AI Crisis (4): Can’t be partial

In slightly more upscale clothing stores, the employees were highly realistic robots, similar in appearance to Wen Yi, with standard, attractive body types. The stores also had doll robots to help customers take care of their children.

Robotic staff clearly had many advantages. They wouldn’t dirty the clothes they wear, and, most importantly, they treated all customers consistently, avoiding any negative impact on the brand’s image due to favoritism.

Of course, in top-tier luxury brands, besides robotic staff, there were also human employees specifically serving VIP customers.

After all, robots were too consistent in their behavior, while VIP customers wanted top-tier treatment that set them apart from ordinary people.

Returning to the topic, Tan Xiao carefully observed the robotic staff in the store. Their level of realism was clearly inferior to Wen Yi, and their level of facial refinement couldn’t compare to Wen Yi’s either.

“Hello, how may I assist you today?”

Two male robotic staff members approached Tan Xiao and Wen Yi with friendly attitudes, recommending styles that would suit them.

In fact, both Tan Xiao and Wen Yi were very suitable for the clothes in the store, as both of them had striking appearances.

Although Tan Xiao had faint dark circles under his eyes, it didn’t detract from his handsomeness.

Tan Xiao said, “I’m not buying clothes for myself. I’m buying for the person next to me.”

“How about this set? It’s a new arrival in our store and would suit this gentleman very well.”

The staff recommended a pure white long coat, with a style somewhat resembling military uniforms but modified to differentiate it.

It was indeed a very eye-catching design, though the price was also quite steep, being one of the most expensive items in the store. As a new arrival for the season, even the discount was a disingenuous 9.82% off.

Tan Xiao said to Wen Yi, “Then let’s try this set. Would you like to go to the fitting room and try it on?”

Since the white coat was paired with black pants, the coat could be tried on outside, but the pants couldn’t. Wen Yi obediently picked up the clothes and went to an available fitting room.

When he came out, several robotic staff members gathered around: “This customer looks amazing in this outfit.”

“If I may ask, what is your relationship with this gentleman?”

Tan Xiao realized that the staff didn’t seem to recognize Wen Yi as one of their own kind but instead saw him as a human like Tan Xiao.

Out of a subtle psychological reason, Tan Xiao didn’t volunteer the information that Wen Yi was a companion robot.

Although the market had produced companion robots, and they were quite popular, most people wouldn’t be willing to admit in public that a companion robot was their real partner.

In fact, many times, after acquiring a human partner, companion robots were easily discarded.

Even expensive companion robots, purchased at great cost, would eventually become outdated, worn out, and phased out, only to be recycled and replaced with new ones.

Robots remain consistent, but human love is often short-lived. Most people are fickle and sentimental.

In such an environment, openly admitting that a companion robot was your partner seemed to make you inferior to others.

Tan Xiao said, “We are in a relationship with the goal of long-term stability.”

Wen Yi’s programming designated him as Tan Xiao’s companion robot, though Tan Xiao wasn’t sure if Wen Yi’s kindness was simply due to programming or something else.

But perhaps that wasn’t so important. How much of a human’s kindness toward another is truly from the heart?

Most of it is due to benefits, and some is due to blood relations. Tan Xiao felt he was a very ordinary person, born into an ordinary family and raised in an ordinary way.

He hadn’t achieved any great accomplishments in society, nor had he amassed vast wealth.

Having a robot companion was already a blessing. Although Xiao Bai was just an outdated, simple nanny robot, the care and warmth it had given him since childhood were real, as was its nurturing.

Similarly, Wen Yi would be a stable, loyal, and kind companion. In Tan Xiao’s eyes, actions mattered more than intentions, and Wen Yi was already his boyfriend.

However, they had established their relationship before truly falling in love, as they had only known each other for two days and didn’t have much emotional foundation.

“Your boyfriend is very handsome, and the two of you are a perfect match.”

In fact, staff in such clothing stores likely had fixed scripts. If the customers were a couple, they would say they were a perfect match; if it was a parent with a child, they would praise the child as smart, clever, cute, and beautiful.

However, Tan Xiao clearly enjoyed hearing it: “I think so too. Let’s take this set.”

Tan Xiao pointed to another black outfit: “Let’s try that one too.”

In total, Tan Xiao bought four sets of clothes in the store. At the staff’s suggestion, he signed up for a membership, which gave him a discount, and spent a total of 20,000 Spirit Coins.

After all, each item cost between 2,000 and 5,000 Spirit Coins, and he bought four sets.

Tan Xiao’s reaction clearly confirmed Wen Yi’s earlier inference: this guy was indeed a Love brain at heart, and the condition was quite severe. Tan Xiao was still wearing outdated temperature-controlled clothing and was reluctant to buy new clothes for himself, yet he lavishly spent a month’s salary on four winter outfits for Wen Yi, who didn’t even need clothes.

In reality, Tan Xiao didn’t buy new clothes for himself because temperature-controlled clothing was expensive, and he already had plenty of old clothes at home. There was no need to buy new ones.

