Domestic servants: a modest proposal

I have fond memories of our Roomba, spinning mindlessly around our previous house, unable to empty itself and needing help to escape from under the bed. Didn't work in our current home - carpets too thick.

We're as far as ever from artificial general intelligence (AGI). But why try to solve a thousand problems of mental and physical agility when biology has already done the work for us over 400 million years?

"Wait!", I hear you say. Domestic servitude died out with the Edwardians. Besides, the idea of all those servants observing and judging your every move. It's so creepy. No privacy. It's like your home isn't your own.

But that was before CRISPR ...

"She paused. "Just out of curiosity, what's planned fo' the serfs along these lines?"

He relaxed. "Oh, much less. That was debated at the highest levels of authority, an' they decided to do very little beyond selectin' within the normal human range.

"Same sort of cleanup on things like hereditary diseases. Average height about 50 millimeters lower than ours. No IQs below 90, which'll bring the average up to 110. No improvements or increase in lifespan so they'll be closer to the original norm than the Race.

"Some selection within the personality spectrum: toward gentle, emotional, nonaggressive types. About what you'd expect."

If they like serving you, can it really be slavery?

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More about the Draka.