Robots Robots Everywhere

The Book of Bots, by James Patrick Kelly

James Patrick Kelly’s latest collection is a bit of a departure: a themed collection, including some previously uncollected stories as well as older stories that have appeared in others of his books. The theme here is bots -- robots and some other AI (but mostly robots!) There are two new essays as well -- “The Comedy of Science” surveys the history of science fictional presentation of robots, while “Robots on Parade 2026” looks at the current state of scientific and engineering research and development of AI and robots. The collection as a whole is remarkable, and a reminder of the continuing excellence of Kelly’s short fiction -- he’s been publishing outstanding fiction for over 50 years now (just about as long as I’ve been reading science fiction!) He’s hardly been ignored -- he’s got a Nebula Award and a couple of Hugos -- but like many writers who have concentrated on short fiction (he’s published about a half-dozen novels) he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

The newest story here, “Je Ne Regrette Rien”*, is one of the best. Reed Cheng is an American cognitive analytics expert visiting Human Associates, a Chinese robotics company, to tour their facilities. Instead of the human supervisors, his guides for the bulk of his tour are very advanced experimental robots called “ni ren”. They seem human-like, not just in physical and mental ability, but in what seems to be emotional reactions -- and then it turns out that they are at risk on two fronts: their capacities may be in violation of international law, and the expenses of maintaining them might lead Human Associates to terminate the “experiment” of creating them -- which would mean terminating them as well. Reed becomes close to them -- affectionately, not sexually -- and is of course hopeful that they can be saved ... but what could he possibly do? The conclusion is ambiguous and moving, and preserves the feeling that the ni ren are autonomous, and their own thing -- not humans, not robots to be owned.

The rest of the book is just as strong. There are stories of traditional robots, of AI houses, AI spaceships, time-traveling robots, an elder care robot of sorts ... Some of the stories are not so much “about” robots as “about” other SF tropes -- for example “Undone”, one of the best, is basically a wild far-future story -- with robotic spaceships and posthumans and so on -- that in the end is a very successful variation on one of the most cliché of SF clichés. Another favorite is “Grace’s Family” : set on Grace, an AI spaceship (and, as it turns out, not the only AI in the story.) It’s about a young man living on Grace with his (their) family, and their apparent purpose, and about stories, and family, and growth and about the purpose of intelligence in the universe.

“Bernardo’s House” is a fine story about an intelligent “house” (complete with an android “housekeeper”/sex toy) who has been abandoned by her owner. The story deals with a key theme concerning AI -- is it fair to condition a robot (like an AI house) to love its owner? This conditioning is tested here as the house is abandoned, and a homeless young woman turns up on its doorstep. “The Best Christmas Ever” is an affecting story about another SF cliché: the last two people in the world, here maintained by “biops” – androids of some sort. The narrator is a biop, “Aunty Em”, trying to keep the last man’s spirits up by staging yet another Christmas. But what if the present the man wants most is to die? Can the biops give him something better?

“Embot’s Lament” is a strong more recent story -- from 2023, and about a rather different sort of AI. Embot is a “timecaster” -- a sort of AI that records a person’s life experiences and transmits them to the future. Its job this time is Jane, who is stuck in a terribly abusive marriage. She is finally trying to get out -- and Embot is tempted to help, even though that’s against the rules. The results lead to significant consequences for Jane -- and also for Embot. Speaking of “different” sorts of AI, or robots, one of the less different, indeed obvious, robot “uses” is as a sexbot. This isn’t a major theme of this book, but it inevitably is hovering around the edges -- and it is dealt with head-on in a couple of cases here, the best example being “Your Boyfriend Experience”, another story about experimental robots. In this case the protagonist, Dak, is a bit worried about his relationship with his boyfriend Jin -- maybe they’re a bit stuck? Jin is a robot designer, and he’s been working on an ambitious project -- and now he wants Dak to go on a date with the “playbot” he’s been helping develop. It’s a complex character piece, and the playbot is as much a character as Dak and Jin (and Jin’s somewhat inscrutable boss) -- and the playbot’s effect on their relationship is ... interesting.

One of the best-known stories here is “10¹⁶ to 1”, a Hugo winner. This is one of those not really about its robot character, which is a time-traveling robot sent from the future to try to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. The robot is discovered by a young boy, right at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. The boy is a science fiction reader, and he guesses the nature of the robot and the robot’s mission -- only to learn that it is a bit surprising. The ending is unexpected, and disquieting (though in a funny sense a bit less so now -- or is it really less disquieting?)

The Book of Bots is truly an outstanding story collection. It’s not just a “book of bots” -- Kelly’s futures are fully furnished, with interesting aspects not necessarily related to the robots at all: future food, life extension technology, political changes, and so on. The stories are interesting throughout, and some are truly great -- including, I think, the newest, and I expect “Je Ne Regrette Rien” will be on my Hugo nomination ballot next year.

*(The reference to one of the great songs of all times doesn’t hurt!)

(Obligatory disclosure -- Jim Kelly is a friend, and he sent me this ARC. My respect for his work, however, dates to far before we ever met. Still, calibrate as you wish!)