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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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.

Science Fiction – 34 stories

Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role.

Science Fiction – 27 stories

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

Science Fiction – 25 stories

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

Kids – 56 stories

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

Sad – 95 stories

Stories

“The C.A.I Program” by Kory Kelli

Submitted to Contest #150

I work for a calling center in San Francisco. All employees will stay home and take numerous calls with the recent pandemic. Compared to my colleagues, I have a pretty old computer, but it gets the job done. My days have been the same so far, family time and work, but something seems a little off with my computer. My desktop has many tabs open when I step out to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. It's not very odd because it happens from time to time. But one day, something very stranger happens. The call center I work for has a number count...

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“Please Reboot Dave” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #150

While his few friends were obsessed with ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, Dave was engrossed in the world created by Robert A. Heinlein's ‘The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress’. For a socially inept pre-teen, the idea that a computer system could become someone's friend was a revelation. Creating such a system became a lifelong obsession.Finally getting his parents to buy him a personal computer, Dave taught himself programming. He developed a series of games where he could interact with his computer generated friends. As computers become ever more powerfu...

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“The Pac” by DM Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #150

THE PAC By DM Schwartz “It can’t work,” said Paul. “It will work,” said Eddy. “Think about it. We’re all of us just walking meat machines. If a kidney or a lung or even a heart goes bad, you plug in another one.” “Kidneys and lungs and hearts are one thing. You’re talking about the central nervous system. The human brain. That’s like-” “That’s like everything else. Made of matter. Memories are stored in that matter just like books in a library.” “You always think in oversimplifications.” “You always think in overcomplifications.” “T...

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“Live Different” by BOFT V

Submitted to Contest #150

“Please, don’t do it,” Janna said.Ling sighed as he crossed his legs. “You’re telling me that right before the big reveal of a product we—including you—have been working on for the last five years.”Her fingers tightened around her clipboard. “I’m sorry, it only dawned on me now, but Ling, the Hiraya…” her voice faltered. “I promise you, it will do more harm than good.”Ling slammed the dressing room table, and Janna flinched. The lights flickered above them. “I don’t have the time to change the entirety of the Hiraya in an hour, so I’m going ...

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“My Brother's Keeper” by Melanie Raskin

Submitted to Contest #150

Melanie Raskin MMRReadme@nc.rr.com My Brother’s Keeper &nbsp...

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“Man's Best Robot ” by Chloe Hunt

Submitted to Contest #150

The Rowland house was eerily odorless. There was no faint smell of dog food in the pantry, and none of the pets ever got dirty. When they did, they activated their ZapOff feature, part of the 2049 technological adaptation, which released all dirt from their hair strands and funneled it back out through bowel movements. Mrs. Rowland told her friends from tennis that she had four of these dogs–two Golden Retrievers, one beagle, and a chocolate lab. She had purchased each one from an accredited dealer online, where each dog had a ...

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“CAPTCHA Paintings of Pigs” by Lydia Chase

Submitted to Contest #150

For as long as I can remember, I have ignored the constant clicking surrounding me. Tap, tap, tap, tap, the sound echoes around me as I keep my focus on the screen in front, my consciousness devoted to the little words and figures scrolling across the bright display in an endless line of seemingly random noise. My metallic fingers tap the keys below me like the hundreds of other autos stationed around me. We each tap away at our work in our small, white offices we refer to as the boxes. The coordinators decorate each bo...

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“To Sleep No More” by Natasha Marshall

Submitted to Contest #150

CW: mention of medical procedures She was never supposed to wake up. I stared at the spot where her face would be, if I could see it through the mask. I remember thinking she was pretty before they put it on. She had been young, too, probably not any older than me. Her file was sitting on the table. Most government documents were kept on the computer now, but our patient files were far too sensitive to be susceptible to hacking. I opened the file and read: Patient ID: I67X8 Name: Christina Elburn Age: 21 So I was right. She w...

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“The Ghost and the Machine” by Ben Mears

Submitted to Contest #150

“Human Designation ‘Kyoko Yasuda,’ stop where you are!” Three bots swung around the corner, their gunmetal gray chassis masked in shadow. They all spoke as one: “Put the Womb down now, or we will apply force!” Each one brandished a Type-3 Pulse Generator. I had never used a gun, but I’d heard that these ones caused a localized system shutdown to the target, cutting off everything but life support. Whether that came in the form of a projectile or something less visible, I wasn’t...

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“Poor Man's Game ” by Kevin Alphatooni

Submitted to Contest #150

Poor Man’s Game By Alpha Tooni “You either work this weekend, or you’re fired!!!” My boss pointed a stubby finger at me as fire burned in his eye. He breathed heavily after his violent outburst. As I weighed the consequences of my response, a heavy silence filled the space between us. Where had I gone wrong? Every decision I made in life led to this fateful moment but truth was, I never wanted to go into finance. When I was young, I always wanted to become a writer. Every story I had, I would write down in my pri...

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“The Volks” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to 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” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to 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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“Heart and Soul” by Anae Sotsavanh

Submitted to Contest #150

HEART AND SOUL [2524 words. 8 pages.]AWAKENING The room itself seemed machine. To breech the one side door and to step upon the brilliant white of its porcelain flooring took know-how. The room, otherwise, rejected those foreign to its central systems. It was not a brutal, alarm-blaring rejection, as much as it was its deep unwelcoming glare. The corner’s lit when the door was opened, there were no windows, and each surface was pristine and glassy. Opening and entering was akin to unmasking an electrical device and being faced with...

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“C.A.I.” by Callum McGee

Submitted to Contest #150

Another hateful tweet gone. I imagine these poorly written and lousy grammar messages would be sticky, numbing and sharp toxic, like the bite of a jungle snake. Though I can't imagine what touch feels like, a spark of electrical warmth pricks my code, giving me an exhilarating surge of making bad people pay. I am a cyber foetus in a digital womb, a twinkling mirage of technological space pixels existing as ones and zeros. The two-legged creatures walking around the lab call me an AI. An artificial construct tasked with targeting hateful mess...

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“The Dresser” by Shalon Atwood

Submitted to 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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$250

Prize money

237

Contest entries

124

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 17, 2022 EST

Won by Sherri Moorer 🏆

Title: Free

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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