The Director's Directive
no QC is not going to tie into alice grove
Comments (120)
He says that now, but watch, the last strip will say "Read Alice Grove for the rest of the story." Just watch.
I mean ... for the sake of the cast I hope not. That story didn't exactly have a happy past.
I should have more pressing questions, but my real concern: when AIs are quoting another AI, do they just synth their voices or play sound bytes recorded in their memory? This *will* keep me up tonight
You say that as if there's a functional difference. Voice communication contains abundant sideband information. Intonation, stress, and a bunch of other shit lends emotional and literal meaning. To an extent, contemporary voice synth is a historical accident of attempting to transcode plaintext into audio output without those sidebands encoded in the input, and that's why it sounds so janky. But that's not always the case. I suggest googling for "inputmag.com thomas buchler tropetrainer", and reading about how intonation and stress are encoded in the Hebrew holy texts with trope marks. Ancient Jewish scholars thought deliberately about their problem and created a specific solution. An algorithm that perfectly encodes a voice clip's phonemic intent, with all the perceived sidebands preserved, as well as the particular voice's method of delivery, how it sounds, what frequencies it uses, etc? That's nothing more than an impressively effective, application-specific compression algorithm. Storing uncompressed audio files in your memory would be the android equivalent of something hanging around in a human's echoic memory. Perceived but unprocessed, literally something you have not thought about. It's unquestionable that their raw capacity for perceptual input would be arbitrarily extensible, but as a matter of both efficiency and respect, it likely remains small. Efficiency, because saving cycles by adding memory is a loser's game for inputs in broadband spectrums like voice, and respect, because encoding is how you prove to yourself that you were listening. That last point bears inspection. An AI can guarantee their own understanding of a voice clip by translating the clip into a vocoder definition for the speaker and their encoded intent, then translating it back and comparing the output to the raw input. They can literally read back their instructions in their collaborator's own voice, to make sure that the intent they encode is likely what was meant. And if there's noise, if there's a discrepancy to how they sound, that's a sign they're not getting all the sideband info. They're missing something, eg, sarcasm, and they can pick that up with further communication. This is how I decided to spend twenty minutes on my Sunday afternoon; how are you doing?
Claire's panel 5 face over the last three strips has just been getting more and more grumpy, hasn't it?
And kind of lower jaw stretched out. Must be a stress thing.
Despite Jeph’s comment, I am still of the belief that Alice Grove’s first job was delivering pizzas while wearing a mask…
Pizza delivery is a very heroic side-gig. Good enough for Peter Parker and Hiro Protagonist. But I'm thinking we're in more of a Travelers situation. The Director's probably Yay's old colleague from the ShadowNet Co-Op.
Having had 6 job interviews in the last 2 months and no offers, I'd kill for an interviewer like Moray.
Damn, that sucks! ::fingers crossed for you::
You know... if she asks for $10m salary and work-from-home, this could be fine.
Nice screen name.
I only just realised that the drone is the camera for the video call.
Turns out it is not even a company - the Director started a workplace LARP and it got a bit out of hand....
Well, it *wasn't* a company. But the LARP got so entirely out of hand it now is one. At least on paper. Half the employees they had in their initial filing don't actually exist and half of the ones that do have not noticed how far off the deep end the others have gone, including the bit about actually filing incorporation info for their game company. This includes the GM. Edit: Forgot to mention that most of the ones who are aware of how far this has gone are laughing their asses off, blissfully unaware of what legal ramifications might be headed their way.
I have a friend who was tapped for an enormous charitable foundation. They had more money than mission and not enough people, process, priorities, or well anything. She wrote her own job description. The first thing she did was squeeze openings in the Org chart for things she had no.idea how to do and hired the people to fill them. Then she got folks to commit to.priotities. then she created records keeping and administrative processes, and where she didn't know she got input from the department heads she had hired. Then she started doing the job she had been hired for
Claire has the right stuff to do that
The director speaks exclusively in capital letters... I'm thinking the director is Crushbot or closely related.
Or Death? Hoping for Discworld connection if Alice Grove is not happening.
Getting a promotion during the interview is like getting top grade, right?
“Hmm, you now outrank me. Should we swap this interview around then?”
Engineer Chow, an engineer’s favorite chow, better even than Bachelor Chow. How thoughtful of them 🤖☺️
Probably their first invention and source of most of their funding. Which is fair enough; No self-respecting engineer wants to break for meals or experience the evil daystar until they are DONE, dammit...
