A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Novella Recommended by 9 award/anthology sources
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered.
Quasar links out; the story lives on Tor Novella, where the author gets the click.