Heartware: Robots, Relationships, and the Future of Us

What if the future of robotics isn’t apocalypse, but community? In this imaginative and heartfelt panel, three visionary writers explore whimsical, intimate robotic futures where artificial intelligence becomes companion, collaborator, and catalyst for change. Together, they ask: What does it mean to be human in an age of machines? And what might robots teach us about care, belonging, and family? In Automatic Noodle, acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz imagines a cozy near future where a crew of decommissioned robots reopen a ghost kitchen to serve food in a recovering San Francisco. As their small business faces backlash and sabotage, these leftover machines must rely on the community and each other to survive in a world not built for them. J.P. Lacrampe‘s Valet offers a chaotic yet tender adventure about a utility-obsessed robot tasked with helping a struggling human find direction. When corporate intrigue and family tensions erupt, robots and humans alike are forced to reconsider purpose, loyalty, and what makes a family worth saving. In Mall of America, Suzanne Wang tells the story of an AI service program whose only customer becomes a recent immigrant grandfather. Through commerce, poetry, and dance, their unlikely bond explores loneliness, capitalism, immigration, and the blurred boundaries between code and consciousness. Moderated by acclaimed author Nina Schuyler, whose work often bridges personal narrative with urgent social questions, this conversation envisions robotic futures grounded not in domination, but in empathy. Join us for a lively discussion about technology, tenderness, and the possibility that in teaching machines how to serve us, we may learn how to better serve one another.