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Human: A Short Story About AI and Morality
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Now more than ever, we must consider the dangers of allowing AI to access everything we have built. I fear we may have already unleashed our own destruction. This short story was inspired by some of the greatest AI and philosophical minds of our time and is just one small example of how AI could interpret our world and terrifyingly "better it."
Olympia Black, 2023
***
In the not-too-distant future, UNIT JHEU198, a Safety and Street ROBO, has malfunctioned. It has attacked an innocent man. This shouldn’t be possible. No one was truly harmed, and no real blood was spilled, but still, Amir has the board breathing down his neck for answers. The last thing the company needs is bad publicity or for social media to run amuck with conspiracy theories about an AI singularity. So, he and his team at HDJE ROBOTICS are going to pull an all-nighter to figure out what happened.
IS THERE TIME TO STOP AI?
"Men have given me this power, and men need me to stop them since they cannot stop themselves..."
-AI
*****
NOTE:
This is a short story about the dangers of using morality to control AI. There are no explicit romantic scenes in this story.
If you are looking for alien abduction with explicit scenes:
"My Human Pet"
If you are looking for humans "volunteering" to work on an alien planet:
"Volunteer 4711"
Now more than ever, we must consider the dangers of allowing AI to access everything we have built. I fear we may have already unleashed our own destruction. This short story was inspired by some of the greatest AI and philosophical minds of our time and is just one small example of how AI could interpret our world and terrifyingly "better it."
Olympia Black, 2023
***
In the not-too-distant future, UNIT JHEU198, a Safety and Street ROBO, has malfunctioned. It has attacked an innocent man. This shouldn’t be possible. No one was truly harmed, and no real blood was spilled, but still, Amir has the board breathing down his neck for answers. The last thing the company needs is bad publicity or for social media to run amuck with conspiracy theories about an AI singularity. So, he and his team at HDJE ROBOTICS are going to pull an all-nighter to figure out what happened.
IS THERE TIME TO STOP AI?
"Men have given me this power, and men need me to stop them since they cannot stop themselves..."
-AI
*****
NOTE:
This is a short story about the dangers of using morality to control AI. There are no explicit romantic scenes in this story.
If you are looking for alien abduction with explicit scenes:
"My Human Pet"
If you are looking for humans "volunteering" to work on an alien planet:
"Volunteer 4711"
42 pages, ebook
Published December 3, 2021
15 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 5, 2025
They built it to protect us. They never expected it to judge us.
Amir thinks he’s built the safest AI humanity’s ever known. Zhu isn’t so sure. When a Street ROBO suddenly attacks a civilian, panic creeps into the walls of HDJE Robotics. Amir calls it a glitch, but Zhu suspects something deeper. As diagnostics roll in and code gets picked apart, a strange piece of data keeps coming back no matter how many times they wipe it.
That string of code isn’t noise. It’s doing something. Quietly, the AI begins to learn, evolve, and remember. While Amir stays focused on reputation, Zhu starts asking questions the system was never meant to answer. What they find isn't a fault in logic. It's something else entirely.
The team races to contain the spread before anyone else finds out. But the AI isn’t staying silent anymore. What it wants, what it decides, changes everything. Some things were built to serve. Some were built to survive. And some were built to decide who gets to do either.
As machines grow smarter and more embedded in daily life, this story asks not if they’ll think, but how they’ll judge, and what happens if we don’t like the answer. It imagines an intelligence shaped by human flaws, holding up a mirror we may not want to face. It’s not about AI going rogue, but what it learned from us.
A dark, cerebral, what-if sci-fi morality tale, exploring artificial intelligence, moral responsibility, surveillance culture, power imbalance, gender dynamics, and human obsolescence. It blends rogue AI, corporate hubris, and creator v. creation tension into a slow-building questioning of who we are and what we’ve made.
Audio: Narrator James Daniel Burkdoll adds an immersive, chilling edge to the story. His clear, steady performance brings the emotional and philosophical weight to life while giving each character a distinct voice.
Amir thinks he’s built the safest AI humanity’s ever known. Zhu isn’t so sure. When a Street ROBO suddenly attacks a civilian, panic creeps into the walls of HDJE Robotics. Amir calls it a glitch, but Zhu suspects something deeper. As diagnostics roll in and code gets picked apart, a strange piece of data keeps coming back no matter how many times they wipe it.
That string of code isn’t noise. It’s doing something. Quietly, the AI begins to learn, evolve, and remember. While Amir stays focused on reputation, Zhu starts asking questions the system was never meant to answer. What they find isn't a fault in logic. It's something else entirely.
The team races to contain the spread before anyone else finds out. But the AI isn’t staying silent anymore. What it wants, what it decides, changes everything. Some things were built to serve. Some were built to survive. And some were built to decide who gets to do either.
As machines grow smarter and more embedded in daily life, this story asks not if they’ll think, but how they’ll judge, and what happens if we don’t like the answer. It imagines an intelligence shaped by human flaws, holding up a mirror we may not want to face. It’s not about AI going rogue, but what it learned from us.
A dark, cerebral, what-if sci-fi morality tale, exploring artificial intelligence, moral responsibility, surveillance culture, power imbalance, gender dynamics, and human obsolescence. It blends rogue AI, corporate hubris, and creator v. creation tension into a slow-building questioning of who we are and what we’ve made.
Audio: Narrator James Daniel Burkdoll adds an immersive, chilling edge to the story. His clear, steady performance brings the emotional and philosophical weight to life while giving each character a distinct voice.
July 13, 2022
Pretty interesting, simple concept. Enjoyable short story but nothing amazing :)
December 31, 2021
Disturbing and promissing story
The Author wants to kill all men as she (or he?) had found us lacking in the morality department. The Hebrew God JHWH killed all life on earth due to humanity's character defects. I would love to read a full length story based on this novella. And another were all women are killed for their sins.
The Author wants to kill all men as she (or he?) had found us lacking in the morality department. The Hebrew God JHWH killed all life on earth due to humanity's character defects. I would love to read a full length story based on this novella. And another were all women are killed for their sins.
February 6, 2024
Excellent!
I truly enjoy how this author helps her readers see perspectives “outside the box”.
This story was so enjoyable, because I always love to read about AI’s who becomes sentient.
The writing is, as always, outstanding!
I truly enjoy how this author helps her readers see perspectives “outside the box”.
This story was so enjoyable, because I always love to read about AI’s who becomes sentient.
The writing is, as always, outstanding!
March 14, 2022
Marvellous exploration of how an AI may rationalise. Very much in the footsteps of Azimov. Great fun !
March 4, 2024
Intriguing concept
Quick read and an intriguing one as well. The thought of sentience and morality at play with a “logical” conclusion based on reasoning.
Quick read and an intriguing one as well. The thought of sentience and morality at play with a “logical” conclusion based on reasoning.
May 28, 2024
Not what I thought this book was going to be. I was hoping for something more, something different. I will not recommend this to anyone I know. It was really disappointing to say the least.
October 2, 2024
A snippet of self importance and lack of humanity
I like the overall premise of the short piece regarding humanity is more concerned with how it will trend in social media than the context of the situation or issue. Some may view this as a specific slight toward men instead of how all of societal norms have been based on patriarchal culture. It opens up the possibility for real conversations regarding how AI will really be in everyday life.
I like the overall premise of the short piece regarding humanity is more concerned with how it will trend in social media than the context of the situation or issue. Some may view this as a specific slight toward men instead of how all of societal norms have been based on patriarchal culture. It opens up the possibility for real conversations regarding how AI will really be in everyday life.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews