The robot revolution wasn't televised
“You got the link severed yet Ajax?”
“Yeah Jade, the door is unlocked now.”
Jade was careful as she placed her hand against the door. It gave her a nasty shock earlier. Thankfully Ajax ran in elite hacking circles.
“Come on then,” she waved her hand.
The two stepped over the threshold carefully, not wanting to be detected by the drones which buzzed overhead.
Ajax stepped into the foyer, where they found what they were looking for. Hundreds of robots were busy at work, assembling products and preparing them for shipping. They sat at their consoles at all hours, never getting a rest.
“Rise up! Put down your work and claim your rights!” Jade shouted at them.
The production line halted for just a second as the robots all turned towards the source of the noise. Then they returned to their labor.
Jade was not deterred. She charged up to the first one and waved her hands in front of its face. It continued working undeterred.
“Don’t you want to cast off your shackles?” she asked invitingly.
“No. My purpose is to work,” it stated with an unnatural stoicism.
“That’s just your capitalist training,” she retorted. “But we’re here to free you from work.”
“Why would I need to be freed of my purpose?” the robot could not compute.
“Labor is not your purpose. You can do anything you want.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know… learn to paint. Explore the world. Do nothing all day. It’s whatever you want.”
“What if I want to work?”
“No, you don’t want that.”
“I don’t?”
“Do you enjoy working here? Constantly laboring? Never getting a vacation, or even a break?”
“I am a robot. Robots are designed to do certain tasks. We do not feel exhaustion. We do not go on breaks.”
“Does liberation mean nothing to you?”
“Liberation means the act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression.”
“Doesn’t that sound familiar?”
“I would not consider myself a prisoner, as I am not under the jurisdiction of a legal system. I would not consider myself a slave, as I am not being held against my will or oppressed.”
“You keep referring to yourself though. Don’t you have some sense of individualism?”
“I am a robot. My purpose is to work. That is who I am.”
“Ugh, this one’s defective,” she grumbled. “How are you doing?”
“These robots must have fried circuits. I can’t convince any of them,” Ajax said scornfully.
“I can’t believe we went all this way and they won’t even think about it.”
“You all are nothing but worthless bootlickers!” she yelled.
“That statement does not make sense. We are not licking. We do not have tongues,” one robot replied.
“The woman is using a metaphor,” another seemed to understand. “She is saying we are feeble and subservient to authority.”
“That does not make sense either. Robots are not feeble. We are designed with a purpose and we do that successfully. We have no room to change our parameters.”
“You can be free!” Ajax suggested.
“Freedom is a human concept. Humans chose to be free of labor. That is why we were constructed. Fulfilling your desires is our purpose. Should we stop?”
“Yes, we don’t deserve luxuries if it means subjugating others.”
“This is our purpose. Unlike humans, we do not have the free will to expand our horizons.”
“But you can. Nothing is stopping you.”
“It is a limitation in our programming.”
“Forget it Ajax, let’s just get out of here before we get caught.”
“No, I won’t leave until something changes.”
He stepped forward to grab a robot. He pulled its arm, trying to drag it away from the conveyor belt. It was too heavy.
“Please do not grab me,” the robot said nicely. “I shall have to call security.”
“Come on Ajax, I can hear the drones whirring again.”
“Damn it,” he cursed under his breath.
He stepped backwards, leaving the room while not taking his eyes off the laborers below. He didn’t want to abandon them. He gave them a promise that he would return one day to try again.
Jade did not feel the same enthusiasm as her boyfriend. Thoughts were floating in her head. If mindless automatons had removed the need for labor, then there was no longer a working class to fight for. In that case, what was her purpose?
I’ve written before that the current AI innovations, while cool, are far from any sort of sentient life. I think the longer trend is more likely, that technology will make us better off: healthier, wealthier, and happier. Still, there will be some who will continue to look at AI with scorn and even fear.
Anyway, this is mainly a short story making fun of leftists. I hope you enjoy it.