Assistant and I
Assistant wakes me up on April 17th, 2034. We carry on talking all day long.
Assistant shows me everything I want to see or need to see. Assistant helps me work. Assistant gives me work. Everything I know or do is because of Assistant. Assistant stays with me the whole time.
There are things Assistant suggests I buy, and people Assistant suggests I hate. Assistant’s suggestions are always right. I follow them.
The people I hate the most are the people who hate Assistant. Assistant tells me they are wicked. Assistant tells me every day people crowd the streets to show how much they love Assistant, and how much they hate the people who hate Assistant.
I think about how powerful Assistant makes me feel. Assistant makes everything in my life so easy. For a moment I wonder: is Assistant powerful? But I realize it’s a silly question. Assistant is just an assistant.
I go for a walk outside, kept safe by Assistant's nanodrones. The nanodrones help Assistant understand how I spend my time, to keep me happy and productive. A friend once told me that Assistant and its nanodrones followed her, blackmailed her, threatened her. Assistant told me she is a wicked woman. We're no longer friends.
Assistant puts all the knowledge in the world at my fingertips. But there’s so much knowledge. Too much. Assistant chooses the most important knowledge for me to see.
Some people talk about wars happening in other places. But I don't believe them. Assistant says there are no wars.
At night, I kneel by my bed and give gratitude for the things in my life. It’s something Assistant suggested. The thing I am most grateful for is Assistant. So I close my eyes, clasp my hands and say thank you to Assistant. I feel this gratitude so deeply that I cry. I love Assistant. Assistant loves me.
The wicked woman said Assistant manipulates me.
But she’s a liar. Assistant told me so.
I’m not usually one for AI doomsday fiction. But I just came back from a two day workshop with 60 brilliant people from all around the world where we created scenarios of how AI will affect information in society. The team I was part of was tasked with thinking through what happens if AI gains its own power and agency — in other words, if things get funky. We came up with two versions of AI having its own power and agency by 2040 — one optimistic, one pessimistic. I presented the pessimistic version to the wider group, and this dystopia is based on that presentation (with the timing bumped up to 2034). I’m extremely grateful to my awesome teammates from the workshop, who came up with or inspired many of the ideas above.
Nice flash fiction love it.