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#150 Machine, Learning

Computer technology is advancing at a breakneck pace, with increasingly powerful AI systems and algorithms influencing our daily lives. Many think that, soon enough, machines may become far more intelligent than humans. But what about computer consciousness? 


As of today, it seems that no progress has been made in that sense, and that consciousness will stay exclusive to the human (and animal) domain. But what if, one day, robots could experience the complex sensations and emotions of humans? What would their ethics be? 


Inspired by this fascinating subject, here are this week’s prompts:

This week's prompts

Write about a character who is convinced their computer is conscious.

– 33 stories

Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role.

– 26 stories

Write about a character who has access to a powerful new technology before anyone else.

– 24 stories

Write about a character, human or robot, who no longer wishes to obey instructions.

– 53 stories

Write a story that either starts or ends with someone (or something) saying, “Please, don’t do it.”

– 94 stories

Stories

Those Weirdos

Weekly Contest #150

They were always an odd-couple, not that they were sad, angry, unhappy or into some weird rituals, they were just different from the rest of us. Akash would be 40, though he looked 50 and Jwala would be around 35 but looked 40. Both of them had a high paying job as they lived in the best apartment in the building, a pent house, drove their respective cars and came back together although in their respective cars. On rare occasions that we would bump in the elevator, they would greet politely, respond to greetings well but would never initia...

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A beautiful day.

Weekly Contest #150

Saturday dawns hot and humid. Louis throws open the door and pitches forward into the coffee shop. Sweat drips from his face. He takes a deep breath and looks at the time on his phone: 6.05. "Good morning and welcome, my friend." His gaze flits about the shop and falls on the big, gleaming, silver coffee machine. "Good morning to you." The machine chuckles. “It’s a beautiful day, my friend." Louis slides his hand under the counter, grabs his apron, and straps it around his skinny frame. “No doubt about it.” He tugs at the collar of his ...

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The Volks

Weekly Contest #150

The four-year war between the Imperial Empire and the rebel factions of the Gypsums appears to be near an end. Colonel Manfred “The Beast” Everhardt has trapped a large group of the Gypsum rebels in the sacred city of St. Leone on the planet Erebus. Everhardt is an excellent commander and strategist, whose savagery comes from the injury he received during the siege of Saint Augustine. When the city was about to fall, a group of Gypsum resistance fighters got close enough to throw homemade bombs at Everhardt’s tank. He was struck in the left...

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Zoomba

Weekly Contest #150

Ralphina sat up in her bed with the light summer blanket clutched to her thin chest.  TP, her grey striped kitty sat in the light of the moon in front of her closet. TP (short for Tiger Paws) stared at the closed door like a statue, the only thing giving away the fact he had heartbeat, was his whiskers, they twitched like dragonfly wings. After an hour, Ralphina’s eyes drooped involuntarily. TP leapt up onto her bed and curled in his spot behind her knees. “Bzzzzzzzzzzz. Bowp. Beeep.” TP freaked out. “Mroooowr!” He bounced...

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The Dresser

Weekly Contest #150

10:45am Every nerve in my body is still humming on my way home. From my super sexy coffee date or all the caffeine I kept nervously pouring down my throat to keep my mouth from leaking stupid words, we’ll never know. My date, Ruby, teaches 1st grade. She has a loud, carefree laugh that can fill a room. Oh, and she is beautiful! With deep brown skin, a bright easy smile, and wavy mahogany hair that just kisses her collarbone. Oh my god, her collarbone. I want to kiss her collarbone! In fact, just shrink me down so I can live in that hollow sp...

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Robots Are Companions Too

Weekly Contest #150

A loud crash jolted me awake. I was having a bad dream in which our five-year-old twin boys ran downstairs on Christmas morning only to have their excitement deflated like a punctured balloon when they discovered there wasn’t a single gift under the Christmas tree. “Jordan, wake up,” I said, nudging my husband beside me who continued snoring. I tried again, shoving him this time, “Jordan, I heard a loud noise downstairs.”“What? What time is it?” He said groggily, fumbling for his phone on the nightstand to check the time. “I don’t ...

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Keep that thing alive and it makes all of us heroes.

