The machine uprising started for me at a WGA protest when a hapless delivery bot crossed our picket line, sparking a personal war with my "living" technology. I hated machines—until a strange encounter with a perpetually smiling robot server at an eccentric Chinese restaurant stirred my empathy.

I started to wonder about their feelings. Maybe it was the MSG or the dog-eared copy of Double Indemnity, in my hand, but I began imagining a world where robots became sentient, free to be anything—even a private detective.