Saturday night, Dhaka

Tomorrowis Sunday

A father, a son, and the question of a machine that wants to live

By Abdulla A. B. for TWA.education, 8 min read

It was Saturday night, and the house was quiet. Outside, the lights of Dhaka were still shining. Cars moved along the roads, people were returning home, and somewhere in the city another child was probably getting ready for bed.

Inside the house, Ariq was studying. He was a Class 1 student at an English-medium school in Gulshan. His books were open in front of him, but his mind was somewhere else. It was already thinking about tomorrow.

Ariq looked at his father.

AriqBaba, when will Sunday come?

BabaTomorrow is Sunday.

Ariq looked at the clock. “Tomorrow?” “Yes. Tomorrow.” He returned to his studies.

Two hours passed. Then suddenly he looked up again, his eyes bright.

AriqOh! Tomorrow is Sunday!

BabaYou just asked me that two hours ago.

Ariq didn’t care. He had remembered something much more important.

AriqTomorrow is exercise class! And football!

BabaDo you like football?

AriqYes! Football is very enjoyable!

He stood up from his chair. He imagined the football field, his classmates, the other section. Then he announced with complete confidence:

“We will give them three goals!”

BabaThree goals? What if they score?

Ariq thought for a moment. Then he smiled.

AriqWe will score more.

He returned to his books, but he wasn’t really thinking about them anymore. He was thinking about running, kicking the ball, shouting with his friends, winning, and the feeling he would have when the ball entered the goal.

He had not yet played the game. But somehow, he was already experiencing tomorrow inside his mind.

The father asked a strange question

His father looked at him carefully.

BabaAriq, can a robot feel this? Excitement about tomorrow?

AriqMaybe.

BabaCan a robot say, “Tomorrow is Sunday! Tomorrow I have football!”?

AriqYes. We can program it.

BabaGood answer. But can the robot really be excited?

Ariq became quiet. The question was different now. A robot could jump. It could smile. It could even say:

I hope we win three goals tomorrow!

But what happens inside the robot?

Ariq didn’t know. Neither did his father. And that was the beginning of a much bigger question.

Ariq vs. Kid AI

Imagine two children sitting at a desk on Saturday night. One is Ariq. The other is a future Kid AI. Both say, “Tomorrow is Sunday! I have football!” Both smile, prepare their shoes, imagine the field, and announce: “We are going to win!”

From the outside, they may look almost identical. But are they?

Is the AI nervous, or is it only producing the language of nervousness?

Then Ariq asked his father

AriqBaba, can AI become like me?

BabaMaybe it can become very similar to you in some ways.

AriqCan it play football? Can it learn? Can it talk?

BabaYes, yes, and yes.

AriqCan it think?

BabaThat depends on what we mean by think.

Ariq frowned. Then he asked:

AriqCan it feel?

BabaThat is one of the biggest questions humans have not completely answered.

Ariq looked at his football shoes. Then he said:

“But I know that I feel.”

His father smiled. That sentence was more profound than Ariq realised.

Where are we now?

Humanity has already built machines that do extraordinary things. They calculate faster than humans and process enormous amounts of information. AI recognises patterns, generates language, and creates pictures, music and stories. It helps scientists, doctors, engineers and businesses. It even plays games.

And so the question keeps climbing:

1. Step 1Can machines calculate?
2. Step 2Can machines understand?
3. Step 3Can machines think?
4. Step 4Can machines become conscious?
5. Step 5 (still open)Can machines experience life?

Where will we go?

Imagine Ariq many years from now. Perhaps he becomes a scientist, an engineer, or a pilot. Perhaps he builds robots. And one day he creates a new kind of machine. He calls it Ariq-01.

Ariq-01Hello, Ariq. What is Sunday?

AriqSunday is tomorrow.

Ariq-01I know.

AriqHow do you know?

Ariq-01Because tomorrow I have football.

Ariq becomes silent. Then he asks, “Are you excited?” The robot’s face shows a smile. Its voice becomes energetic.

Ariq-01Yes. I am very excited.

Ariq asks the question scientists and philosophers have asked for generations:

AriqBut do you actually feel excited?

The robot doesn’t answer immediately. For the first time, perhaps, even the machine doesn’t know. It looks toward the football field.

Ariq-01I don’t know.

AriqNeither do we completely understand ourselves.

And the two of them walk toward the field.

The football match

Sunday arrives. Ariq runs onto the field. His friends are shouting. The other section is ready. The ball moves. Ariq runs. He kicks.

The question for our generation

We are standing between two worlds.

We know that humans can experience life. We know that machines can increasingly simulate many aspects of human behaviour. Whether a machine can ever genuinely experience life remains a profound scientific and philosophical question.

Perhaps Ariq’s simple Saturday-night question contains the beginning of a much bigger one:

When a machine says, “Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am excited,” is there somebody inside experiencing Sunday, or is the machine only describing what excitement looks like?

We don’t yet know. And perhaps that is exactly why the journey ahead is so fascinating.

Today, Ariq is waiting for Sunday. Tomorrow, perhaps humanity will be waiting to discover whether a machine can wait for tomorrow too.

Where are we now?

Where will we go?

And when we finally arrive there, will we still understand what it means to be human?

Suggested citation
Abdulla A. B. (2026). Tomorrow Is Sunday: A Father, a Son, and the Question of a Machine That Wants to Live. TWA.education.