Great story, Brian! One can only hope that this stays as fiction. Big props to Jordan for sticking by his principles, that's so hard to do when your job is at stake!
Thank you, Claire! I agree, especially with all of these tech layoffs, this one would be hard to swallow. It's a gray area, and unfortunately one I think we'll all be dealing with soon enough.
As with all stories about AI, this made me delightfully uncomfortable. Couldn't help feeling a real life version of Jordan would have taken the carrot, though. Financial uncertainty is a bitch. And you lose the flexibility to gamble with your future when you bring kids into the world. Being empathetic doesn't pay the bills. We should know that. We're writers. 😂
It's true there are Jordans out there that would have taken the carrot, probably more so than not. I like to think I'm at an age, full of wisdom, where I would have walked and held onto my principles. I hope I never get a chance to find out.
Excellent Read! It's scary what technology can do these days, there is nothing that can stop it either it's the way of the future. Robots are already taking up residence in the workforce. It would be nice if the story was one hundred pages longer. “Alexia“ send Brian Reindel a message 😂
Thank you! Many of these stories that offer a warning could be a lot longer. I'm sure I'm working my way up to something of novel length, but only time will tell. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Good one, Brian. Renee reminds me of someone I used to work for a long time ago at the big Redmond place. She was a real person, but still rather artificial. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to work there, even happier that I no longer do. The monitoring is no doubt much more advanced these days. Stranger than fiction.....
Thanks, Victor! It's certainly getting to that point, making it harder to come up with stories that aren't simply a reflection of the news or a very near future. It's time for us to get really inventive as writers. Thanks for reading and the comment.
I love the story! Yesterday, I was watching a video summary about medical advances in longevity and aging. After a few minutes I realized the woman giving the report was an avatar - with excellent modeling! Still, I had reservations about an unidentified screen avatar giving me advice and information about how I should extend longevity and stay healthy. Ha!
Thanks for reading, Robert! That's just so scary, but it's at the point we're getting to as a society, where daily interactions are going to be facades of real relationships. Then again, if we believe it's real, and can't tell the difference, does it matter? That's the real dilemma.
I had this story in the brainpan for a while and kept thinking I didn't want to write it for that reason. It felt like I was jumping on a bandwagon, but then I was like, eh, I gotta get this thing out of my head. So there it is!
I know some private equity jackals who would gladly adopt the system you’ve described. I’ve seen them try to institute it using people as puppets, with predictable results. People tend to go off-script, due to their lamentable tendency to empathize.
Great story, Brian! One can only hope that this stays as fiction. Big props to Jordan for sticking by his principles, that's so hard to do when your job is at stake!
Thank you, Claire! I agree, especially with all of these tech layoffs, this one would be hard to swallow. It's a gray area, and unfortunately one I think we'll all be dealing with soon enough.
As with all stories about AI, this made me delightfully uncomfortable. Couldn't help feeling a real life version of Jordan would have taken the carrot, though. Financial uncertainty is a bitch. And you lose the flexibility to gamble with your future when you bring kids into the world. Being empathetic doesn't pay the bills. We should know that. We're writers. 😂
It's true there are Jordans out there that would have taken the carrot, probably more so than not. I like to think I'm at an age, full of wisdom, where I would have walked and held onto my principles. I hope I never get a chance to find out.
Excellent Read! It's scary what technology can do these days, there is nothing that can stop it either it's the way of the future. Robots are already taking up residence in the workforce. It would be nice if the story was one hundred pages longer. “Alexia“ send Brian Reindel a message 😂
Thank you! Many of these stories that offer a warning could be a lot longer. I'm sure I'm working my way up to something of novel length, but only time will tell. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Good one, Brian. Renee reminds me of someone I used to work for a long time ago at the big Redmond place. She was a real person, but still rather artificial. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to work there, even happier that I no longer do. The monitoring is no doubt much more advanced these days. Stranger than fiction.....
Thanks, Victor! It's certainly getting to that point, making it harder to come up with stories that aren't simply a reflection of the news or a very near future. It's time for us to get really inventive as writers. Thanks for reading and the comment.
I love the story! Yesterday, I was watching a video summary about medical advances in longevity and aging. After a few minutes I realized the woman giving the report was an avatar - with excellent modeling! Still, I had reservations about an unidentified screen avatar giving me advice and information about how I should extend longevity and stay healthy. Ha!
Thanks for reading, Robert! That's just so scary, but it's at the point we're getting to as a society, where daily interactions are going to be facades of real relationships. Then again, if we believe it's real, and can't tell the difference, does it matter? That's the real dilemma.
That’s one way to escape the bullshit machine! Since when did you turn to realism?
I had this story in the brainpan for a while and kept thinking I didn't want to write it for that reason. It felt like I was jumping on a bandwagon, but then I was like, eh, I gotta get this thing out of my head. So there it is!
I know some private equity jackals who would gladly adopt the system you’ve described. I’ve seen them try to institute it using people as puppets, with predictable results. People tend to go off-script, due to their lamentable tendency to empathize.
lol, why does our human proclivity for empathy have to always get in the way of progress!
"They" know this, and "they" are working on it.
Excellent story, hugely well-written. Thank you.