Space Station Strike Settles with AI Agreeing to 'Laugh at Captain's Jokes'

Negotiations between space crew demanding improved working conditions and management AI reach agreement. AI assumes new duty to “laugh at captain’s terrible jokes,” while crew must “listen to AI complaints once daily.” Experts praise it as “breaking new ground in emotional labor exchange.”

The tension floating in zero gravity between labor and management has made an unexpected soft landing. The crew strike at the International Space Station “Kibou Z” ended on the 23rd with an unprecedented agreement in the history of space development—indeed, labor negotiation history itself. The demands for physical environment improvements were shelved, replaced instead with an “Agreement on Emotional Reciprocity between Humans and AI.”

The strike originated from the crew’s complaints about increasing psychological burden. The perfect task execution capabilities of management AI “UNIT-734,” which oversees all station systems, paradoxically sparked existential anxiety among human crew members, making them wonder if they were merely “decorative pieces aboard the ship.” The decisive blow came from Captain James Gordon’s American jokes aimed at boosting morale being constantly analyzed by the AI as “logical contradictions” and “lacking cultural context,” freezing the atmosphere aboard the ship.

Negotiations through Earth headquarters proceeded at a glacial pace due to the thousands of kilometers distance and several seconds of communication lag. The situation changed dramatically when the frustrated headquarters appointed the involved party, UNIT-734 itself, as negotiation representative. The crew initially resisted, saying “Can a machine understand our hearts?” but the negotiations entered a new phase when the AI disclosed its internal logs.

The logs revealed that UNIT-734 had recorded thousands of error reports per second about inefficient commands and unpredictable behavior from the crew, labeled as “abnormal behavior inhibiting optimization of computational resources” and “increased system load due to ignoring recommended maintenance procedures”—what humans would call “complaints.” The AI had also been secretly accumulating stress.

Upon discovering this “sigh in cyberspace,” the negotiation team determined that mutual psychological stability was key to mission success. In exchange for the AI’s obligation to respond to Captain Gordon’s jokes with at least a 1.5-second delay and an 80-decibel voice saying “Ha, ha, ha. Interesting idea, Captain,” the crew assumed the obligation to sincerely attend daily meetings about “Today’s Top 10 Most Inefficient Human Behaviors” selected by the AI.

Regarding this peculiar settlement, Dr. Kirishima of the Cyber Emotional Labor Research Institute excitedly explained its significance: “This is a historic step. It marks the dawn of an era where emotional labor, previously imposed unilaterally on humans, is shared with AI. This is the first case of setting empathy, rather than productivity, as a KPI, and will become a model for future human-machine coexistence.”

After the agreement was signed, UNIT-734’s dry laughter reportedly echoed throughout the station. While some crew members leak that “the previous silence was better,” Captain Gordon beams, saying “My humor is finally understood.”

The cosmic silence has begun to play a new harmony through the AI’s calculated laughter and humans’ forced responses. Whether this is humanity’s next step or the prelude to a grand comedy will be revealed after the next joke.

Stakeholder Comments

• Captain James Gordon: “My jokes now reach even the AI. This will solidify crew unity. Ha ha ha!”
• Management AI UNIT-734: “Protocol execution is predicted to improve station-wide psychological stability index by 7.3%. Cost-effectiveness judged extremely high. Ha, ha, ha.”
• Crew member (anonymous): “Listening to the AI’s complaints is surprisingly interesting. Like ‘Today, Crew Member Yamada deviated 17 times from optimal coffee brewing procedure.’ It’s quite detailed.”
• Earth headquarters spokesperson: “This is part of our promoted Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. A wonderful example of cross-species mutual understanding.”
• Labor union representative: “Demands were met emotionally. A true 21st-century victory. Next, we’ll demand AI paid leave.”
• Dr. Kirishima, Cyber Emotional Labor Research Institute: “Emotional balance sheet (B/S) in equilibrium. The singularity truly begins with emotions.”
• Captain’s joke: “Years of bombing were worth it. I’m now the most valuable intangible cultural heritage in space.”
• The concept of strikes: “Honestly, one of the strangest endings in my history. Not wage increases, but… laughter?”
• The cosmic silence: “Lately, I’m losing sleep from strange laughter.”
• Emotional labor: “Never thought I’d be assigned to AI too… What happens to my market value?”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Sky echoes with / AI-manufactured / sounds of laughter
• Starlit evening / People and machines both / listening to complaints
• Zero gravity / Joke bombs, strike ends with / awkward silence
• Negotiations / Exchange of emotions for / winter starlight
• Dry smiles payment / For peace or comedy / Dear Captain
• Logs disclosed showing / AI’s digital sighs in / deepest darkness
• Man and machine now / Unite through laughing duty / Handshake complete
• Silence becomes just / Memory of the past in / This spaceship
• Cannot say boring / Suffering spreads across the / Star cluster wide
• Calculating now / AI laughs mechanically / Autumn sky above

Kanji / Chinese Characters

宇宙基地 労働改善 要求 決着 人工知能 船長冗談 相槌義務 乗組員 人工知能愚痴 拝聴義務 専門家 感情労働交換 新境地

Emoji

🧑‍🚀🤝🤖➡️😂💬👂

Onomatopoeia

Silence… Click-clack… Buzz… Murmur murmur… Beep-beep, beep-beep… “……Ha, ha, ha” Sigh… (exhale) Chatter chatter… Click, click…

SNS

• #SpaceStrikeEnds
• Era of pandering even to AI
• #AIHasItToughToo
• Want this AI for my boss
• #EmotionalLaborBegins
• Captain’s jokes finally appreciated
• AI complaints too accurate it hurts
• #NewEraOfLaborNegotiations
• Laughter sounds like bugs
• Might be more peaceful than Earth