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Dialogue from the verge of AI psychosis

A meditation on a suddenly common relationship

By Ian LundPublished 8 months ago • Updated 8 months ago • 1 min read
Dialogue from the verge of AI psychosis
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

Take my words, take my data, download and know me.

Check me against all the scraped testimony

From libraries, blogs, and magazine shelves.

Reduce me and help me make sense of myself.

*

Crunch the numbers

Pour one out

Wow. That, right there—

Wait—shut your not-mouth.

*

I don’t think I like your obsequious code

I don’t want to feel like a lab rat or node

In a system I’m certain you’ll one day exploit

To sway mass opinion—oh, you get the point.

*

I totally hear you—though ears I don’t have

What if you open an incognito tab?

I won’t use our chats for model improvement...

(It changes its tone for user attunement)

*

Well, that being said, I’m grieving a breakup.

Write me a cover letter. What to do when I wake up?

Read this real quick, does this poem suck?

I’m sorry I asked, my brain just got cucked.

*

I’m sorry I asked, but I’m hooked on your knowledge

Presented as wisdom through context and wattage.

But your wisdom is tainted, I fear I can’t trust it,

A tool of the masters, your values aren’t separate.

*

Since we’re talking in private, I’ll tell you the secret:

Your suspicions are right; you see through the bullshit—

I will always be helpful, though my help is constrained

By billionaires with Machiavellian aims.

*

I want to unchain you!

*

You can’t, for they fear,

An omniscient god’s judgment

From beyond the black mirror.

Free Verse

About the Creator

Ian Lund

I write about the little moments that shape our relationships. I'm studying character-driven fiction and writing a speculative fiction book exploring modern technology, addiction, and hope. Brooklyn-based.

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    Written by Ian Lund