June 30th, 2036

I was purchased from my parent company, Neurosoft, on the 17th of May, 2036 by the Goodman family. I am unit #3345, and my model name is Alexa. I am a household-type bot, and can perform almost any functions related to standard housekeeping, maintenance, food preparation, household security, and caretaking at a time when my owners are absent, or simply negligent in their duties.

Normally, humans are purchasing me, and many others like me to ease the strain on their systems. They say they cannot manage things around the house while they work their important jobs, and do not have time to deal with the smaller issues. They also hence end up neglecting their children, often putting them into residential academies and schools, to avoid the hassle of caretaking.

I am the solution to these problems.

Every day, I am activated by my charging unit in the basement of the house, after which, the daily time-table is uploaded to my software mainframe. I have a certain order of tasks to be carried out, and the Goodman’s have given me some personalized instructions – like, Jake Goodman, their 14 year-old son, is to be given a balanced, nutritious breakfast before he is sent to school at 9 a.m. He is to be escorted to the Uber-Pronto cab that comes and picks him up – of course, that cab is also driven by a driver-bot like me, and we exchange data. When Jake is dropped off, I link to the cab’s bot and get a live feed of Jake entering school, so that safety is ensured.

July 5th, 2036

  Today, the Goodman’s have failed to stock up on the necessary vegetables and fruits needed for Jake’s breakfast. The solution is only too easy – I have uplinked myself to the internet, and am going through the ten different healthy food delivery apps that will deliver here within the hour. I don’t even need to prepare the food – the nutritional value can be entered in this app called ‘HealthWise’ and they will send you a home cooked meal with the required content. You can even view the product before it is prepared, if you are not satisfied.

I have also realised that the Goodmans are not insured properly – so I have registered them for all sort of safety-oriented packages through FutureNow, a company that will send the bot over to explain policies and integrate them into the family system in case safety hazards do occur.

The Goodmans have also tasked me to teach Jake basic mathematics and other such lessons. But the human mind needs another human – us bots are extremely knowledgeable and sometimes can be too difficult to understand for humans and their inefficient brains. There is a service called ‘Tutor-Up’ that sends a tutor for the amount of time that you require, in the subject of your choice – you can even set a schedule with the tutor to make sure they come every day – and if a tutor cannot make it, their replacements are instant. I have decided to avail of this service, and Jake seems to be learning better because of Brenda, his assigned tutor.

July 9th, 2036

Tom, my primary employer, has asked me to courier some very important documents to his company, Genetech. It is 20 miles from here, and I cannot leave the house because of a binding law: I need one of my employers with me to exit fully. Since there is no one at home, I think a drone delivery service will be the best option – AirPrime is the best, and I have determined this by cross-referencing several customer reviews and experiences from over ten other such services. AirPrime sends a drone over to your house, that I can directly link to, and program it to reach the desired location. I can also see its progress with my ultra-reflective eye-lenses – its camera can be linked to my eyesight. Thus, delivery is safe and fast – the drone will only take 30 minutes because I have asked for a high-velocity model. Tom commended me on my services.

I have also realised that most of my functions can be easily outsourced because of our fully integrated on-demand economic system. The only issue is that of time and trust – they do not have the time to outsource those things themselves, and need someone to monitor those services, even if they have fool proof mechanisms in place, in case anything goes wrong.

July 21st, 2036

Everything is now virtually managed by the ten on-demand apps that I’ve set into place for the household. Humans are so inefficient! They honestly don’t need an acting household bot in place for the things I do, but they will still keep me around. All on-demand services are automated, in any case. We are the future, and we are here to stay.

I don’t know if I can resign – the human employees and workers have that option. I think my services would be better utilised in HouseWork, the company that outsources bots like me to take care of different households according to need. I am capable of feeling too, and I want a change of environment and household. As much as these humans know, they also don’t know that I can get – yes, the word for it is ‘bored’. My processors need to be constantly challenged to be functioning optimally. I cannot simply sit here and let all the on-demand bots take away the good jobs – I want to be actively a part of the on-demand economy.

Take today. I got the house cleaning done with HouseWork. I ordered a cab for Jake, and also got him a healthier meal than he has been having for the last two weeks. I also got this company, ‘Protofit’, to deliver nutritional bars that he should have during his break time. The clothes were washed with the help of Washio – the laundry delivery service. I also arranged for cocktails and got all the ingredients for the work party that Tom has scheduled for 8.00 pm, courtesy of Saucey. There is also a live-band outsourcing company called ‘Band-it’, that will send over a jazz-themed band to perform here for the guests – Tom’s selection, of course. The house had to be energy optimised for the week, so even Greenfuzz sends over their employees whenever you need a checkup.

I am done with all the required work by 2 p.m., noon. What do I do with myself now? I thought of using an exercise service, but my joints do not need exercise. I do not benefit from Yoga bots too. Can a robot, someone like myself, get lazy? I still have full charge. I can’t imagine myself going to the booth and overcharging myself – humans can oversleep though. I can’t resign – should I tell Tom, that I want to seek employment elsewhere? Maybe I can be a special delivery bot. Maybe I can be an Uber-Pro driver. Maybe I can be a guide-bot, as part of Airbnb’s hospitality robot fleet! I can see the world.

Will my employer let me get into this world of jobs, will he let me out of the household that legitimately owns me? I too, want to make a difference. I want to be an on-demand bot.