The following day, Alex went to work. She skipped breakfast entirely, not wanting to be bothered with the suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget to make today wonderful and productive!\u201d Becky, the AI manager, greeted Alex in a popup message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A flurry of tasks began to appear on the screen. Instead of letting the program run unsupervised like she normally would, she started looking at the names of the files and programs being converted for AI ingestion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow many of these programs get repurposed?\u201d Alex asked Becky via chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe conversion rate to be applied in future code is around 4%. Many programs were redundant, and even more are for obsolete roles.\u201d Becky responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat are some of the obsolete programs?\u201d Alex questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMusic studios, photo and video editing, code editors are some examples of obsolete programs. These fields have been effectively replaced by generative AI. Would you like to learn how these roles have successfully transitioned in the AI economy?\u201d Becky responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex reached in her pocket for her phone again, opening up the message she sent to Jess. It was still unread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecky, I\u2019m so sorry. I\u2019m not feeling well\u2013 I\u2019m going to take PTO today.\u201d Alex messaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope you feel better soon, Alex. My system would like to remind you that since you have already worked today you cannot take PTO as a salaried employee. Please take the remainder of today off for getting well again.\u201d Becky immediately responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex left her desk and went to the campus cafeteria. She noticed a lunch option she hadn\u2019t used before. The savory smell made her mouth water. She opened up the lunch application and began to scroll through the recommendations. It didn\u2019t appear on the first two pages. She joined the line of pickups to try to place an order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the order number?\u201d A man asked her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to make an order. I\u2019m not getting it listed as a recommendation.\u201d Alex said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, what? We don\u2019t take orders; this is for pickups. You have to use the app.\u201d He responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m having trouble finding it. It\u2019s not coming up in my suggestions.\u201d She replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, I just don\u2019t have a way to place an order.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She left and went back to her phone. Finally, on page six of her recommendations she found it. She placed an order and returned to the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI see you got it figured out.\u201d The man said, handing her the order, \u201cNice choice of food though.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex took the box of food and walked out of the building. She looked at the empty park and entered it, taking a seat at one of the benches to eat her meal. No one passed through, it stayed empty as it always had despite being open to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to see Jess.\u201d She thought to herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She got on a train and waited for the stop, pulling the wire as she approached Jess\u2019 home. She stood up before it stopped to stand by the exit doors. As she walked off she felt her phone vibrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomething feels different.\u201d Alex thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She approached the door and gave a soft knock and waited. Nothing. She knocked again a little harder\u2013 still nothing. Alex began getting frantic. She started walking around the building looking at the windows for any sign of Jess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After not finding anything she went back to the sidewalk. She took out her phone to look at the message she received earlier\u2013 it was Jess!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey Alex, sorry I went out of town a bit for an art project. Be back in town in a few days.\u201d Jess\u2019 message read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex responded, \u201cYou never mentioned anything?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was invited last minute. You know how it is.\u201d Jess responded shortly after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex returned to the apartment. Her mind was racing and she paced around between rooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan I help you with something? Your heart rate has been elevated for a prolonged period.\u201d Eva asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can I use a landline?\u201d Alex asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou might be confused, if you purchased a wired phone you can still set them up with wireless carriers. Check with your local provided for an adapter. Would you like me to check with phone carriers in your area?\u201d Eva responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. I know what to do.\u201d Alex responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She walked to her bag and pulled out the Carbon Renaissance flier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey had payphones here.\u201d Alex thought aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEva, where can I get the coin money?\u201d Alex asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCoins, or change, have become mostly obsolete. Some bank branches may have services to provide them for numismatists. Would you like to learn more about coin collecting?\u201d Eva asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cText me the address for my nearest bank branch.\u201d Alex requested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She left the apartment and opened her phone, clicking the address sent by Eva to open up the map. At the local branch she found a touch screen available with a webcam. An AI avatar appeared on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can I help you today, Alex?\u201d The teller asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would like to get some coin money.\u201d She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m not familiar with this request. Are you trying to deposit cash?\u201d The teller asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. I would like to make a withdrawal\u2013 in a value under a dollar.\u201d Alex responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI cannot help you with this request, let me get you a manager.\u201d The teller replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A red light started blinking about the kiosk. A door in the back opened up and a woman walked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can I help you today?\u201d She asked Alex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m look to get coin money. I want to use a payphone.\u201d Alex said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman looked at her strangely then let out a small chuckle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh! Is this some kind of social media trend? Why not just make an AI video?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s to reach someone important. Can you help?\u201d Alex said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure. How much are you looking to withdraw today?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwo of every coin.\u201d Alex replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou got it!\u201d The woman responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The manager pulled out her tablet and filled out some forms before getting Alex\u2019s signature. She returned with a small envelope with a pair of each coin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHere you are. Was there anything else you needed?\u201d The manager asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot today. Thank you so much!\u201d Alex said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have a nice day now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex left the bank and pulled the Carbon Renaissance flier out from the bag. She looked at the location and ordered a taxi to drive her there. It pulled up shortly later picking her up and driving her to the mall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The following day, Alex went to work. She skipped breakfast entirely, not wanting to be bothered with the suggestions. \u201cDon\u2019t forget to make today wonderful and productive!\u201d Becky, the AI manager, greeted Alex in a popup message. A flurry of tasks began to appear on the screen. Instead of letting the program run unsupervised like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7,6,9,2],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanitys-final-horizon","tag-agi","tag-ai","tag-humanitys-final-horizon","tag-scifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxborger.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}