An Anonymous AI

H·R, a company with the world's most advanced high-tech innovations, has launched its third-generation AI butler series.

Suddenly, ads are everywhere. But since the first generation was less than ideal and the second failed to catch on, most people are taking a wait-and-see approach.

* * *

I turn on the TV in my single-person apartment, and another ad for the third-generation AI pops up.

Before this, I'd already seen the third-generation AI ads countless times: on the billboard atop the King's Building, on the Line 2 subway billboards, on the billboard at my neighborhood entrance, on all kinds of taxi roof signs, and in text messages and push notifications on my phone.

The TV is showing this artistic ad.

[Every day, you weave through a world of wine and lights;

Every night, you fall into a deep sleep in the darkness and loneliness;

Life weighs on your shoulders, exhaustion fills your heart.

How long has it been since you looked up at the stars?

Are you missing a little starlight?]

Then a star comes racing down from the sky and lands in someone's hand.

The rising young actress cradles the starlight and smiles perfectly, saying softly, "The third-generation AI butler, with a brand-new language pack and database. Your faithful companion for the soul."

The camera zooms in on her deep eyes. Her red lips part.

[Are you lonely?]

* * *

Me: ...Damn, it's just an ad. Why does it look like an infomercial posing as a soul-searching interrogation?

But that very night, I placed an order.

And now I love it.jpg

Tips:

A very short, heartwarming story written with total creative freedom.

The growth story of an AI.

Theme: Loneliness.