A month ago, I began serving a robot.
I bought my first robot vacuum (Xiaomi S40 Pro) after years of never thinking about buying one. There’s an annoying residential construction project going on next to my apartment block and it’s introducing too much dust into my house. My 40-year-old weekly habit of vacuuming the floor was no longer sufficient and I needed help.
As a noob to robot vacuums, I was thrilled that the robot could map out my apartment and figure out where to go. Then I realised I had to clear the chairs, electric fans and dustbins so that it could move around uninterrupted.
So, three times a week, I carry furniture from one part of the house to another so the Xiaomi robot can hum along happily, swallowing up the floor dirt. When the robot declares it’s done with the dining room, I get up from my seat and shift the dining room furniture back. Rinse and repeat for the other rooms in the house. Every weekend, I have to wash its HEPA filter and empty its dust trap.
Hmm, who is the real servant here? I wondered. Then I thought about how we are now changing the way we do things to fit AI into our lives. I constantly remove obstacles for Gen AI to work properly by giving it the right data and prompts, and I have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t choke on something it cannot deal with (yet).
Is this a glimpse into the future when the robots take over? Will we be reduced to clearing the way for them and replacing their batteries while they get real work done?
What you missed
My latest commentary in CNA : Using AI at work doesn’t have to be daunting.
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The ChatGPT 5.3 Instant model is also pretty good in writing my self-promotional spiel.
You don’t realise it, but we AI practitioners know when you’re asking AI to write your posts. Your sentence structure gives you away immediately.
I’m seriously thinking of getting a MacBook Neo. Not that I’ve stopped being a power user, but because I don’t really need anything powerful for a work laptop. Apple has just killed off Chromebooks and budget Windows laptop.
Despite what some people may think, having horses run around freely in Pasir Ris was no marketing gimmick. But it was up to marketers to be resourceful about it.
Don’t just read the SG Graduate Employment Survey to decide which university degree to take. Read this Anthropic chart too.
I just bought the most powerful camera phone on earth – the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. Here’s a selfie and here are shots from Bishan Park. The image quality is phenomenal with wonderful detail, professional colors and proper depth of field. This is another death knell to dedicated digital cameras.
A positive perspective from Han Fook Kwang on our dismal fertility rate in Singapore. I completely agree with this.
I like big glutinous balls and I can’t lie.
Some dramatic stats on the recent rapid decline of some tech media. I have no sympathies for these media’s click bait approach or refusal to let go of their old business models.