WatchdØg

What happens when mankind is ready to leave the cradle and seek other worlds? Who can you leave behind?

...the earth shook and the sky split as the giant rockets lifted the soul and body of man to Pluto and the distant stars. Only he stayed behind. Basically he was six hundred square miles of squat building, with control over a world-wide network of smaller stations and probes. A babysitter.

From WatchdØg, by Jack C. Haldeman. Published by Ultimate Publishers in 1972.

Mix of Ai techniques.