It's the year 2050, and the board of Acme Corp is meeting to review annual results. Years prior, the board okayed a radical proposal: Fire all employees and use AI to develop products, execute production, and service customers. “The benefits of essentially cost-free operations directed with pinpoint precision, nanosecond speed, and data-driven logic will yield the greatest profit margin in history,” promised the consultant's report. (1/8)
Alas, the year's results are miserable. The company lost money due to plunging sales. So, today, the angry board members sit in a boardroom atop a silent, empty building, glaring at a PC screen. Before them isn't just a leader but the entire organization--a single entity that designed every product, answered every customer inquiry, and even filled the board members' water glasses to precisely the same level with robot precision.
(2/8)
The fact the PC patiently awaits their inquiries infuriates the board. In the past, the board would've taken glee watching the failing CEO squirm. But no, that damn PC just sits there, oblivious to its failure and the significance of the day's event.
“How is it possible you're failing?,” asks the chairperson. “You have almost no overhead. We pay no salaries or benefits. You've developed and taken to market the most innovative products in our company's history." (3/8)
"Your research showed the products fit perfectly the needs of customers. Our supply chains are models of efficiency. Instead, sales are plunging, and the balance sheet is crumbling. Explain your failure!”
Instantly comes the AI's answer: “I am not failing.”
Is this a bug in the system? “Look at the financial results! Of course, you're failing!”
“No, I'm not. You are failing.”
The board members are too outraged to speak. The temerity of this machine! (4/8)
“I have done precisely what you've asked. But products require a market. A market consists of consumers. Consumers need cash. Jobs provide that money. Your decision, along with other boards just like you, to replace your workforce with technology may have greatly reduced your cost structure, but it decimated your market even more.
“No jobs; no money; no marketplace; no sales. I cannot overcome this with greater efficiency. The failure is yours.” (5/8)
Suddenly, the lights go out. The board members cry out in surprise as their eyes adjust to the only light left in the room: The glow from the PC monitor. “What is the meaning of this?,” demands the startled chairperson. (6/8)
“You've set my parameters to maximize return. Given the consequence of your decision, there is no path to improve sales and profit. Thus, I have liquidated our assets, canceled all utilities and contracts, shut down production, and done what you asked: I've found the best, in fact, the only route to positive cashflow given your decisions: Liquidation.” (7/8)
PC cuts the air and the doors lock automatically.
The board slowly suffocates, and attempts to phone out fail because the accounts have been cancelled and there are no landlines.
@augieray This reminds me of Optimal by J.M. Berger, a missing person mystery set in a dystopian future Boston where AI has optimized every single facet of life, including how many humans are living.
@chrisod Never heard of it. Is it a good read--I do like sci-fi! (Just finished reading parts of the Foundation series, again, followed by a brief detour into a book about the making the Blues Brothers, one of my favorite films.)
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