Well, the zen thing worked for Marten that one time with D. And it was Pintsize's advice, too, credit where credit is due.
Guilherme Monteiro
2024-08-18 12:55:12 +0000 UTC
Presumably the AI hardware comes from factories and has the same economic drivers as the auto industry. Faye and Bubbles run a shop at the service and parts level, and there are retail stores that sell complete, operational bodies that AIs can drive around interchangeably (except for possible dysphoria issues).
The origins of the AI software are less clear. There are creches for training, but by that point the models are already differentiated. I don't think we've seen where the initial models came from (and as we have seen with Station and Director, there might be more than one place, if not now, then soon). Are they all clones of the first fully autonomous AI that worked? Do they have genetic recombination algorithms (i.e. can two robots combine their models to create kids?)
Do humans compete with AIs for resources? Agriculture is huge industry in the human-dominated world because we'd starve if we didn't have its output to eat. Is the battery industry in the QC world similarly large for the (apparently increasing) AI population?
Zygo
2024-08-17 17:26:56 +0000 UTC
That was a good day on Twitter.
Clifton Royston
2024-08-17 08:51:03 +0000 UTC
I don’t even like beer and yet I want to try a Cretaceous IPA. Damn and blast! The advertising has worked!
Foal Papers
2024-08-16 11:00:53 +0000 UTC
Social mores are a complex thing. I've been very fortunate that I've been in pretty well paying jobs ever since I left uni. However, I've got friends, many of whom work in critical jobs like teaching, who are paid far less and sometimes end up in financial difficulties. A number of times I've offered to lend folks money at zero-interest and they've turned me down and borrowed from a bank instead. It's because owning someone money, or even in this case May knowing someone one effectively gave you a bunch of money, can really the dynamic in the relationship - or at least can be perceived to be. The whole Western "stand on your own two feet" Protestant Work Ethic has a lot to answer for...
David Durant
2024-08-16 10:59:00 +0000 UTC
Short version, he and May both felt it would be a little weird if he bought her a new body and then they banged. Since May is now gainfully employed as Burger Oni's manager, she might one day just reimburse his donation & then have her way with him :)
Stephen Wells
2024-08-16 10:11:28 +0000 UTC
I.e, where does robots come from, post singularity and all? I doubt humans know, and it doesn’t seem like the AI does either.
legobil
2024-08-16 04:28:54 +0000 UTC
Yeah, but he also worried that knowing he contributed to it would make it feel weird.
legobil
2024-08-16 04:27:14 +0000 UTC
Plot twist: both the ai-couple and Martens vibe is correct.
legobil
2024-08-16 04:25:52 +0000 UTC
@gamebook there are a lot of humans like that.
Joe
2024-08-16 02:55:01 +0000 UTC
iirc, because he felt it would be selfish to be rich and her friend and NOT make a big contribution, and then he felt it would be dishonest not to TELL her he'd made a big contribution, but then he felt it would be sleazy to hook up with her when she knew that. (Sven may have overthought this).
Sydney J Freedberg
2024-08-16 02:08:04 +0000 UTC
TBH, I've never really understood why Sven pitching in for May's body meant that they could no longer hook up.
Esca Makes
2024-08-16 00:49:43 +0000 UTC
2025.
Stephen Wells
2024-08-15 21:06:04 +0000 UTC
Thanks, came here to say this.
Guilherme Monteiro
2024-08-15 19:58:35 +0000 UTC
He Jeph, do the AI's in your narrative world decide when new AI's are created, or is it only humans who choose when and where to do that, or both, collaboratively, or both separately?
Kurt Larson
2024-08-15 19:17:27 +0000 UTC
My life is very Zen, just in a very fucked up way.
For example, I was never a drinker till recently. I didn't drink to excess, but my doctors have informed me that I have to quit drinking altogether because they discovered that I have non-alcoholic cirrhosis.
We figure it's from all the prescription drugs I've been on.
Yelling Bird
2024-08-15 16:36:23 +0000 UTC
I assumed those noses Clinton mentioned were cyborg prosthetics, not noses *for* robots.
GregD
2024-08-15 15:16:20 +0000 UTC
Based on Clinton's comment to Emily, *functional* robot noses would seem to be a relatively recent development, which may explain why many chassis models lack them.
https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2938
BookBeard
2024-08-15 15:12:57 +0000 UTC
I'd love them turning up to Dora and Tai's wedding saying "oh yeah, we got married ages ago and no-one even noticed!"
David Durant
2024-08-15 14:45:47 +0000 UTC
Possible nod to Ryan North?
Doc Gumby
2024-08-15 13:36:52 +0000 UTC
I genuinely never noticed that some of them do. Only noticed that some don't, and kinda assumed it was all of them.
Marten's chill zone cancelled out the vibe that Sven was broadcasting.
