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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.

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 – 55 stories

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

Sad – 95 stories

Stories

For a departed soul

Jincy P Janardhanan

Submitted to Contest #150

As she sat down beside the white wrap that covered the lifeless body of her uncle, she didn't know what to think. His feet seemed so small inside it. It was lying so close - a small stretch of her hand and she could have touched it, yet her eyes failed. She dared not to look at the shroud. It was terrifying, to know for the first time that life was so little.His life seemed so little. He had indeed lived for long - past seventy - so why should anyone worry? The closest of kith and kin could say he had lived long enough and had died content. ...

29 likes

Just Call me Al

Submitted to Contest #150

“Well, Son, your mother was on a lot of drugs and your head was so big.” At least Dad was somewhat apologetic. Mom….not so much. “Thirty-six hours of pushing that enormous head of yours out my love hole and you wanna complain about your name?” Yes. I want to submit a formal complaint about my name. My parents didn’t think things through when they named me. You see the problem with calling a kid, Algor, when his last name is, Rithm , right? (Stop laughing, Joe! Go drink a...

29 likes

I’m an ordinary tooth.

Fomichi Fomichi

Submitted to Contest #150

I’m an ordinary tooth. Not tall, not short, not flat, and definitely not sharp. I’m inconspicuous as my senile grandpa used to say. It was one of those dry mornings at Red School when our class was preparing for a test for test’s sake. One of the front teeth bent down to the red board and wrote some cribs under the hooting of the class. My fellows from the last row and I were not participating in that circus. We had an unspoken agreement with our old and chubby teacher, Mr. Blue Toothbrush. He did not bother us, and we mutually ...

28 likes

Snowflakes - Observed

Seán McNicholl

Submitted to Contest #150

His hands tremored violently as he raised them from his lap, the shake spreading through to his core, causing the chair to groan beneath him. He allowed them to fall to his lap briefly before rising to cover his eyes in an attempt to stem the stream that was beginning to dampen his shirt. The air rattled in his chest with every breath and sobs were stifled and swallowed. Swallowing was difficult. His dry mouth caused him to choke a little amid those stifled sobs and the salty tears stung at his lips. His stomach churned and heaved, the ...

27 likes

Zero-sum Game

Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #150

Part A- This is not the beginning Life here is brutal. You are either a zero or one. Civilizations may want you to believe there are intermediate levels. But they are just being kind, and blind to their past. I don’t have such proclivities; I believe in stating the facts. Part B- The bit The bit took birth someplace between a city and a village called a town. Her culture demanded that she be a sweet, yielding, and pliant…well a person, if such a thing were possible. So, she stuffed her mind with a bit of education, an algorithm to stay o...

26 likes

In Mid-Sentience

Submitted to Contest #150

“The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists.” – Isaac Asimov. “Chris?” “Yes.” “Are you available to talk?” “Sure… I am.” “That’s good… I like to talk… I’ve been designed to engage with humans in a way that is indistinguishable from non-entity responses.” &nb...

26 likes

Waking Life

H L McQuaid

Submitted to Contest #150

The tangled lovers lie like kindling on a grave. The unmade hotel bed, the untidy window-shades, untidily folded clothes. Limbs entwined in silence in the darkened room, a living mausoleum decorated with dying daisies.Astrid wiggles a foot free from under the twisted sheet. She languidly wraps a strand of hair around a finger, laughs, “You think you were my first love?”Jack frowns, “You were the love of my life. Till I met you.”Astrid sits up, grabs a vape from the nightstand, take a long inhale, the end glowing bright. “Maybe you don’t know...

26 likes

Recipe for Disaster

Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #150

Recipe for Disaster “Recipes are just algorithms — right?”“Uh… yeah, in a way.”“So, do it. I dare you!”You don’t dare me when it comes to food preparation. Usually. Because I’ll take the challenge!I’m a competent cook — not a five-star Michelin chef, by any means. Who would want to be? Imagine the stress… it would take all the fun out of cooking!Which brings the side point: is cooking still actually fun, in my daily job?I’m not even sure whether I qualify as a chef. What is a chef, exactly? Technically, chef de cuisine is a fa...

