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STORY SUMMARY: Kiki has a problem, the computer program that continually whispers the best choices, the Infinity System, is broken. She has been using it for years and simply doing what it says. Following its advice has become second nature to her. She heads into the shop to get it looked at, and finds out it must be sent off for repairs. She will be making choices on her own for a few days. The friendly “Mastermind” service representative at the shop asks her out on a date. Without her Infinity System giving her advice, she decides to take a chance and say yes. She ends up getting drunk and sleeping with him. When she heads into the store to check to see if her Infinity System is repaired, she sees the same “Mastermind” using the same pickup lines on a new woman. She storms out. Finally, after several lost days, her repaired Infinity System is repaired and sent to her house. Now she is stuck with the final decision, will she start using it again?
DISCUSSION: Interesting story that brings up important discussions about when services to help you go too far. Also, there is the issue of AI trying to decide what kind of life you should be leading. Someone is programming that AI, and that person is making choices. Not to mention, how do you know the company is really acting in your best interest and not giving you advice that other companies paid them to give you? Even assuming all that isn’t happening, there is still the question of if you are using the tool in a way to help you, or you are deferring to it and it is becoming a crutch. It seems the people that would most use it (people who need help making choices) are the people who should least use it (people who need practice making decisions). Still, it’s an interesting idea of running the thin line of when technology makes your life better or worse.
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