Ruth Fowler

In 2025 I gave in to substantial peer pressure, and purchased an iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo (Y0140). It’s primary USP was its promise to clean in “neat rows” using its “top of the range smart navigation tools”.

I think we all know how this ends. With crushing disappointment and the rapidly dawning realization that the iRobot Roomba’s AI powered smart navigation system was no match for the complexity of a 600 square-foot apartment in Los Angeles that houses a child, a large shedding dog, a decade of curbside finds, an adult who works from home, and approximately seven hobbies varying from knitting to surfing. While the end result is that my apartment is exponentially cleaner than pre-Harold (the Roomba app encourages you to name your new associate), this is not due to less exertion on my part. In fact, Harold’s presence has added yet another heterogenous layer to my already complicated cleaning routine. Instead of simply swiffering the floor, I must now accompany Harold on his endeavors, ensuring he does not get trapped under the fridge or skirt around the dog hair amassing in the darkest recesses of the living room. I usher, and redirect, coax and assuage. I turn him on and off when he refuses to participate in neat rows and goes off on a tangential swoop, or crawls along the perimeter of the walls like an anxious toddler. Harold’s smart navigation system is - and I do not mean to be cruel when I say this - not very smart. In fact, pretty much any human over the age of three could do a vastly better job than Harold who requires constant monitoring and frequent interventions. Which brings me to the question that I know is on the tip of all of our tongues. If Artificial Intelligence is so good, why is it not cleaning our homes? It is an often repeated phrase on social media, and so I feel no need to hold back when I say that I do not want AI to be my therapist, my doctor, my lawyer, or deliver me my daily bread.

I want it to vacuum dog hair.

Thanks to the incredible @economichardship for reporting this project and continuing Barbara Ehrenreich’s legacy. She really was one of my all time writing heroes and I am so honored to be associated w/y’all