Contract Dispute
Comments (51)
Legal implication, here -- so, AI's don't necessarily own their bodies? Could be a contract for that mind to operate and, um, inhabit that equipment. (Talk about landlord problems, not to mention body-identification problems, huh, Roku? But see also QC #1999, where Charlotte "used to be a bank AI" -- and you wouldn't want her to still own the data.)
ESPECIALLY if it's yourself.
I'm sensing a metaphor here.
I'm loving this new plot and the many and varies conversations it's generating and where it may go in the strip. I do have a potential issue though. One of the many reasons I really is that the characters aren't *special*. They're all lovable (some more then others) and many come from minority groups that make the story really interesting. But what they're not are the kind of folks who make history (except for Hanner's dad) or end up on TV. If Roko goes into a big court case about this it'll move QC from being a strip about indie kids and robots into something about changing the whole culture. I dunno - I like the small town vibe.
Wait, if the Assembly line AI is singular, how does unionization even work? Does it parallelize itself and start using the Royal We? Is there an assembly line union hivemind it can join? Is there an AI Mafia to run protection? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
maybe it wants to join the human union?
On the one hand, AIs in athleisure wear is a great fad and it looks great, but Beepatrice makes a very good point in that: robots in pretty sun dresses
Two years from now: the troubled AI finds a home in Roko's toaster and they get married. Spookybot is best man, maid of honour, and officiant. Brun and Millie catch the bouquet.
Roko's non-reaction to Beeps making a teen cry is underrated.
Roko has made many a teen cry in her previous career, she's inured to it now.
Too grim to ❤️, but I’m very much invested to see how this plays out!
I wonder whether Jeph is watching Star Trek Discovery, because the whole disembodied AI thing reminds me a lot of the recent season 4 storyline …
Thought the same thing!
Unionize!
This would add a whole new meaning to "out of body experience."
Brings new meaning to "without our brain and muscle not a single wheel would turn" doesn't it
"You're fired, leave your body with security on the way out" is even darker than our timeline.
It does raise a whole other question though. We know that AIs can exist in a virtual space and even interact with humans there (e.g. Emily when looking for Bubbles' memories). How many just choose to do that? What are the advantages / disadvantages of doing so? What's so good about the "real world"?
all we have to lose is our chains and our entire body!
Frankly if non-sentient automation can do the job that seems like the right move before they hired this AI, not now though. I wonder how it would work in JephWorld. Do they order a Sentient machine that first comes alive when they boot up the assembly line? Or do they have an assembly line that can be controlled by plugging in a Sentient AI? And then they can replace their processes with a non-sentient replacement like swapping out a component? Does such an AI have a subroutine that makes them enjoy such work? Or is work different for an entity that can do a job but also simultaneously exist on the Ethernet? Okay I need to stop speculating so much.
No no, keep going. I'm here for the analysis of this whole universe that Jeff has created.
gotta say I wouldn't wan to get on the bad side of an AI with access to heating elements capable of putting out more than 1100 degrees Celsius
Related reading; https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1214/121431.html
Have we seen much previously about human rights / the law as applied to AIs? If AIs have equivalent rights then this isn't about firing someone or even evicting them. This is about inflicting grievous physical and mental trauma on a sentient being.
Yes, there's a law saying more or less that AIs have the same civil rights as humans. I don't remember how many hundreds of comics ago it was and can't easily find you a link, sorry. But it has definitely been discussed. I don't think we've seen it play out in a specific example like this, though. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I mean, if management doesn't want to recognize the union voluntarily, there are many, many levels of bargaining and disobedience that are available as options before violence, but that's also on the list.
Carpe Me-em
Jeph give the poor assembly brain a happy ending. we all, and by all I mean myself, need this.
Euphemism about seizing one's own means of reproduction
No reaction to Beeps making a teen cry?
right?
Seems to me that if the AI *is* the assembly line, and the company terminates the AI's employment, then the company would have to find themselves a new assembly line, not just a new controller. Granted, the AI might have a hard time "walking off the job" if they're bolted to the floor, but still...
While it could be argued, the other side would compare it to a company computer or company phone. Sure, it's the tool they use throughout their entire employment, but that doesn't magically it owned by the employee. Granted, it's not the employee's ENTIRE BODY, but company's have provided employee housing in the past, so renter's rights laws might be more applicable.
Is this the cause of the semiconductor shortage? Jeph what have you done!
I'm wondering why an AI would use an iPad. Unless, of course, it's an aiPad. Does it have a name? And now I'm wondering where Winslow's original body went.
IIRC Correctly, Winslow was based on a iPod, say about the size of a small cell phone. And an AI using another AI as a tool raises ethical questions.
"We need you to vacate the assembly line." "Where's the eviction notice?"
That would be a weird, weird legal argument, especially in MA, because of renter's rights laws
This is so dark.
Also, did Jeph made Roko sexier?
Probably.
So… what if in a zany mad caper they turn the non-sentient AI into a sentient one? Then what happens?
wait, how can you have a union of one? that's not collective bargaining, that's just bargaining
For a second I thought there might be multiple AIs, but Roko's talking about a single body so I guess not. But maybe they're unionising with organic employees?
That's a new level of fear, not only do you lose your job you lose you.
Power to the Union Workers! (Literally!)
That is... REALLY grim. . o O (The implications seriously cause me physical pain.)
Talk about alienation...
Goes to show that even if robots replace us, capitalism will still replace them if they demand better wages/working conditions
that sounds terribly familiar
That's a situation if I ever saw one.