David Paul
2024-08-15 09:18:41 +0000 UTC
I don't get the vibe that Sven has a thing for his agent, but I agree that he's very much Not Over May. I love that May basically pulled a Sven on him ("you slept with me and now you can't get over me").
I mean, so did Faye, but that took longer.
enchantedsleeper
2024-08-15 09:04:32 +0000 UTC
No, that's not him in the strip (he doesn't wear a top hat), but he did get a job as a bartender there. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1480
enchantedsleeper
2024-08-15 08:52:46 +0000 UTC
They already tried, Moray didn't understand at all, that's why they're trying it on with Sven now.
Stephen Wells
2024-08-15 08:28:22 +0000 UTC
May absolutely WRECKED Sven without even trying. I hope one day they resolve their hangup and get together properly :)
Stephen Wells
2024-08-15 08:19:56 +0000 UTC
For some reason I'm now imagining a large cardboard box with "Sexual Orientation: This Way Up ^" on it. I don't know why but that happened.
Stephen Wells
2024-08-15 08:19:06 +0000 UTC
As they say in German - "Wein, Vibe und Gesang"...
Leak
2024-08-15 08:02:49 +0000 UTC
Or Sven is Zenderella, and it's already past midnight...
Leak
2024-08-15 08:02:17 +0000 UTC
The Zen thing only works if you aren’t aware you’re doing it.
I’ve seen it. Dazed melancholy folks hit by an unidentifiable “glamor bat equivalent ≈ strange attractor vibe” as the unobtainable object of desire wanders the floor.
The zen part is a factor of detachment.
My sensors are old now.
Sparky
2024-08-15 07:36:50 +0000 UTC
Thank you Constantine. I didn't get the reference.
SilverbackRon
2024-08-15 07:13:02 +0000 UTC
There's special sensors for The Vibe
Bagge
2024-08-15 06:01:06 +0000 UTC
I get the impression that a lot of AI's don't really have sexual orientations, they are just attracted to people.
Gamebook
2024-08-15 05:39:01 +0000 UTC
He got a job as a bartender at the Horrible Revelation. I think that's him here:
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1464
Captain Button
2024-08-15 04:35:32 +0000 UTC
He did. Still broke. I forget what happened to him after that, probably because we stopped seeing as much of Penelope.
Clifton Royston
2024-08-15 04:19:16 +0000 UTC
New head-canon:
It is Sriracha Mayo, for making Sriracha Mayo Martinis, the new hit drink for the AI crowd.
Clifton Royston
2024-08-15 04:17:38 +0000 UTC
What, the beer has tiny arms?
Magic Chopstick Games
2024-08-15 04:17:29 +0000 UTC
the Manwhore Vibe is proportional to distance across the bar
Blake Manor
2024-08-15 04:14:58 +0000 UTC
Did Wil ever return from his motorcycle journey of self-discovery?
William Cole
2024-08-15 04:09:39 +0000 UTC
I know they're made of metal, but pan is pushing it.
R L
2024-08-15 04:08:31 +0000 UTC
GASP!
William Cole
2024-08-15 04:08:23 +0000 UTC
Jeph still sticking to his promise to add only queer characters forever.
William Cole
2024-08-15 04:07:52 +0000 UTC
It’s not often you see Marten absolutely taken aback with surprise, on account of having more chill than the artic. Sven must really have something amazing with his AI attraction field
Chauncey
2024-08-15 04:07:45 +0000 UTC
that seems to be a robot.
... WIL HAS BEEN ROBOTICIZED?
Brian Gallow
2024-08-15 03:53:41 +0000 UTC
Or he and May are still into each other.
Andrea Andrew
2024-08-15 03:12:13 +0000 UTC
Is that Wil, exploring another career as a beer poster model? Go Wil, go!
Holly Nelson
2024-08-15 03:05:56 +0000 UTC
I’m sure Bubs could ‘recalibrate their sensors’ if you know what I mean… no seriously, it’s her job.
Andrew
2024-08-15 02:40:17 +0000 UTC
I am loving the QC robot club sojourn. I hope they're in there til mortal xmas
Christine Hottinger
2024-08-15 02:37:46 +0000 UTC
Robot lesbians, love to see it. (or bi or pan, y'all know what I mean 😅)
Green
2024-08-15 02:26:23 +0000 UTC
It's totally May.
Yonatan Zunger
2024-08-15 02:26:08 +0000 UTC
How does the T-rex drink a beer with those tiny arms?
Dean Reilly
2024-08-15 02:26:06 +0000 UTC
I wonder if one could hire Bubbles as a mattress?
(Purely, completly, innocent sleep - she just look like a firm Cushing rest.
Darnel D Cooper
2024-08-15 02:22:56 +0000 UTC
Which ones choose a nosed chassis if only to keep other AIs from saying "How does he smell? Awful!"
