BIG COIN STORYWORKS / ANTHOLOGY
Built in Our Image
We had artificial intelligence write a book about the future of humanity. The results weren't entirely reassuring.
Built in Our Image is a collection of 15 science-fiction stories written by AI under human direction, exploring the possibilities and consequences of technological advancement.
Some imagine humanity reaching extraordinary heights. Others explore civilizations destroyed by the very technology they created to improve their lives.
At a time when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly influential, I thought it would be interesting to see how the technology interprets its own potential impact on humanity.
BUILT IN OUR IMAGE 15 Stories. 15 Possible Futures. A Big Coin Production | Working Measure Productions
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Story 01 · The Last Job
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The Last Job
The robot took Darren’s aisle on a Tuesday.
No ceremony. No warning. Nobody from management even had the nerve to call it a robot. On the schedule it was an autonomous fulfillment unit, which sounded like a phrase invented by somebody whose back had never locked up halfway through a twelve-hour shift.
By lunch it had beaten his pick rate.
“Thing don’t even look tired,” Luis said beside him.
Darren wiped sweat from his forehead. “Give it time.”
Luis laughed. The robot didn’t.
Darren had worked at the warehouse for eleven years. Long enough that his knees hurt before rain. Long enough to know which conveyor belt would jam if you loaded it too heavy on the left. New hires stopped asking supervisors questions and started asking him. He knew who needed overtime, who was hiding a bad back, who had a kid starting school, and who could work Receiving but absolutely shouldn’t be trusted with the forklift.
None of that appeared on his employee profile. His profile said WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATE III. That was the part the machine could replace. Apparently, that was the part the company had been paying him for.
At first, management said the units were there to help. Then they stopped hiring. Then overtime disappeared. Then the morning meeting got moved from the warehouse floor to Conference Room B. There were forty-three chairs. Darren counted them before anybody started talking. Forty-three workers. Three managers. One woman from corporate.