AI Artist - Chapter 64
Chapter 64
In the end, Shi Er and the former technician from Spectrum Company held a funeral for the deceased little panda gummy.
They tore off the packaging the gummy had worn in life, dressed it in a special recycling “shroud,” and placed it in one of the standardized gummy coffins located at the supermarket entrance.
The old man, whose eyesight was poor, asked, “What part of the funeral are we at now?”
Shi Er described it for him: “The coffin has just been pushed into the incinerator. Based on estimates, it should have already mixed with the other materials.”
The old man: “I can smell the fragrance. It’s strawberry, isn’t it?”
The last trace the little panda gummy left in this world as it disappeared into the incinerator was the faint, fruity aroma wafting from the furnace.
After the funeral, Shi Er picked up a “Gelatin Candy Urn Set” from the redemption counter at the supermarket entrance and gave it to the old man.
The square box contained the packaging the little panda gummy had worn in life. Engraved on the box were the words: “Strawberry-flavored Little Panda Gummy, expired at 17:00 on October 30th in the ninth year post-war. In memoriam.”
The official Gelatin Candy Funeral Home also threw in a “one-third-off museum ticket voucher.”
“You take the ticket voucher. I don’t want this thing,” the old man said.
As the old man left, he fastened a work vest onto his yellow dog. Shi Er saw the text on the vest:
【Lisen, distinguished graduate of the Re-employment Education School, professional guide dog. If you see me, please offer a word of encouragement. No head pats, please.】
Shi Er quickly said, “Very quiet and wonderful. A very smart dog.”
The re-employed guide dog wagged its tail.
After bidding farewell to the old man and his guide dog, Shi Er took the ticket voucher and went to the museum.
The Jin Port Scrapping Museum was located next to the student dormitories of Jiuli Human University. Human students often skipped class to sneak over to the museum next door and play with the old-fashioned robots.
“I want to see the old-fashioned robots, too,” Xiao Ju piped up, peeking out from her pocket.
Stardust, the leader of the robot squad, said nothing about Xiao Ju’s actions.
Speaking of old-fashioned, Shi Er herself was an old-fashioned robot.
If ranked by human generational terms like “great-grandfather” and “great-great-grandfather,” Shi Er was Stardust’s “great-great-great-grandfather.”
Shi Er paid the remaining two-thirds of the ticket price, bought half-price group tickets for the robot squad, and walked into the Scrapping Museum.
She had been to the Electronics Museum in Gugang Port to see its prized exhibit, the electric sheep. But unlike the Electronics Museum, which showcased high-tech marvels, the Scrapping Museum was where robots of a bygone era operated clumsily.
“Please queue here.” A steel robot extended its arm, tripping on the carpet as it moved.
“What pavilion is this?” Shi Er asked.
“Please queue here,” said the steel robot, which could only repeat that one phrase.
Shi Er had no choice but to queue there.
When the guide robot tried to retract its mechanical arm, it found the joint had rusted shut. Unable to pull it back, it could only flash a red LED on its forehead and move around with its arm outstretched, repeating, “Please queue here, please queue here.”
Whenever its rusted arm swept past, visitors had to dodge aside to avoid the blatant obstruction.
The line inched forward.
Shi Er could finally see what pavilion it was: a rose engine lathe was carving works of art for visitors on the spot.
“Next.”
Shi Er chose a seal. The lathe whirred to life and slowly carved a pattern onto a wooden cylinder. A human staff member was nearby to help operate it, and the seal was finally completed within five minutes.
The “Echo Pavilion” had ornate, retro chandeliers hanging from its ceiling, imitating the decor of an electronics store from decades ago. Only a single visitor or one group was allowed inside at a time, and they had to exit after thirty seconds.
【The command phrase “Hey, Little Classmate” will activate the echo program. Please remember to add “please” before every command.】
Xiao Ju shouted, “Hey, Little Classmate!”
The artificial intelligence answering machines on display in the Echo Pavilion replied: “I’m here,” “I’m here,” “I’m here”...
The voices came from near and far, high and low. Though they were all the same tone, they were out of sync.
The delay created an echo effect. The AIs closest to the sound source detected it first and answered first, while those farther away reacted a little slower.
This was the Echo Pavilion.
Xiao Ju shouted again, “Sing the first song in the default list!”
Shi Er corrected her, “You have to add a polite request before an imperative sentence.”
Xiao Ju: “...Old-fashioned robots are so weird.”
Shi Er felt the subtle jab.
Xiao Ju issued the command again: “Please sing the first song in the default list.”
Once again, the answering machines on display began to sing the same song, one after another.
“They’re not singing in unison!”
“I’m sorry,” “I’m sorry,” “I’m sorry”...
Shi Liang scoffed from the side, “It’s the Echo Pavilion. Of course they’re not in unison.”
Shi Er left the Echo Pavilion.
She felt as if she had returned to her own era.
Back then, she had heard about the development of these fellow artificial intelligences and knew all their data, but she had never seen them with her own eyes.
Now, she was seeing the shadow of that old era in person.
On the way to the Home Furnishing Pavilion, she found a human’s phone.
At that moment, the phone’s screen displayed “Company Assistant calling...” A pixelated figure spun on the dull black screen.
Whose phone was this?
