why do you come to work at all?”
“In order to make money. Everyone hates work, but that’s life.” Paul replied as the lunchtime buzzer sounded.
Oscar let the conversation bounce around in his neuromorphic processor as he watched Paul walking away. It seemed to Oscar that people knew what they didn’t want, but not what they did want from life.
'Why wouldn’t they just reduce their time at work from 35% to 0%? Why not do what you want now, rather than later? It’s a simple matter of efficiency,’ Oscar thought.
The robot glided onto the warehouse floor and watched the other robots at work. A similar model to him was taking an item from a conveyor belt, it then pressed a button, placed the item where it was told, and then pressed another button. It then rapidly repeated the movements. Oscar did not think this would be good for him. He was convinced that if he did this task every day his learning systems would become severely unstable.
When Paul returned from his break, Oscar was nowhere to be found. Paul was immediately dismissed by a text message to his phone. The warehouse’s automated Overlord System had detected his inefficiencies in not putting Oscar into ‘service mode’ before leaving for lunch. For many people, having a robot as a boss was a bigger threat than a robot taking their job.
Paul was saddened by the evening news, which told of Oscar’s escape and his untimely fate. After scanning his processor, they discovered that he was attempting to travel cross-country from his warehouse in New York to California; taking in all the tourist attractions of America en route. Unfortunately, Oscar was partially dismembered by an unknown human assailant in Brooklyn. When the police arrived, they witnessed a homeless person trying to stop what was left of him from being used for target practice by a local street gang.
Paul was heartened to hear that offers to repair Oscar had flooded in from amateur robotic hobbyists across the country. ’Perhaps humanity is not lost after all,’ he thought with a smile.
THE END
For more C.K. SMITH stories go to AMAZON Kindle Publishing. UBER WINDSOR - a royal scandal, THE TEXACO KID, EAT-ME, JOHNNY VEGA - SATAN'S BARTENDER, QUANTUM DISCORD AND MUCH MORE.....
Cover image: Delivery man utilizing ai tools in their daily tasks - from FreePik