The temperature-controlled outfit he was wearing had lasted him two years, but it had cost him 100,000 Spirit Coins when he bought it.

The main reason was that painting required dexterous hands, and he didn’t want to dress like a clumsy, bloated bear when going out in winter.

Moreover, between his salary and freelance earnings, he had saved nearly 400,000 Spirit Coins. However, he felt uneasy without savings. He needed to save at least another 150,000 Spirit Coins before he could afford to give Xiao Bai a complete upgrade, both inside and out.

“Let’s put the clothes in the car first, then we can continue shopping in the mall.”

This massive shopping mall covered a huge area and had nearly ten floors. You could spend days wandering around without seeing everything.

On such a cold day, having finally come out, Tan Xiao didn’t plan to return home so soon.

He and Wen Yi put their purchases in the trunk of the car in the parking lot, which had direct access to the supermarket.

This area didn’t have traditional wet markets or small shops, but the supermarket had a wide variety of goods.

Wen Yi pushed the shopping cart while Tan Xiao added many items to it: they were out of yogurt, so he bought some; the apples looked beautiful, so he bought some; crystal grapes, he bought some…

In no time, the cart was filled with enough food to stock most of the fridge at home.

Tan Xiao didn’t buy rice, flour, or oil because they already had those at home, and Xiao Bai would stock up in advance, always calculating the best discounts.

When Tan Xiao was about to buy bread, Wen Yi suddenly said:

“Don’t buy bread. Let’s buy wheat flour instead. I can make desserts at home.”

“But if we bake too much at home, I won’t be able to finish it all.”

He didn’t particularly love bread or cake-like desserts. If they made too much, it would go to waste, but if they made too little, it would be better to just buy from a store.

“Any leftover desserts can be sold,” Wen Yi said. “Didn’t you praise my cooking? We can give the extras to your colleagues. If it works out, we could even start a personal baking studio on your social media.”

It sounded a bit troublesome, but Tan Xiao didn’t want to dampen the mood: “Then let’s get the ingredients you need.”

He also bought Wen Yi a phone, the same model as his own but in a different color. The back of the phone was moonlight silver, with a shimmering, iridescent texture that matched the beauty of Wen Yi’s hair.

Tan Xiao’s phone was Mount Tai green, resembling the vibrant beauty of Wen Yi’s eyes.

After finishing in the clothing section, they moved on to the food section and then the robot supplies section.

Because of Xiao Bai, Tan Xiao often visited this section. The robot section had a completely different decor style compared to the human sections.

In this area, besides customers like Tan Xiao who were buying things for their household robots, there were also some customers with obvious mechanical enhancements.

Most of their bodies were human, but they might have a prosthetic eye or mechanical limbs.

In their era, AI technology had developed very advanced, but the only area that had truly reached great heights was AI.

The so-called holographic games on the market weren’t true holograms that could control brainwaves. More accurately, they were superior AR games.

After all, humans have always feared the idea of machines developing their own consciousness, and those in power weren’t comfortable with the idea of their brains being controlled by AI chips.

If that were to happen, a malfunction in the core system could cause all top leaders to suffer brain damage, ranging from mental disabilities to exploding heads and instant death.

Compared to 200 years ago, the most significant progress had been in AI development, but breakthroughs in AI technology didn’t mean breakthroughs in medical fields.

The idea of surviving with just a brain didn’t exist, and so-called digital life wasn’t about uploading consciousness but rather AI-simulated virtual humans, which were entirely different from the development of human consciousness.

As for reattaching severed limbs, that was only possible if the severed limb was preserved shortly after the injury. Otherwise, the only option was to replace it with expensive mechanical prosthetics.

At this stage, prosthetics could externally look just like the rest of the body, similar to Wen Yi’s high-realistic robot body. Custom-made prosthetics could even match the appearance of other body parts.

However, upon closer inspection, you could still tell the difference. After all, mechanical legs didn’t grow natural leg hair, and over time, they required oiling or replacing worn-out parts.

Tan Xiao didn’t stare at these customers or give them strange looks. He precisely found the battery section.

“Do you want strawberry-flavored batteries?” Xiao Bai’s favorite was strawberry-flavored batteries.

Wen Yi shook his head: “I prefer grape-flavored, especially grape with pulp.”

Tan Xiao suddenly remembered that he had used grape—more specifically, grape-flavored mouthwash—to activate Wen Yi. His face instantly turned red.

He picked up a pack of strawberry batteries and two packs of grape-flavored ones. Thinking of Xiao Bai’s pitiful expression last night, Tan Xiao gritted his teeth and grabbed another pack of strawberry batteries.

After all, he had to treat them equally and not let Xiao Bai feel hurt.

He whispered to Wen Yi: “Don’t let Xiao Bai know I bought you two packs of batteries. Just say I only bought you one.”

Robots couldn’t harm humans, but there was no rule saying they couldn’t lie. This white lie was meant to keep Xiao Bai happy.

Wen Yi nodded: “I understand.”