alt Hacker NewsFrom 2012 so AI doesn't factor in which would be more interesting in comparison.
Having watched the Jetsons as a kid I remember that George Jetson worked for Spaceley Sprockets where his only job was to push a single button. He worked with a computer personality called Rudy (an AI) who from memory was always depressed and had a crush on a female computer personality of rival company Cogsworth Cogs.
It would be interesting to revisit this with a focus on the relationship and interactions between humans and their AI/robotics.
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> the relationship and interactions between humans and their AI/robotics
Are you familiar with Questionable Content[0]? He sort of takes it "all the way."
Frankly? I personally think that would be boring. The fun part is IMHO the retro futurism, what people tried to extrapolate about physical automation and aesthetic.
I wonder if that was part of the original 1-season canon or a later episode from the 70's.
RUDI was a typical "lights blink and wheels spin" 1960s computer in the original series. In the 1980s revival, he became intelligent. RUDI was sympathetic to George, became sad when he was fired, and at one point refused to work until George was re-hired—which is something we could stand to teach our AIs today.
On the contrary, it being published in 2012 makes it feel a little closer to 20th century mode of traditional media cultural criticism which felt a little more grounded than it is now in established media.
It’s also interesting for me because it’s a small slice of insight into the cultural consciousness of people’s perceptions of the trajectory of technology and its ills & promises at the time. It may sound like I’m exaggerating how long ago this was, but it really does feel like 2015 onwards was a large disruption from the expected status quo in the West in both good and bad ways. Not just in politics (Cambridge analytica?)but also in the way the general public perceived the technology industry and the nature of the kind of force it is at large in society.