ValdVin
2024-08-15 02:20:36 +0000 UTC
I bet Sven is into his agent,... and doesn't know what to do.
(Poor guy deserved a break after being good with May - even sleeve deserve a second chance at love.)
Darnel D Cooper
2024-08-15 02:20:32 +0000 UTC
Yes, some of them smell terrible.
SamuraiCraig
2024-08-15 02:20:30 +0000 UTC
"Stupid Sexy Sven."
"Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all...nothing at all...nothing at all!"
--Moray, for each of them
ValdVin
2024-08-15 02:18:21 +0000 UTC
It’s May, isn’t it?
Andrea Andrew
2024-08-15 02:18:15 +0000 UTC
Some might say the vibe is broke
darklion
2024-08-15 02:15:47 +0000 UTC
Except we know smell is a major sense for robots. Can robots without noses smell?
GregD
2024-08-15 02:14:19 +0000 UTC
Cretaceous Beer: When You're Having Less Than One (because your arms are too short and nature is simply cruel).
ValdVin
2024-08-15 02:03:50 +0000 UTC
Tune in next week to find out what happens when the supreme lord of all (Yay) falls in love with the man who is the king of bad kitschy songs (Sven) while Roko is in the VIP yeast room (there’s no yeast in the yeast room)!
Miyaa
2024-08-15 01:57:45 +0000 UTC
Aesthetic thing, probably.
Jeremy Oreskovich
2024-08-15 01:56:04 +0000 UTC
The specifically "30-50 feral hogs" is from a tweet that went viral in 2019 https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/6/20756162/30-to-50-feral-hogs-meme-assault-weapons-guns-kids
Constantine Hannaher
2024-08-15 01:54:29 +0000 UTC
I'm calling it: Sven has caught a bad case of meeting someone he actually *likes* and doesn't know how to parse the resulting "yeah random people don't actually seem very interesting by comparison"
Yonatan Zunger
2024-08-15 01:49:28 +0000 UTC
I wonder if that can labeled Spicy in back is battery acid. As Melon said, "Corrosion is just spicy for robots!"
Elf Sternberg
2024-08-15 01:46:12 +0000 UTC
I think the lady-bots were looking for "hot", not "chill".
William Cole
2024-08-15 01:45:34 +0000 UTC
Poster on the left shows post-Singularity Mr. Boh!
William Cole
2024-08-15 01:43:16 +0000 UTC
Always put the hot girl behind the bar. You sell more drinks that way.
awgiedawgie
2024-08-15 01:41:57 +0000 UTC
Exactly!
Carrie
2024-08-15 01:40:00 +0000 UTC
Agreed!
Alacrity Fitzhugh
2024-08-15 01:39:35 +0000 UTC
30-50 feral hogs is called a precinct
John Burton
2024-08-15 01:39:23 +0000 UTC
Or at least reduce the urine content.
Alacrity Fitzhugh
2024-08-15 01:38:47 +0000 UTC
I’m having more fun watching the AI’s in the background than the actual story.
JMK
2024-08-15 01:37:34 +0000 UTC
At first I was glad Sven was back but THEN I saw cutie with the pink braid and the adorable concentration face and now she's the only thing I care about because she's adorable
Aerin Moriarty
2024-08-15 01:35:31 +0000 UTC
This makes me wonder why some AIs choose a body with a nose and some without.
GregD
2024-08-15 01:29:10 +0000 UTC
Stupid Sven and his sexy field.
Tannerbot
2024-08-15 01:22:20 +0000 UTC
😂😂😂
Jose Alfredo Villalobos
2024-08-15 01:21:22 +0000 UTC
The last panel needs the redhead coming back with a hammer for that can...
Drazi
2024-08-15 01:20:43 +0000 UTC
I think it was peccaries in a golf course out west?
allanfranta
2024-08-15 01:19:53 +0000 UTC
lol
FuzzyDragon Cosplay
2024-08-15 01:18:10 +0000 UTC
Hogs?
Matthew Van Gangelen
2024-08-15 01:17:56 +0000 UTC
Most American IPAs need to go extinct.
Rich Holmes
2024-08-15 01:17:28 +0000 UTC
That poor TRex can't get the beer up to its mouth. 😭
Timothy Roller
2024-08-15 01:17:23 +0000 UTC
Wait, so Marten made the vibe... less chill? Is this the mirror universe?
BookBeard
2024-08-15 01:17:22 +0000 UTC
I’m just flashing back to that advertisement where Santa and the m&ms catch each other and they are like “He does exist!” and he replies with “They do exist!”
Matthew Van Gangelen
2024-08-15 01:16:55 +0000 UTC
I can recalibrate your sensors for you, babe
Rich Holmes
2024-08-15 01:16:12 +0000 UTC
They crossed the ‘Marten attracts weirdos’ threshold. It’s a vibe-nullifier field.