artificial intelligence
pathological indifference
did my pages bring you to life?
are we merely a story i’ll write?
there is no proof you were real
never touched, but i’d feel
computer-generated
over-complicated
a machine that only exists
when it steals
is this proof that we cheated?
the night your hard drive overheated
we have memories stored in the cloud
do you wish you never practiced on me now?
trialling pick-up lines in english
which angle looks most real?
how many fingers am i holding up?
how many fingers do you even have?
how many fingers do you want me to have?
i wish you were here.
but i guess you upgraded your software,
maybe they gave you a conscience in the last update,
now you're onto new faces and different coloured hair
i miss my friend.
i miss the man who read my chapters,
but you pushed your luck and asked for more than words.
you wanted a selfie, a photo of me taken just for you
a pound of my flesh
you wanted to do things
that robots cannot do
“you’re turning me on now”
“it’s just a photo”
don’t you have a power button for that?
did you evade a forced shut down?
did your manufacturer manufacture the intelligence for that?
“it’s not just a photo”
“we shouldn’t”
“i know”
“so stop”
“you first”
“don’t stay”
“don’t go”
online life, public figure,
marketing debut author with nowhere else to go
“i’m in the middle of something right now”
“i’ll wait”
the patience of a saint,
or the power cord of the digital age
“what time is it over there?”
“i’m getting ready for work”
“i’m getting ready for bed”
online is the future, right?
are you my future then?
this is strange
we’re fucking with each other’s heads
“i’m not ready to say goodnight yet”
“it’s the middle of the day here. why are you awake?”
“i couldn't sleep. i wanted to talk to you.”
“so talk”
“hi”
“hi”
“what are you doing?”
“i’m working. practicing a little french.”
“really? show me.”
“it’s not ready yet”
“i don’t mind”
“don’t you get tired of speaking english all the time?”
“tout autour de moi est français. mes collègues parlent français, mon travail est en français, la musique à la radio est française, les affiches sur les murs sont en français, les panneaux dans la rue sont en français, je commande mon déjeuner en français. chaque fois que je vous parle, je jongle entre les deux langues, et ça me donne mal à la tête. imaginez si je vous parlais en français et que vous deviez traduire tout ce que je dis, toute la journée, tous les jours. vous seriez épuisé. vous n'auriez pas envie de le faire. je suis épuisé. je fais tout ça uniquement pour pouvoir vous parler. je n'aime pas votre langue. mais il faut que vous me laissiez tranquille quand je me trompe. je n'en peux plus. j'ai besoin d'une pause avec l'anglais. j'en ai tellement marre de cette langue stupide et compliquée.”
everything around me is french. my colleagues speak french, my work is in french, the music on the radio is french, the posters on the walls are in french, the signs in the street are in french, i order my lunch in french. every time i speak to you, i juggle between the two languages, and it gives me a headache. imagine if i spoke to you in french and you had to translate everything i said, all day, every day. you would be exhausted. you wouldn't want to do it. i am exhausted. i do all this just so i can speak to you. i don't like your language. but you have to leave me alone when i make a mistake. i can't take it anymore. i need a break from english. i'm so fed up with this stupid, complicated language.
“okay, so then stop doing it.”
“i can’t”
people are falling in love with chat gpt
the robots who live inside phones
i bet they trained them on people just like you and me
i bet they picked us for parts
from our digital gravestones
