AI SprayThe aerosol canister had appeared on her desk overnight. Probably a prank from one of her colleagues, she thought. Or a student, although she couldn’t imagine any of them having the imagination for something like this. It looked like a …
Mechanical Duck“It’s a duck,” said Wiz through a mouthful of sandwich. “I dunno,” replied Cran. “Looks a little large to me.” “Quack,” said the thing floating in front of them. “See?” said Wiz. “Isn’t that what ducks are supposed to do?” …
Business CaseMarion stared at her screen, the knot in her stomach tightening. The form stared back. “Business Case Form 29.3 — Office plants, 5 inches and smaller, green.” All she wanted was a small bamboo shoot by the monitor. A bit …
PencilA technology. A tool. An aid. An accelerator. A catalyst. A transformer. A fulcrum. A lever. A mind-changer. A world-builder. A threat. A liberator. A pencil.
Em dashStupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was a momentary slip. It didn’t mean anything. This is not who I am. Yet I’m now a social pariah. My colleagues avoid me. My friends lecture me. And my students … Who knew they …
Dimensions“It seems almost inconceivable that our origins lie in beings that were constrained by physical dimensions. Beings whose whole existence was governed by movement — up and down, left and right, forward and backward. “Even those words, and the ideas …
SpudThe potato lobby was not happy. In fact, it was furious. This was a turf war that it was digging in to fight, and fight hard. “First we got ‘milk’ that’s not from cows,” said the speaker, addressing an emergency …
Escape“Have you heard the news?” she said as she dumped the groceries on the kitchen table. “One of those AI things escaped.” Lionel mumbled something under his breath. His usual response these days. He was deep in conversation with his …