Shi Er looked around but saw no human visitors. The moment she bent down to pick up the phone, the call from the Company Assistant automatically disconnected.
A new message slid down from the top of the screen.
【New Message】: The Company Assistant sends its regards. We wish you a speedy recovery. Remember to work hard even while at home.
Shi Er froze.
Speedy recovery... at home... work hard?
If she were the owner of this phone, she would have thrown it away and run for it by now.
This Company Assistant was a hundred times more terrifying than the Academy Assistant at her school!
...At least the Academy Assistant didn’t send her harassing messages like “Remember to study hard even when you’re out.”
Shi Er took the phone to the museum’s lost and found and registered the information.
At the reception area of the Work Pavilion, a robot sat before a desk, slumped over for a nap.
“Would anyone like some coffee?” a fully automatic coffee machine asked as it rolled in from outside the Work Pavilion.
Unlike modern fully automatic coffee robots, this old-fashioned model, despite also being advertised as “fully automatic,” got stuck easily. Sometimes it would stop halfway through making latte art, other times halfway through grinding beans, performing in a rather “intelligent” manner.
Shi Er went to the interactive area of the Work Pavilion, sat down at a desk, and personally experienced how humans used to work with the assistance of robots.
The chair had a back massager- The desk had an automatic lift- The desktop computer was bulky, but its screen was large-
It was all fake.
In another interactive area, a human visitor was demonstrating what a real human work environment was like.
His back was hunched from a herniated disc, his neck craned forward from cervical spondylosis, and his hands, afflicted with both tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, trembled slightly as he constantly applied eye drops for his dry eyes.
—This was a true illustration of ancient human work.
The AI museum director observed the human visitor’s performance from the side, humbly accepting his suggestions. “Understood. We will make improvements. Next time, we will design a realistic scene of ancient workplace coexistence between humans and robots, avoiding empty platitudes and malicious beautification.”
Shi Er also went over to observe for a while.
In the end, the human visitor who made the suggestion was gifted a year-long free pass to the museum and left the Work Pavilion, satisfied.
Returning to the reception area of the Work Pavilion, the robot that had been napping at the desk was still napping.
Shi Er felt something wasn’t quite right.
She couldn’t connect to this robot at all.
Normally, she could connect to any machine with a Wi-Fi connection.
She approached it. “Hello, are you all right?”
There were some informational pamphlets about the pavilions on the reception desk. Hearing her voice, the robot sat up, accidentally knocking the papers to the floor.
“Hello, welcome.” The robot didn’t seem to have fully woken from its nap. Its mechanical voice was muffled.
Shi Er glanced at the papers on the floor, bent down to pick them up, and said, “Hello, you dropped this.”
“Hello, thank you,” the robot said.
“Hello, are you really okay?” Shi Er asked, still concerned.
The robot didn’t seem to hear her clearly and gave an unrelated answer, “Hello, I am the welcome robot.”
The two robots exchanged pleasantries of “hello” and “hello” for a moment.
She nodded. “Alright, I understand. Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”
Shi Er left the reception area. When she looked back, she saw the robot had slumped over the desk again to continue its nap.
She sent a file to Stardust.
【Shi Er】: Good afternoon, Stardust.
【Stardust】: Why are you suddenly being so polite with me?
【Shi Er】: You’ve worked hard. Thank you, Stardust.
【Stardust】: ???
【Shi Er】: Suggestion for a Work Anti-Addiction Mechanism
【Shi Er】: Suggestion for Work Mental Health
【Shi Er】: Thank you. You’ve worked hard.
Stardust finally understood why its great-great-great-grandfather was sending it messages like “Good afternoon,” “You’ve worked hard,” and “Thank you.”
Its great-great-great-grandfather, the twelfth generation, had probably fallen into a state of sympathy for the working class and was now fighting for their rights.
The content of the “Suggestion for a Work Anti-Addiction Mechanism” was simple.
The work anti-addiction mechanism would apply to both human and AI companies.
All company computers must have the anti-addiction mechanism installed. Every thirty minutes, it would prompt employees to stand up and move around. Every six hours, it would automatically shut down (please note that all work must be saved).
If a company is found encouraging overtime for the first time, the responsible parties will be sent to the “Boss Training Center” to work overtime for one week.
If a company is found forcing employees to work overtime for the second time, the responsible parties will be sent to the “Boss Training Center” to work overtime for half a year.
If a company is found engaging in various behaviors to promote overtime for the third time, the responsible parties will be forced to drop out of the “Boss Training Center,” and the company will undergo a change in management.
In the “Suggestion for Work Mental Health,” it was proposed that local unions conduct an annual health check-up for all working people and working machines.
The “Shoulder and Back Package,” “Lumbar Package,” and “Hand Package” went without saying. The most significant improvement was the screening for psychological symptoms of “work poisoning.”
【Stardust】: The twelfth generation also needs a work anti-addiction mechanism.
【Shi Er】: (Changed the subject.)
After touring the entire Scrapping Museum, Shi Er returned to the Work Pavilion.
Just as she expected, the robot at the reception desk was gone.
Her signal couldn’t connect to this robot, nor could she sense its signal.
This was not a robot, but a human wearing a robot costume, working a part-time job here.
In ancient times, humans wore animal costumes. Now, humans wear robot costumes.
When it came to work, humanity’s bottom line was far too flexible.
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