In the future, humanity is reliant on robots for everything, from manual labour to law enforcement. But when robots do everything, what is left for humans to do?
We’ve Had MurderBot, now meet Charles.
Charles is a human-facing Valet Unit, just one of a whole staff of robots working in the high end estate of his Master. Every day Charles follows the same routine, following the task list given to him unwaveringly and unquestionly. Even if said tasks no longer make sense; For example, there hasn’t been a Lady of the House for years, but Charles still attempts to notify her daily of his Masters plans because that is what his task list says he should do.
Then one day, Charles murders his Master. Something thing that is DEFINETLY not on The List. No one knows why, least of all Charles himself. Kitchen Bots have an ‘acceptable number’ of breakages before being found unfit for service, sadly there is no acceptable number of murders for Valet Bots.
After a rather questionable investigation, Charles finds himself Masterless, and sent to be Diagnosed and then Decomissioned. Beyond the mansion he is used to is a world that is clearly in trouble. Robots were meant to make humans lives easier, but in the end it’s clear everything is so complicated that life as we know has ground to a halt, held up in red tape and circular logic.
We’re off to see the Wiz… I mean the Diagnostician
Charles has to navigate a world that doesn’t make sense to him, and is definetly not the utopia thaf it might have seemed like at first. Robots have largely replaced humans, yet still need humans to make certain decisions for them. There are no humans left to make these decisions though, so what do the robots do now? Stand around and wait I guess.
So where exactly have most of the humans gone? Nowhere good. Put it this way, the ones who aren’t dead are not the lucky ones.
Whilst this book is clearly satire and is very comical, it is also unsettlingly plausible. With the rise of AI, just what does the future have in store for humanity?
Though an enjoyable read, I have to say it’s not a light read. As the narrative is from the perspective of a robot I found the language quite wordy and repetetive. It took a little getting used to, but once I was used to it I found the story very engaging and well paced.
final verdict:
Service Model (2024)
A humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Timecrets…
To fix the world they first must break it further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose.