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<\/p>\nWe’re celebrating Irish Book Week (which runs 18th – 25th October) with a series of choice extracts from outstanding new Irish titles – read an extract from Sylvia Leatham’s new novel Chaos Theory below.<\/b><\/p>\n
Maeve McGettigan has just landed a job as Dublin’s least prepared robot babysitter. One minute she’s coasting through her boring marketing job; the next, she\u2019s responsible for Kobi: a well-meaning robot assistant with zero filter and a knack for publicly humiliating her. As chaos erupts around her, Maeve finds herself unexpectedly caught between two very different men: Shane \u2013 her on-again, off-again messy situationship \u2013 and Josh, Kobi’s nerdy-in-a-hot-way creator who makes her question everything she thought she wanted for her life. But then Maeve and Kobi\u2019s story takes a truly shocking twist, and it\u2019s suddenly time for her to decide: what \u2013 and who \u2013 is she really fighting for?<\/p>\n
10am<\/p>\n
‘Maeve, I need to see you in my office right now.’<\/p>\n
I roll my eyes and consider telling my boss\u2019s boss that, unless someone has just invented the teleporter, right now is a physical impossibility. \u2018Sure thing, JP,\u2019 I say down the phone instead.<\/p>\n
I begin the arduous journey from the second-floor open plan to the secluded top-floor offices, searching my mind for recent indiscretions. Could this be about my excessive personal use of the new multifunction printer? Maybe I left a copy of my r\u00e9sum\u00e9 in the out-tray again? It\u2019s just easier to spot typos in print. Or maybe JP\u2019s twigged what I did on Monday morning: instead of arriving five minutes late for the all-staff meeting, I hid in the bathroom for a full hour, then skilfully merged with the crowd leaving the meeting, as if I\u2019d been there all along.<\/p>\n
I make my way to the elevator, squinting as harsh sunlight brightens the corridor, a feature of the building\u2019s glass wall frontage. I can picture the architect in the pitch meeting, clicking through their slide deck with a flourish. Georgian brickwork meets contemporary office style at the heart of historic Dublin. Old meets new meets old.<\/p>\n
I dutifully arrive at JP\u2019s office, take a moment to enjoy the view over the park and the low-rise Dublin skyline beyond. JP unfolds himself like a spider preparing for lunch. Adjusts his glasses before looking at me.<\/p>\n
\u2018Maeve. We need to talk.\u2019<\/p>\n
He nods at the chair in front of his messy, oversized desk. There\u2019s probably a tree missing from the park below, felled specifically to cater for JP\u2019s attachment to paper. He\u2019s been known to print out emails.<\/p>\n
\u2018What\u2019s this about?\u2019<\/p>\n
I stay standing. The not knowing is starting to get to me.<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t worry, this isn\u2019t a bad meeting. I have some interesting news. Sit down.\u2019<\/p>\n
I exhale and sit while JP taps the keyboard and peers at his laptop screen. True to form, the desktop printer by the window hums to life and another new page is born. So many offspring, such varied fates. Some to be cherished and homed in the filing cabinet. Others swaddled in an envelope and sent out into the world. The less fortunate balled and binned. The truly damned facing the guillotine or, worse, the shredder.<\/p>\n
My eyes drift to a large posterboard propped up in the corner. It shows a line of hillwalkers enjoying an open green space in the Irish countryside. I\u2019m walkin\u2019 here! says the text below. The newly redesigned Go Ireland logo features prominently. It\u2019s wilfully almost identical to the old logo. God knows how much it cost to redo.<\/p>\n
JP rolls himself in his chair over to the printer, then with one push swings himself back behind his desk. \u2018Robots,\u2019 he says as he completes his orbit.<\/p>\n
\u2018Robots?\u2019 I echo.<\/p>\n
\u2018Robots,\u2019 he says. \u2018Specifically, collaborative robots. What do you know about them?\u2019<\/p>\n
Unexpected, but at least I\u2019m not getting fired. Unless\u2026 he plans to replace me with a robot? I decide to be noncommittal. \u2018Um. Let me think.\u2019<\/p>\n
JP brings the printed page very close to his face and reads aloud, saving me from thinking.<\/p>\n
\u2018Collaborative robots, aka cobots, are the “Next Big Thing” for the workplace.\u2019 He makes air quotes with his pinkies while holding the paper. \u2018Highly competent, artificially intelligent machines. They\u2019re not intended to replace employees \u2013 they\u2019re meant to work alongside them, like a helpful colleague on the production line, in the office or on the hospital ward.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018So, um\u2026 what\u2019s that got to do with us?\u2019 I ask. There was a rumour that the head of marketing \u2013 and my line manager \u2013 Duncan Canning had used AI to write the ad copy for the New York campaign, but Duncan was waiting until the success or failure of the campaign had been firmly established before confirming or denying the rumour.<\/p>\n
\u2018Well\u2019 \u2013 JP scans the page again \u2013 \u2018an opportunity has come up. It looks like we are taking delivery of one\u2026 this afternoon.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Really? Here? Today?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, yes and yes,\u2019 says JP. \u2018Believe me, I\u2019m as surprised as you are. We\u2019ve never had anything on this level here before. The new multifunction printer is about as good as it gets, am I right?\u2019<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t tell if this is a trap. \u2018Tell me more about this robot,\u2019 I say quickly.<\/p>\n
\u2018Well, you know how I play golf with Ron Tron, the CEO of RoboTron?\u2019<\/p>\n
Taking advantage of JP\u2019s poor eyesight, I risk an eye roll. \u2018You\u2019ve mentioned it once or twice, yes.\u2019<\/p>\n
Ron Tron is one of the most famous names in tech. I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s a made-up name, but it made headlines when he decided to set up a research office for RoboTron in Dublin.<\/p>\n
JP squint-skims the text. \u2018It seems that one of their cutting-edge robots has been recalled from a factory deployment\u2026 And as there\u2019s a bit of a gap in its schedule, as it were, Ron thinks we should take it for a while. Let\u2019s see here \u2013 Ron\u2019s assistant says Ron is eager to see how this, quote, “highly sophisticated automaton” might function in a, quote, “unstructured environment of low stakes”.\u2019 He slaps the page down on the desk. \u2018You know what, the details are not that important right now. I think it\u2019s a great opportunity.\u2019<\/p>\n
I\u2019m miles away, wondering what JP and Ron Tron could possibly talk about on the golf course, given that JP\u2019s as analogue as a wind-up radio. \u2018Great opportunity,\u2019 I parrot mindlessly.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m glad you agree, Maeve. Because I want you to take the lead on this one.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m sorry, what?\u2019<\/p>\n
My neck twitches involuntarily with the realisation of what this conversation was building up to. He actually wants me to do something. But\u2026 I have one foot out the door. I\u2019ve been pootling along for months, getting through my low-level marketing admin tasks while eyeing the exits. The only place I\u2019m going is away from here.<\/p>\n
\u2018I want you to take charge of supervising this robot, make sure we get\u2019 \u2013 I see him parse the text for the right phrase \u2013 \u2018maximum value from it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018But surely this is more Jen\u2019s area? She\u2019s our head of IT, after all. I\u2019m hardly qualified. And, you know, I\u2019m very busy these days.\u2019<\/p>\n
He stares at me for such a long time that I\u2019m unsure if he\u2019s gone into one of those eyes-wide-open naps you hear about. Eventually his eyebrows start to rise. He knows. He knows I\u2019m not too busy.<\/p>\n
\u2018Jen is our head of IT, yes, but she\u2019s also our only person in IT. And she\u2019s not in today. You\u2019ll appreciate that we\u2019re in a bit of a tight spot, Maeve. This is all very last-minute, but I don\u2019t want to let Ron down. Besides, Duncan tells me you have capacity. He says you could use a new challenge, in fact.\u2019<\/p>\n
Duncan found my r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Duncan found my r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
All I can do is sigh and cover it up with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s settled then. This email says all will be explained today when they bring in this, this\u2026\u2019 \u2013 JP unfolds the page and takes at least thirty seconds to find the information he needs \u2013 \u2018this\u2026 Kobi.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Chaos Theory is out now via Storm Publishing<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We’re celebrating Irish Book Week (which runs 18th – 25th October) with a series of choice extracts from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[359,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-138173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}