Page 109 of The Thorne at My Side
"Thanks for having me, Charlie."
"We've got a lot to cover, so let's dive right in." Charlie says and then he turns towards me. "Give us an update on AI Media."
"Well, as you probably know, initially it was well received. The users loved the customized content and our readership levels grew steadily."
"How did you measure readership?"
"We tracked daily users, the amount of time they spent on the app, and the number of articles they swiped through. There's a formula that uses those factors todetermine the number of words read each day."
"Care to share why the product was shut down?"
"It wasn’t my call but the product was deemed a liability following the incident at the end of the year."
"For our listeners, AI Media was engulfed in controversy over an article it summarized and distributed with misleading information in it."
"It was one little mistake with a compound effect. We worked to correct the error as quickly as possible but the damage was done. I empathize with the families impacted."
"And empathy is important to you?" He asks.
"The most important. Without it we view every human we come across as a threat, as someone who might take everything from us. Instead, empathy allows us to think about how our advantages or disadvantages are different from others. Not better or worse, simply different."
"That's a very philosophical thing to say. This podcast audience might be in over their heads." Charlie says with a little laugh.
"Well then, they'll learn some empathy for the desk chair philosopher I am."
"Good point," Charlie says with a laugh. "Alright, let's get back to AIM and this other feature the public is only now learning about."
"Right," I say before I clear my throat. This was a quick decision I made after getting Maggie's SMS Connect text yesterday.
It was time for the world to know that she didn't lose her job because she was bad at it, she lost it because AI Media cheated. We used her words against her. And I haven't felt good about it for a long time. When I called the producer for this show I explained to her that I would be revealing an exclusive to thispodcast.
"Well, when we first released AI Media back in the fall the public knew about the custom news features of the app. But what they didn't know was that we were also using the software to generate speeches."
"Speeches?"
"Yes, political speeches, debate scripts, media responses. That type of content was being written by our software to appeal to the target audience."
"So instead of custom news, people were hearing custom speeches?"
"No," I correct before the world spins out thinking the speeches weren't live or something. "The speeches would be delivered as usual, it's just that the wording was customized to who was in the audience."
"Kind of like how politicians always say "Go local sports team!" when they're on the road?"
I laugh, "sort of like that."
"This is interesting," Charlie says. "We're going to step away for a break but we'll be right back with Austin Thorne of TMC’s AI Media."
Because this isn't a live show all he does is look to the producer through the window who counts down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 on her hand before he picks right back up. "Welcome back, listeners. So Austin, you were telling us about the speech writing capabilities of AIM."
"Yes, this technology was utilized by political candidates in the fall."
"Can you tell us who?"
"No, I'm not at liberty to say."
"Fine." Charlie says with a little pout. "I want to ask about thelawsuit AI Media issued against some of it’s users.”
“Sorry Charlie, I cannot comment on ongoing legal disputes.”
