bebe d'lure

Workers in every field act as tools for creation, making them a necessary form of laboring technology. Now in the 21st century, humans have adopted so many robotic traits while performing labor, that it is plausible to say that they have become cyborgian workers.

‍Please Miss Robot, Don’t Take My Job! is an interactive and improvisational art performance which uses AI chatbots and voice generators to simulate a conversational work environment where only the customer has agency to speak without the use of AI.

Accompanying the performance are looped microfilms that tell the story of a service worker going through various conditioning in exchange for working their job.

Next to the screening, a merch table acts as the simulated retail work environment supplied with clothing, posters, and postcards. The Worker manages the table while speaking through an AI voice and AI script that is operated by a team of performers called the “Brain.” The Brain team is visible to the public. The performers roles are described below:

The Worker: Stationed at the merch table, they interact with customers answering questions and selling items, but they cannot speak with their own voice or their own words.

‍The Learner: watch customers to predict how they will interact with the Worker. Each possible talking point is given a code. The Learner gives that code to The Voice and the Mirror.

‍The Voice: input preprogrammed responses into a voice generator.

‍The Mirror: display text of the incoming dialogue to the Worker.