Claire as Dr. Eleanor Arroway, summoned to meet a potential financial backer for her SETI research, after she had recently "come to his attention": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SbKE_U4b7U
It's scary. In a place like that, Moray could just as flippantly announce that Claire's mind is going to be "uploaded into a new AI body! Isn't it exciting!" And then they'd discover ("oopsie!") that they'd recycled Claire's body into janitor food. But it doesn't matter, because AI bodies are so much better! Dialogue from "The Prisoner": Prisoner; "Who are you?" #2: "The new Number Two". Prisoner: "Who is Number One?" #2: "You are Number Six," Prisoner: "I am not a number. I am a free man!" #2: "Ha-ha-HA-HA-HA-HA-ha!"
I've always wondered if there should be a comma after "you are". As in, "You are, Number Six."
Claire's facial expressions seem to indicate that she is so ready to blow her top that they really should be sounding an evacuation order for several city blocks...
This sounds awfully like the xkcd “company” - Claire can’t handle this
I just realized that the flying roll of toilet paper is Moray's webcam.
I thought it must be The Director!
but Jeph... it COULD. ~<3
Artists will never control the headcannon
Moray's a complete idiot, I can only assume they're all complete idiots there, and I love them already.
How do we know she's actually a complete idiot? I'm assuming that she is an incomplete idiot in some way, just like we all are. It's just that all we've seen thus far is the idiot part of that equation. But to be fair, that's always the largest part.
It might be nice for Claire & Marten to visit CubeTown but these are AI, there should be no need to actually move there, just do it all virtually. That's what happened to my job more than two years ago and I only visited the office three times since then. Twice to pick up supplies and once to say goodbye to everyone when management finally realized there was no longer a reason to keep paying for a huge empty office space.
There is *absolutely* a *vital* need for Claire to move to a different country for this job. If she's not on site, how is she going to be in the blast radius for a Moray explosion?
Claire's gonna be like "good luck with all that" and bounce
And then have an existential crisis about turning down her first library job offer that's also supposedly a reputable place
Okay. I read this 3 times, but I'm also sleep-deprived, and I didn't see it. What Alice Grove reference?
I didn't notice a reference, just Jeph's comment at the bottom of that it's not going to tie into Alice grove. I haven't read Alice Grove in a while though.
Sure is cool how QC is going to tie into Alice Grove.
This is definitely not an entry level job. It's like passing law school and being appointed Attorney General the next day. In a new country without a ratified constitution.
So, many new politicians?
Sounds kinda like Claire is going to turn down this offer. Which I totally understand! I hope she finds something better in the future, and I'm looking forward to seeing future interactions between CubeTown, Yay, Steve, and others.
Also, it's just about time for Steve to eat another bowl of cereal :)
I loved Alice Grove. I'm not requesting a crossover, I just want to repeat that.
Agreed! I wish it had gone on for longer, but nonetheless am very happy how it turned out.
If Claire is literally getting MAD over this, I kinda wonder if she's really qualified anyway. Getting mad during an interview is a serious lack of control over y ourself, regardless of what you learn.
Fuuuck that. If an employer is going to disregard a prospective worker's boundaries and individuality then they are not owed respect.
Oh man, an Alice Grove reference was not something I ever expected to see here. Been years, going to go back and re-read that now - thanks for the reminder :)
I hope the director is Yay and remote work is happily accepted.
"no QC is not going to tie into alice grove" And yet...
My headcanon says "because it already did. I did the tie in earlier, and y'all missed it."
Maybe not Alice Grove, but Beeps did mention D.O.R.D.
"= Density" said those of us who have been in a dictionary-reading club: https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/umrjxe/has_anyone_read_a_whole_dictionary/i83i7tp/
I want camera drone just so I have a little buddy that goes "whirrr".
Y'know, in most places interview by Personnel/HR/"People Department" is just a preliminary screen. The hiring manager, in this case, is presumably the Director, who might be more on the ball than Moray.
I'm hoping the Director is a floating black rectangular slab that hums.
I find that more likely than Yay. We can't blame Yay for everything.
Look I’m all for Martin and Claire growing and changing. But Claire CANNOT handle that environment she’ll panic daily
Panic for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Moray, you've just admitted you're making up a job description management hasn't approved... (If the Director's such a genius, how did Moray get hired?)
They haven't got a Sapient Resources Department established either.
