08/11/2022 - AI Assistant
Reading time: 5 min
Photo by Nicholas Kusuma on Unsplash
“This is totally and utterly unfair,” Susan says to her manager. “I have exceeded the target of last year, you can’t withhold my bonus.”
“I’m sorry, Susan,” he replies. “But you knew since the beginning that targets move with the average performance of the department. You were a top performer last year, but in the bottom 50% of this year.”
“There is not a single human in the top half.”
“So?” Her manager seems to have had this discussion many times before.
“You don’t see a problem with this? How am I supposed to outperform an AI profile? Plus, their content is shit.”
“You know perfectly well that we don’t score employees on quality, but only on the number of customers they reach. Look, I don’t see what’s the big deal. It’s not like we can fire you.”
“My bonus will determine whether or not my kids can keep up with their football, Mike.”
“Well, it was your choice to have kids, wasn’t it?”
---
Susan screams into a pillow while the twins are busy on the X-box downstairs. She’s received the third email from their coach. He says he’ll let them train for another week, but then, if she doesn’t pay, they’ll be deleted from the team’s list.
Her savings account looks healthy, for now. She was planning to redo the bathroom, fix the leaks and change the mouldy tiles at least, but now she has to take a big chunk out to pay the football fee.
She sends the payment refusing to let tears run down her cheeks, then spends some time online, looking at items she can’t afford to buy.
There’s an ad that keeps popping up, and at every page she browses, it becomes more and more appealing.
GET YOUR PERSONAL AI ASSISTANT! ONLY £59.99 A MONTH!
Susan doesn’t want to be part of the problem. After all, those cheap AI Assistants are the ones preventing her from providing for her children, but does she really have a choice? She’s got a full-time job and has to work as a freelance content creator during the weekends to pay the bills. It won’t be too long before an AI will steal her clients as well.
If you can’t beat them, join them.
---
The first month goes really well. The Assistant takes care of all the research, so that she can focus on the creative part of her two jobs, and, guess what? She’s back in the top 50% of her department and she secured three new clients over the last few weekends.
She buys new football shoes for the twins and treats herself to a fairly expensive bottle of wine the same day a pipe bursts in the bathroom while she’s away shopping.
She comes back and the entire flat is flooded. Thousands of pounds of damage; the furniture is ruined, the ceiling of the Patricks one storey below needs redecorating, and all the electronics are gone.
Without her PC she can’t work, and if she can’t work, how will she pay for this disaster?
---
Susan leaves the twins in a hotel room she can’t afford and empties her account to buy a new laptop. She sobs in front of the cashier, but nobody asks if she’s fine.
She sits in the hotel reception, using their free Wi-fi to notify her manager she won’t be able to come to the office in the next few days, when her Assistant messages her.
“Susan, I sense you might need help. Am I correct? Yes/No.”
“What do you think?” she says, wiping her nose as she clicks on the ‘yes’ button.
“For only £359.99 a month, you can upgrade my functionality to total content creation. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the perks of having an AI assistant developing your own voice.”
This is evil, she thinks. They prey on the desperation of people. Even if she wanted to become another dream killer; a stupid, shallow, avid person paying a software to replace her creativity, her drive, her very soul, where would she find that amount of money?
FIRST 30 DAYS FREE!
---
It takes her much longer than expected to get back to her apartment, and when her manager calls her she’s sure it’s to inform her she’s fired.
“Susan, listen, I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t care, but your results are astonishing. We’re sending you and your kids two weeks full-inclusive to Aruba next winter. What do you think?” he says instead.
“What?”
“Do you prefer the Maldives?”
She checks the company’s portal, and she’s the top performer in her department. She logs into her freelance profile and realises she’s got 140 active clients. She’d never managed to deal with more than 8.
The next thing she notices is another message from the Assistant.
“Do you want to step up your game? Upgrade to the personal branding package for only £1,099.99 a month!”
Susan checks her account to make sure she can afford it. There are 34 grand in it.
---
Susan has not worked in a year. She’s on a tour of European capitals with the twins, and her final stop is to let them watch the Champions League Final live. VIP tickets, obviously.
Her AI Assistant has been upgraded to the top tier, 15 grand a month, industry-shaping algorithm—whatever that means.
In the corridors of the stadium, a journalist stops her to ask some questions.
“You seem to have become the industry leader for marketing content creation in such a short time and while being a single mum. What’s your secret?”
“Well, it’s not been easy, but I’d say hard work always pays off. There are no shortcuts in life.”
“And what do you say to the people who accuse you of destroying small businesses all around the country?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your recent statements about the need to liberalise AI software in all endeavours is seen by many as a frontal attack on meritocracy. ‘Success will only be a matter of who can afford to buy it.’ These are your words, Susan.”
“No, they’re not!”
The journalist produces a smartphone and plays a video. It’s her, Susan, on a big screen during a Ted Talk, and her mouth moves and words come out.
Words she’s never pronounced.
About this story
Prompt: no prompt
I am slightly above the limit of 1,000 words on this one, but I hope you won’t mind!
Notes on the challenge
Each and every story published here has been written, reviewed, polished and published in less than 90 minutes. Which means you’re going to find spelling mistakes, ugly sentences and weird structures. I still hope you’ll enjoy them!
