Why might I have to use them, I hear you ask? I can say you, because stats indicate that you’re probably alone while you’re reading this.

I’ve been trying a little experiment to push the boundaries of my writing. It’s just to keep my mind feeling fresh while other things – more stressful and demanding things – steal much of my creative energy. So, as always, I have a few little side projects going for fun. One of which is to plan a short story, nothing longer than novella in length, and start writing it. I’m a planner by nature, so I’m cruising along in my comfort zone here. Which is where the robots come in.

I don’t write sci-fi. I don’t read sci-fi. So what better way to force myself to be creative than to throw in a problem I not only don’t know how to solve, but also know very little about.

Hence robots.

Don’t worry, I’ve got no intention of AI infiltrating my urban fantasies or crime stories. No-one is going to be killed by the robot. This isn’t an episode of Castle. But hopefully I’ll have a little bit of fun doing it, maybe learn something new, and then come back to those other projects with a different state of mind.

So ask yourself, do you need robots?