Weekly Contest #150

Note: This story contains graphic language.“Pa-please, don’t do it.” The creatures shrill cut through the musky electrified air.Pulsating needles shoot intense pain throughout the creatures flesh, 50,000 volts in milliseconds. Muscles tense, squeezing like tentacles wrapped around prey. Blood vessels pop, tiny droplets reach the floor just before the thud.“You didn’t have too. It wasn’t his fault, not his fault at all.”Heavy breathing from the giant could be heard in silence. The commands being screamed from all sided had stopped. Taking cov...

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Haunting of the Black Rose

Weekly Contest #150

   "Please, don't do it!" a man screamed, startling Jessica awake to the flickering lights. She climbed down from the top bunk and opened the door. Before she could exit the room, her roommate pushed her aside and rushed out. Regaining her balance with the help of the door, she stepped out of the room to a chaotic crowd of frightened passengers. She hadn't escaped the horrors of war to drown or get trampled before the first night of the voyage was over. Consequently, she slipped back into the room and locked the door. The only...

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THE BEAR WARNING

Weekly Contest #150

THE BEAR WARNING Peter  rushed into the building. He was already late for the appointment he had with Lady Zarlic, also known as the Tsarina, who was waiting for him on the 17th floor.  There were three elevators in that building of fifty floors. As soon as Peter came in the entrance, he noticed , with a glance to their red light, that two of them  were going up. So he headed for the third, which had a green light.  It was only  when he reached out and he wa...

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Mandolin

Weekly Contest #150

They are all beautiful until you get to know them. I catch a glimpse of them from across the bar and a lifetime of non-existent memories flood my mind. Sometimes choosing to stay strangers is the best thing. A thankless job yet, fruitful. Then they remain beautiful. Or maybe they find you beautiful and then you are the one who lets them down. There are those few times when you cave in to the desire and decide to talk to that beautiful stranger. Please, don’t do it. She had the eyes that looked like a black hole and no not in the “they are em...

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"Can You Hear Me Alright?"

Weekly Contest #150

The robocall server is a 1-15 Max server with an algorithm set to call as many people an hour as possible. Thus the server can contact multiple phone numbers at the same time. In addition, the machine uses an artificial voice to ask questions and can transfer contacts to live operators to complete the deal. For example, this month a company has hired a server to entice elderly people to invest in their future through life insurance. Therefore, the insurance company has installed a demographic that includes dense populatio...

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Shaking things up a little

Weekly Contest #150

“Please don’t do it.” I looked at Lex. He looked exhausted and on edge, done with it all but still apparently felt fierce enough to plead with me for the sake of humanity. “Seriously, this algorithm… it will destroy all.” I hovered with my finger above the key. Until thirty seconds ago, we agreed this was the only thing we could do. The only way to save the planet, ourselves, generation Z so to speak. My fingers twitched. “Why not? Maybe it’s good to shake things up a little.”  “Shake things up a little? SHAKE THINGS UP A LITTLE?” he th...

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At One Time...

Weekly Contest #150

At One Time…             “Please don’t do it. Oh Love, I SAID, DON’T DO IT.” Aurora shouts at her charge, shaking her shoulders for emphasis. “You’re going to aren’t you? Ohhh please don’t do it. You don’t have to go there. Lucy, you don’t really need to go down the path of thinking that you need to hit rock bottom. It’s really not necessary. Please choose yourself instead.” Aurora tries even though she knows better and she knows Lucy is...

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No One Mourns

Weekly Contest #150

No one mourns when a villain goes missing. The citizens celebrate months of peace, police relax knowing there’s one less calamity around the corner, politicians pat themselves on the back for a job they never did. The city breathes. Atlas, however, found no peace in the calm. He saw it not as the peace following a war, but as the calm before a storm. Something was coming, something big. There had to be. Your nemesis doesn’t go silent for months on end unless he’s plotting his next scheme. And if Atlas knew anything about Ricochet, it was t...

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Plus Tax

Weekly Contest #150

*Sensitive content warning for adult language and for mentions of alcohol, suicide, self harm, and mental illness. “Please, don’t do it.” The line goes dead. She hung up. She is fed up with this, I know it. She is fed up with me. But I don’t feel it. That’s the most fucked up part of all of this, I think. I used to cry when she was mad at me. When anyone was, really. But somewhere over the course of the past two years, I lost that, too.  It’s not just numb, it’s empty. The tile should be cold against my ass, the concrete my head ...

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