The problem with two-legged robots sleeping on the job

Blazing Reader,

Bipedal robots, just like humans, need to expend power to stay balanced on two legs. This was confirmed in the MSN article (I know... hardly the most tech-cred source) that I shared in my previous post. 

"Cut the power and a bipedal robot generally crumples to the ground, potentially harming objects or people nearby," explains the author. 

From a speculative fiction perspective, I found this provocative. I suspect it will find its way into All the Humans Are Dying (the sequel to my latest novel, All the Humans Are Sleeping).

Imagine a robot butler collapsing on a guest with a platter of steaming lasagne. Or a robotic dog walker losing power and being dragged by its canine charge into a bakery.

If you haven't read the article yet, and would like a glimpse of our possible robotic future (e.g. Morgan Stanley analysts predict that by 2050 the United States will have 78 million humanoid robots at work) you can read it here.

John C.A. Manley

P.S. And if you haven't read (or listened to) the free sample chapters of my novel brimful of two-legged robots, head on over to AlltheHumansAreSleeping.com as fast as your bipedal humanoid form can take you.

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.