Robopets
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Abstract
This text is a science fiction story featuring “Furbys,” robotic pet toys that were a sales success in the late 1990s. At that time, reality proved to be more sarcastic and amusing than fiction: this market phenomenon contradicted the predictions that robots would become widespread through functionality, performing mechanical, heavy, and/or repetitive human tasks. The absolutely unexpected nature of this phenomenon, as well as its developments, is discussed in the article “Robopets – Robots are not what they used to be” by the Cybernetic Cultural Research Unit (CCRU), from which this text originates and whose title it appropriates. The futility of distinguishing academic theory from science fiction – the foundation of CCRU’s thought and writing – inspired this science-fiction-essay developed by assembling selected excerpts. Exploring the intersections between art and accelerationism; conspiracy theories and the obsolescence of the future; sexuality and revolution, this text presents an ambiguous vision of the future in which dystopia and utopia become inseparable.
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