Artificial Theory of Mind
They're getting smarter
1
The beginning of the Grand Disappearance can be traced back to 2026. In itself it was a largely unremarkable year. Like most other years since, advancements in artificial intelligence sprang forth all around. After each one the public's confidence in achieving artificual general intelligence wavered further, but the conviction of the engineers were never dependent on public opinion.
One such innovation, a very unremarkable invention in an already unremarkable year, was the artificial theory of mind. A group of scientists decided to veer away from making robots think, and focused on making robots guess at what humans were thinking.
The project, on paper, never got very far in advancing the field of artificial intelligence. Time and money was not spent on making robots think more intelligently, but more emphatetically. This ostensibly did not bring us (or the robots) any closer to AGI.
In fact, many argued that in trying to model human emotions in the minds of robots, it made them even less intelligent.
Nonetheless, products with this technology were introduced to the mass market, mostly present in robots who served domestic roles. Robots that patrolled areas became aware of the space they occupied; they anticipatedly manoeuvred around people as if sheepishly avoiding incident.
More advanced models exhibited greater sensitivity to their surroundings. So to speak, they could read the room. It was not a difficult task to identify when two humans were in conversation, and subsequently to instruct the robots to not cut through their line of sight, committing a social faux pas.
Soon enough, this technology became cheap enough to incorporate in all newer models of robots. Domestic robots swept invisibly around the house, making it seem as if tasks were conjured by magic.
2
Many autopologists[^1], agree that this initial invention had far-reaching applications not immediately picked up on by scientists. It was only in 2028 that the United States military adopted such technology for use in combat, particularly in reconnaissance.
3
We've spent so much time trying to put robots in people's shoes, without realising that doing it figuratively is just far more rewarding. This little feller can empathise with me, you say?!
4
Where have they gone?
[1]: Persons pursuing the study of automata.