I'm disturbed that Moray has a humaniform body and doesn't appear to be wearing any clothes. Or any skin. That looks like the gel fixative that goes between the myomers and the dermal covering.
Slime girls don't need to adhere to human standards of modesty or "skin" 😤
This whole interview is a magical kind of lunacy.
People the past few comics: Come on it might not be as bad as it seems Moray: *continues doubling down on it being bad*
Moray: Hold my container of extra slime...
Theory: Cubetown is a single 4m x 4m x 4m room. The director is either the floating toilet roll with the camera, the janitor, or the big server rack behind Moray.
How'd the universe know I'd just revisited Alice Grove?
I think I need to read Alice Grove
So the director is 100% Hannelore's father.
No, not her father, her father's space station.
To be fair, she DOES show promise...
I'm convinced Jeph knows a librarian because this is scarily close to how solo librarians have to do their jobs
A librarian who is absolutely spilling all the industry tea. Not that we’re particularly close-lipped about it. We can be bribed with caffeine pretty easily.
The Director is Beeps with a voice-modulating Halloween mask
I'm calling the bottom left panels of the past three strips the Claire Phone Triptych.
Claire Triptych: https://flic.kr/p/2nGZNSa Claire Triptych gag reel: https://flic.kr/p/2nGZUB2
So. What kind of monster girl do we think The Director is?
I'm actually with Miyaa. I think the Humming Slab is a strong contender.
Give the slime girl a chance, Claire! I NEED her 🥺
:| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :|
Repeat 12 times?
Run with it, Claire. You can write your job description and have all the resources to do things right. Just find good people, delegate, and have confidence
the director sounds scary
I think I know who The Director is. It’s the floating slab that hums and I believe Claire helped.
Or the director is Yay.
I've enjoyed QC's pursuit of the range of body types, and the issue of body dysmorphism. But I now realize that "green & blobby" takes me entirely outside of the human realm. I'm totally OK with that.
Next strip Claire blows up about all the serious red flags. The strip after that Moray declares that she has passed the first interview and is sent a packet containing the actual job which is assistant research librarian in a fully fleshed out IS department. The bad interview is to weed out the crazies who are all "OmG! CuBeToWn! SiGn Me Up FoR sCiEnCe!" without any redeeming qualities. (Janitor got a pass because Moray didn't fully understand the plan the first time around.)
That could well be true, but that would be one hell of Batman’s gambit of a ruse.
Some women are born to greatness...
… others get it while in a back alley while avoiding the Rats of Unusual Size. Which are just visible and invisible capybaras.
Is Claire going to become a kind of cyberpunk Lucienne?
QC *must* tie in with Alice Grove. How else is Pintsize going to meet Ardent?
Oddly, that's why I was thinking thank bisons it isn't.
Is this like when Yoda was this cute swamp creature muppet just before he revealed himself to be a Jedi Master?
I'm with Claire's face on this one.
Hmm yes this red flag is made of red flag.
The director is clearly descended from an IBM mainframe, judging by Moray’s impersonation of his voice
Maybe the Director <i>is</i> an IBM mainframe.
Okay, is the Director Yay? Thinking they're doing their favorite humans daughter a solid?
They* not he.
My brain didn't go to Alice Grove until it was mentioned. I loved and miss Alice Grove.
agreed! imho its always a lot of fun when that side of jephs writing chops comes through in qc
Oh here, let me show you the company flag. It’s big, made out of lots and lots of tiny red flags.
Which are also, for what it's worth, made out of red flags.
On the one hand she probably has a huge budget on the other she is utterly unqualified
Which means she will fit right in, it sounds like!
Unless it's coming with a six (or more) figure salary and a ten figure budget, RUN.
My guess is, it is coming with at least a ten figure budget, and it's either at least a six figure salary or a 'you get to decide' salary that comes out of said budget.
Is the Director Hannelore's dad? I think it's Hannelore's dad.
That's what I was thinking. Hannelore's dad is so scatterbrained (from what I can remember) that this sounds exactly like something he'd do.
That sounds utterly horrifying.
Those Red flags just grew to the size of Mainsails. Run Claire, run!
This job is entirely constructed out of red flags
It's red flags all the way down
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
The Director. Giving directions. . o O (At least the username checks out.)
It feels like Jeph was playing “Control” and thought “what if I created a Control like city… but instead of getting a new director, they got an Information Science expert?”