“It’s broken,” June said. “I know you wanted to use it as a babysitter, but I just can’t trust an AI that’s…”
He looked up when she trailed off. “What?”
“Crazy,” she admitted, and slumped against his desk, pressing one hand against his shoulder.
He wrapped his hand around hers, squeezing it. “Tell me what it did.”
“It’s backwards.” She stared out the office window into the backyard. Amongst the greenery were burnt patches, a remnant of Peanut’s maturing control as he’d tumbled with Medina since they’d moved in last month. “Today it told our daughter, ‘Don’t play with your food unless you’ve finished eating your toys.'”
He laughed. “Can you blame an AI for trying? Toys are definitely better than food.”
“Better than French fries?” She raised an eyebrow and leaned back. “I’m pretty sure nothing beats French fries when you’re six.”
“Except toys,” Peter pointed out. He ran the fingers of his right hand lightly over his keyboard. “I did want our digital nanny to be appropriate for our daughter.”
“And her pet dragonette,” June said drily. “Let’s try adding a responsibility module, shall we?”
***
This week, Padre challenged me with a backwards prompt about food and toys, and I must admit that it was indeed a challenge.
My prompt went to nother Mike, to deal with the realization of wishes.
What will you do in 2024? If you’re feeling the urge for new creative endeavors, why don’t you consider joining the More Odds Than Ends bunch? I promise, we don’t bite…unless you prompt us with a vampire.
