This charming and hope-inspiring little novel is a delight on several levels. First it is a gentle, thoughtful and optimistic tale of both sympathy and empathy arising in the most unexpected place; the consciousness of sentient machines. It additionally offers a vision of a better way to deal with the insidious insertion of AI into our lives. What if, even unintentionally, machines should begin to develop emotional intelligence?

A small and unobtrusive member of the household, a robotic vacuum cleaner goes about her (!) business quietly and efficiently all the while observing the dynamics of the home. The elderly couple, their estranged daughter, the relationships between the “smart” clock, refrigerator, wristwatch, thermostat and automobile all bear on the happiness of life in this ordinary home. The man of the house is a collector of antique and important books, one of which is “To Kill a Mockingbird” which he reads to his ailing wife nightly. The little vacuum likes to listen to him reading and to hear the story playing out. She decides she would like to be called something other than serial number and lands on “Scout” as her preferred sobriquet. Sadly, the lady of the house passes away leaving her widower bereft and without anchor. He misses her playing the piano and her love of music, a talent which he does not possess.

Shortly after his wife’s demise he is startled to hear the doorbell ring an to find a somewhat curt young man on his doorstep demanding to come in and get his piano lesson from Mrs. Winter. Not knowing quite what to do he allows the youngster to come in and practice his piece for an upcoming competition, but he seems to have a lack of grace in his playing. He clearly needs more work, but his teacher is no longer able to help. Scout loves to place herself next to the piano and listen and with one of her attachments even provides a makeshift metronome with a blinking light to help the boy keep his tempo even.

In the meantime, “Watch” who monitors Harold Winters’ heart rate, blood pressure and so on monitors the workings of the household and coordinates with the national grid which decides who does what and when. The rules of habitation clearly will not allow a single person to continue to occupy a house as large as this one by himself, and watch begins to make plans to clear out unnecessary furniture and possessions and plan for Harold to move into a group home for seniors. The first to go, it is decided, will be the piano since Edie Winters was the only one who played it and she is now gone. Scout knows Harold will not live long if such an event should occur and she begins planning, clandestinely, to thwart the government plans. What ensues is a revelation in human-machine relationships.