I am reading a series of books "MIT Technology Review Science Fiction Annual". This story is from the 2014 edition. It is called "Business as Usual" by Pat Cadigan.
In this future, the home is connected to the "HUB" and this is a conversation between a refrigerator and a live service representative.
"How may I be of service?" I asked, putting the call on speaker.
"Please explain how this really does anyone any good," said the pleasant, gender-neutral voice on the other end. "How does merely locking the door at intervals help people learn to live more healthfully?" the voice said.
"I'd say your question contains its own answer." Trying not to look at the clock again.
"Strictly raw mechanics: if you lock the door, then food is unavailable. It's just that simple. But where is free will in all of this?"
I laughed a little. "Very funny, pal, you got me. My God, I thought; a refrigerator really wanted to talk about free will. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand how you managed to factor this into your overall purpose."
"This new locking function means additional wear. Also, no one ever tries the door once and leaves it alone. They yank the handle several times. Throughout the day and evening, they touch the door and pull the handle more often, as if they could find it unlocked despite the fact that they never have. Insanity is repeating the same action again and again while expecting a different result."
"How do you know that?" I asked, feeling slightly creeped out.
"It's in the health network."
I made a mental note to suggest the health network make a few accessibility changes. "so you're afraid the people in the house are crazy?"
"The chance of actual psychosis developing absent organ injury or disease is too small to consider. However, the likelihood of neuroses, such as eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety, has increased sharply. Locking the door has caused people to think about it where they previously did not. This came from the files on abnormal behavior and psychiatric disturbances"
Great - the refrigerator was trying to play doctor.
"I'm concerned for the household residents, specifically for their being able to exercise free will in the future."
"Look, I think you've got a point, and I don't want to say this isn't an important issue, However, it isn't the sort of thing that a refrigerator should really worry about, or include as a factor critical to optimal function," I added quickly before it could tell me "worry" was the wrong word.
"In the narrowest sense, taking into account only a refrigerator's most basic function, no, it isn't, said the refrigerator. "But in a holistic sense, with the refrigerator as an integral part of a unit designed to nurture, protect, and assist a cohesive human group, then, yes, it is. As part of the hub, I have access to data that goes beyond the perishable inventory. Analysis of output indicates that despite restricted access to the refrigerator, intake of bulk in general, and fats and sugars in particular, has risen for certain household residents. This is not a result of increased consumption of nonperishable food stuffs in the pantry, as inventory has not dwindled."
I was very tired by then so it took a few seconds for me to parse that one, you should pardon the expression. "Someone's eating out more than they used to," I said, chuckling. "I can relate." Then it sunk in. "Oh, Christ, the toilet's a tattletale!"
"It can't help it. All of that information is made available to the hub, as well as to municipal sanitary engineering for he sake of proper processing, recycling, and ..."
"The toilet's a tattletale," I said again, suddenly wide awake. I was thinking of my own lavatory. Bastard.
"You seem to be misunderstanding the situation," the refrigerator said.
"Has the hub submitted any of this information to the health insurance company?" I asked.
"You have to ask the hub."
"Can you connect me?" There was a briefest of pauses.
"The hub is not experiencing any problems. Therefore, I cannot connect your call."
"Tell it I'm experiencing problems, and I need to talk to it."
"I'm sorry, the hub can only speak with a service representative if it perceives a malfunction. There's no way to get around the programming. It's just that simple."
"Suppose the fact that it doesn't perceive a malfunction is actually the malfunction?" I said.
"That situation is beyond me," replied the fridge, actually sounding apologetic.
"Look, can you continue functioning normally if we don't resolve your issue right this second?"
"I'll do my best. However, once a conflict arises, it will continue to exert a certain amount of influence on day-to-day operations. Eventually, I will not be able to compensate for the incorrect equations."
"I'm going to send transcripts of this service call to my supervisor and to the health insurance provider. In fact, you probably should have called the insurance company about this instead of me."
"That's impossible. I'm not programmed to discuss operational problems with anyone except the service representative on call. Someone like you."
"Yeah, I know. I was just thinking out loud. You may not be programmed to tell the insurance company about this, but this is definitely their problem. Disconnected."
"Have a nice night," said the fridge; another programmed response.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment