The System Is Down

Holly: You say "fighter jet" as though it were a BAD thing !

"just us"

"Bad Joe" is another surly coffee shop, taking over the market CoD is gentrifying out of.

Captain Button

The Identity Question is one of those subjects that people will argue about endlessly without ever coming to a consensus. The SJGames Transhuman Space Forums set up a sticky thread on it just so the moderators would have somewhere to send all of the people derailing all the other threads.

Captain Button

well done, Jeph. you've captured some real issues about the "justice" system in the real world within this one.

Joe

I can't. you were analogizing to human jail systems. I know that what I described is true of the human system, at least in one state. it doesn't seem like a stretch that AIs would take a similar approach, especially those who gravitate toward the type of jobs associated with jails.

Joe

May is fictional and set in a fantasy universe. I don't see how you can be quite so authoritative about conditions there. That said, the line between carelessness and negligence is thin. If AIs are running the AI jail, and they haven't had much practice yet because there aren't all that many AI criminals, it could be just carelessness. If not, not.

it is not carelessness. it is negligence, and worse, it is a feeling that inmates and ex-cons have "earned" poor treatment because of whatever they did. people too often take that transgression or mistake as a permanent stain, justifying whatever they feel like dishing out. it should be enough that someone does their time, they shouldn't be treated like shit while they are incarcerated or after completing their obligation.

Joe

Y'know... I asked Alexa to throw me a lightswitch rave the other day (since I have a smart plug hooked up). She didn't know what I was talking about. Then I forgot to look up whether or not someone had written that skill yet.

Melissa

You get the problem with the whole situation summed up when you ask people if they would be OK with having a halfway house for ex-cons open next to their house. Generally they begin telling you about their children or someone's children. Children are a fine universal alibi.

It's not perfectly analogous -- but I think you put your finger on exactly where the analogy starts. The system sets felons up to fail from the moment they're released, which is not a great idea. Mind you, the real life system has a few more safeguards -- halfway houses come to mind -- but it's still not great. Call the comic an exaggeration of the underlying issue, but it is still an issue.

Ronald Lugge

Is Roko's new body taller? I'm not sure I remember her being nearly a head taller than May. Would probably contribute to the bodily unease.

Megan Lane

beep boop i'm a robot moth

miniplane

looks also like ' bad joe'

GhostlyYorick

Sure Bad Job is a terrible name for the business, but at least they're open 24h.

Gary Walker

May's situation is not analogous to that of human ex-convicts, who can come out of jail with really great bodies. Jail muscle is a thing, though few can maintain it on the outside. Controlled diets and difficulty getting a regular drug supply help too. If anything, May's clunker chassis is analogous to the years of mental stagnation that jail typically involves. Prisons are not obligated to have libraries or training programs, and those that do don't fund them well. I think that maybe May's bad treatment is carelessness, not malice. They put her out on the street in an orange prison uniform. That bespeaks a system that no one has put much thought into running.

Have either of you read We Are Legion, We Are Bob? Explores that idea, an AI copy gets put into a spaceship and ordered to replicate himself to colonize the galaxy. But each copy ends up being slightly different from the original and developing different quirks from the same base personality, and separate identity.

Sheri Spangenberg

Oddly enough that's exactly how I feel about the Singularity folk claiming we'll be able to "download ourselves" into mechanical bodies or into computer "worlds" and have the copy of me be exactly "me". Ignoring all the complex chemical, electrical and likely quantum interactions between neurons, not to mention the feedback back to the body as a result, how could a mere copy of my memories be "me"?

Andrew Diseker

Let Faye do the work: "Gonna get allll up in that face meeeeeaaaat!"

Elf Sternberg

“...new chassis.” But NOT a fighter jet. Maybe she and several other AIs could get a jet on timeshare, though.

Holly Nelson

QC-verse is generally more optimistic than our reality, and even here we have some stories of success in turning life around. System probably won't change, but May could get enough money donated for the new chassis.

Evgeniy Semyonov

Call me a cynic, but I worry that such an ingrained system of oppression is going to shrug off Roko's attempt to help May, disillusioning her further and reinforcing May's outlook on life as well.

Brian

Well, that's my headcanon now.

Ardent Slacker

Panel 3: “dammit, she got me dialed”.

Andrew

I can't read this without hearing it in strongbad's voice.

The Cheat is grounded!

"Bad job" is the place where Melon works, right?

Bagge

Makes me think of the robot AIs in Freefall. They only have a lifespan of about 80 years because after that the components start to degrade, let alone all the accumulated memory. Some of the Robots state that they would not want a copy of themselves downloaded into something else, as they would not identify that as themselves. They would still see destruction of their original mind and body as ‘dying’. Not to mention the possibility for identify fraud.

Thisguy

"Immortal" seems a bit of a leap. They were only invented a handful of years ago. We don't even know if they can live a human lifespan yet, let alone forever.

Mitchell Sealy

May's situation sucks, but it's not quite the same as human ex-cons. Because AIs are effectively immortal they can eventually get out of the poverty cycle because they have the time. Human ex-cons on the other hand may spend their best years in prison only to get dumped out when they're too worn out to hold down the few jobs that are availble. If they're lucky they might make it to the point that they collect social security and Medicare benefits, but even then they don't have much of anything saved up for retirement. Immortality really makes all the difference in the world.

Brent Catherman

Wherever you live, I promise there's no shortage of millionaires nearby. Ask them. Loudly.

Kyle Rudy

i have existential confused face

SpookyPenguin

I better see robot moth in the next bonus comic poll.

Jeremy J Nickurak

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaah..... I'm all for helping May, but if the plan includes displaying her plight for the public and asking for sympathy, you better make sure May never gets the chance to actually TALK to the public.

Bagge

Haaaaay I have that.

James Roy

Resting Existential Dread Face.

Matt

Could I maybe try a Tepid Gulp

Magic Chopstick Games

#3954... She's in that office thingy

Ilana

In case you also want to find out what happened last time we saw Roko, it was #3964-9. I thought she's working in the bakery?

Ilana

That comment makes me so happy

YES and it's genius.

Danya Michael

This sounds like Sam Vimes' "Boots Theory of socio-economic unfairness"

"Beep boop I'm a robot moth." ovO

Czarzhan

It's also very sad that prison is still focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation, not to mention the whole "getting a felony makes it so you can never get a halfway decent job again so you're pushed back into the criminal world becuase that's the only route left for you to actually have a chance at getting ahead in life" thing.

We had that lightswitch installed for you so you could turn the lights on and off. Not so you could throw lightswitch raves.

drone r0m-3

Proletariat revolution when

Griffon

kinda sad that the universe with sentient talking robots & humans living in space still doesn't pay service folks a living wage...

Peter McDevitt

I look forward to Roko wearing an 80’s style power suit (with the huge shoulder pads) to convince the court that May has served her time on parole. I can even hear the Law & Order ringtone play.

Miyaa

She works at a variety store. She obviously makes minimum wage. She's presumably free to seek out whatever whatever employer will take an ex convict. She maintains her body because it's her one and only corporeal form. What kind of question is that?

Mitchell Sealy

Is Roku a Robot Social Worker now? Last strip she said May could be her first client...

Timothy Mann

No, here's my question- 1)How much does May make? 2)How much does she spend? And on what? 3)Is she required to maintain a certain employment and location for her parole? 4)is her maintenance a part of her parole requirements and just that she couldn't get to the "official" repair location in time? I'm wanting May to get her life in gear. But, there's only so much slack you can cut.

z

The Cheat is grounded!

DrummerGeek

How would Roko even know how much May spends on repairs, anyway? I think she's making assumptions.

Carl Fink

Does she really spend that much on maintenance though? Since she got her arm fixed, the only time I remember her having any work done was when she got her face blue again, and that was purely cosmetic.

JD

...Is this the right strip? I'm thinking something's missing between this one and 4022...

Joseph Houk

http://imgur.com/gallery/XS5LK

TV4Fun

Do-do-do-do-doo! Do-do-do-do-doo! Do-do-do-do-doo!

Jeremy Roman

Anyone else thought it said bad Joe?

Caleb Hill

Yay!!

Shawn K. Younkin

The Cheat is grounded!

Devin Gates

This is clearly society’s fault!

Andrea Andrew