when you can’t even tell if they just took the day off with pay or not

But if the output of technical work isn’t apparent in any way besides measuring indirect metrics like “hours of butt in seat”, don’t we have a much bigger problem?

I dunno, I remember it more like, “hey computer, make a LARP/natural wonder/cozy space/sing & dance number for my real humanoid (and android) friends and I to enjoy together”. When computer manifestations got regarded as worthy of personhood, it was either some exceptional case, or the story was about the character’s delusion.