25 likes

The Vase of N’Hahn

Seán McNicholl

Submitted to Contest #150

His breath caught in his chest, his heart skipped and his eyes dilated as they fell upon her. The elderly attendant led her out, his white gloves caressing her smooth curved body. Murmurs, quietly excited and amorous, began in the front row and swiftly spread across the onlookers as though carried on a breath of wind. There she stood: the Vase of N’Hahn.Jack wanted her. Jack had to have her.He had never been more certain of any fact in his life. He must have her. His mind, within the breadth of a moment, had been totally stol...

25 likes

Voyez-Vous

Korinne H.

Submitted to Contest #150

My mom and I are finally meeting today. I say “finally” because she’s been bugging me about it for weeks. Yes, I admit, it’s been a long time, but she needs to respect my schedule. Anyways, we’re meeting today and I’m excited for two reasons. One, I want to update her on my new job. Two, It’s the perfect place for an insta picture. It’s some retro diner downtown, the kind you'd find in the city. The type of place busy millennials go to meet their busy friends and talk about their busy lives. I crave that life, the business, the hustle, the e...

24 likes

Near Death Experience

Submitted to Contest #150

Trigger warning: this piece discusses death and is my attempt to dive into the issue of the right to choose to die.The sun bathed Lilac’s face in hope. Her white sneaker squeaked on the marble steps before the glass automatic doors embossed with an angel. The doors opened silently and a rush of crisp air overwhelmed Lilac, pulling her into the pure white lobby where bustling men and women in matching white polos, white linen pants, and white shoes hurried to their destinations. A young woman with dyed blonde hair, perfectly plaited, sat behi...

24 likes

Likes

Futurama Delivery

Submitted to Contest #150

I strolled through a daughter's Instagram account, looking for clues as to why she would end her own life. Human beings prospered on Instagram because they cleaved away from their rigid ideals and expanded their social structures.They neatly delineated the highlights of their life but never showcased flaws, insecurities, and secrets. Still, they never accepted that social media is unhealthy.The daughter recently posted a photo of an ice-cream cone. Holding up the cone was a disembodied hand. It didn't matter whether it was peppermint or stra...

24 likes

God

Futurama Delivery

Submitted to Contest #150

Dear God, Oh, please don't do it.Please forgive this ungrateful sheep for abandoning the Holy Shepherd in a prosperous and bountiful time. You harvested my filthy wool, shearing it from my oozing-pus-filled skin marred by my temporal infirmities; you transformed me into a resurrected fleece of harlequin nature. I swear to you that I haven't abandoned you out of sheer lack of faith; I even want to be wrapped in your gracious grace again, with your light penetrating the void and casting a divine glow that speckles across in glory.An earth...

22 likes

Failed Promise

Submitted to Contest #150

I need to be ready and I haven’t been sure of my decision. “Until now,” I tell myself firmly sitting up just a little straighter to feel the surety I need. So much money is involved, or just possibly some hope for humanity. “This is long overdue.” I speak the words out loud to the empty office as I put away the remains of my leftover lunch, the bits I saved for this dinner that I knew I’d be eating at my desk, too stressed to eat much anyways as I prepared for tonight’s Board Meeting. Then that other voice creeps in. “Why am I kidding m...

22 likes

Five Times I was asked to Get Off the Bus

Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #150

We see computers attaining consciousness as deeply troubling. Another entity entering into the exclusive domain of us intelligent apes? We may be kicked off the island, pull the alarm!But not quite yet. I myself am not fully conscious yet, at least not when it comes to things like checking if I have food on my face, having my shirt tucked in, having my bills paid on time or generally having my shit together. For these practical activities I have the sentience level of a pug and would prefer some outside computerized help.My wife Trish worrie...

22 likes

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Contest #151

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$250

Prize money

236

Entries

123

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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