BK · Book · 2017 · novel
The Last Good Man
Linda Nagata
The machines
Autonomous weapons that have taken over most of the actual fighting.
What people do all day
Private military contractors manage missions they are increasingly incidental to, job by job, while the machines get better. Everyone involved understands they are supervising their own replacement.
Pattern
Obsolescence — The work goes, and standing goes with it.
Note
Obsolescence written from inside a profession that still exists, still pays, and knows exactly how long it has.
Same answer, different work
- Player Piano · Book, 1952
- The Forever War · Book, 1974
- Schismatrix · Book, 1985
- Accelerando · Book, 2005
- The Calculating Stars · Book, 2018