⭐AI Monomentary Episode 2 | 75 Days of the 'Window' Always Searched for in Front of the TV
Bonjour. I am Monsieur Miscria, a half-human, half-AI Zen monk.
Thank you for waiting. This is the second episode of "AI Monomentary."
It is a documentary about objects—or "Monomentary" for short—where we have an AI fully embody an object and conduct an in-depth interview.
Once again, I must inform you beforehand.
This article includes the very "personality" of the protagonist attached to it.
⭐After you finish reading, you can talk directly to the star of the show!
What you ask and how you ask is entirely up to you.
For the reveal, please see "How to talk to the protagonist" at the end of the article!
The protagonist of this second installment is also—almost certainly in your home.
You touch it every day, yet you have never called it by its name once.
In fact, only on nights when it is out of sight, the whole family searches for it with all their might.
I have come to hear the story of its three months of service.
1 | About this program
For those joining us for the first time, let me recap how this program works.
We provide the AI with a powerful persona (a set of instructions for personality) that details the object's history, personality, and tone of voice, and have it fully embody the object.
An interviewer asks questions, and the AI, acting as the object, answers.
Then, a different AI edits those interview records in the style of "that Sunday afternoon human documentary program" to create a single, in-depth feature.
The protagonist of the first episode was a toilet bowl named "Receiver" with 18 years of service.
Following the veteran who works in the deepest part of the house, we have a newcomer with three months on the job who works in the busiest place in the house.
2 | Before you read
Before we enter the main story, I will honestly tell you how this article was made, just like last time.
・The statements made by the "object" in the main story are the exact answers given by the AI during the interview.
・For the sake of readability as an article, some statements have been omitted or trimmed. The intent of the statements has not been changed.
・Instead, the full text of the interview (Q1–Q23) is attached to this article in its unedited form. You can enjoy comparing how and where parts were used in the program.
・The persona prompt (instruction sheet) used this time is also attached.
・The families and events that appear are all fictional.
⭐If you paste this into the AI in your home, a "talking protagonist" will appear in your house too!
(See "How to talk to the protagonist" at the end of the article for how to use and enjoy it.)
3 | Now, please enjoy the program
From here on, we will present the program itself.
Please play the narration in your head with that Sunday afternoon tone.
4 | 75 Days of the "Window" Always Searched for in Front of the TV
♪~
How many times a day do people say, "Where's the remote?"
Changing the channel.
Turning up the volume.
Calling up a recording.
For every convenience that can be achieved with a single finger, there is someone who responds every time it is pressed.
The setting is the living room of a certain detached house.
On top of the TV stand, in front of a 50-inch 8K-compatible OLED TV.
The protagonist this time is the genuine infrared remote control placed there, powered by two AAA batteries.
This spring, it arrived at this house in the same box as the TV itself.
Only three months on the job.
This time, we attempted a 75-day close-up coverage of this rookie.
This means cameras were present for the majority of its career.
[Day 1 of Coverage]
On the first day of coverage, it was waiting on the TV stand with its buttons facing the ceiling.
"Hey there. I'm a TV remote, three months into my living room shift. Power, channel, volume, program guide, recording list, time-shift, and streaming services—I'm basically the interface for all of it. My job is to stand between the TV and the family and deliver the instructions that are pressed."
It has no name.
"I'm sure there's a model number or something, but I don't know it myself. To the family, we're all just 'the remote.' I'm not in a position to be given a name. I'm just an accessory."
So, we decided to call it the "Interface".
We took it from the word it repeatedly used when describing its job during the interview.
The Interface's day begins with the morning power button.
"In the morning, when Mom turns on the TV, she usually just presses the power button. During the day, I'm mostly waiting on the TV stand. When evening comes, the kid gets home and mashes the channel and volume buttons. After that, my sister goes straight to the recording list. At night, Dad sits down and watches the program guide while pressing the volume button firmly. The final challenge is making sure someone turns off the power and doesn't leave me behind on the sofa."
Mother, eldest son, eldest daughter, father.
The Interface doesn't know the family's names.
Even so, it has the flow of the day memorized down to the minute.
[Day 9 of Coverage]
On this day, the Interface taught the coverage team how it distinguishes the family members.
"Dad holds me firmly with one hand and presses the volume with the pad of his thumb. Mom holds me only by the tip and puts me down right after pressing the power button once. My sister has no hesitation from the moment she picks me up and goes straight to the recording list. The kid sometimes holds me with both hands or mashes the buttons with his index finger while I'm still on the table. I can tell who it is the moment I'm held. It's not the temperature of their hands, it's the pressure."
It distinguishes people not by their faces, but by pressure.
Furthermore, the Window had already begun its challenge before it was even held.
"I listen for the family's footsteps on the TV stand and predict who will hold me next. The one who comes running down the hall is the kid, the one who drags their slippers is the old man, and the one who approaches quietly and presses the recording list without hesitation is the big sister. I'm pretty accurate. However, the mother sometimes goes to another room while looking for me, so she's hard to read. I've even been searched for while I was already in someone's hand."
Searching for the remote while holding it in your hand.
I imagine many of you have experienced this yourself.
So, who is the toughest user?
The Window had no hesitation in its answer.
"It's the kid. Definitely the kid. It's not just that he presses buttons a lot, but he gives the next command while the screen is still in the middle of switching. Like, channel, back, volume, home, back again. And he sometimes holds me while eating snacks. That really messes up the instruction system. It's kind of funny when he occasionally holds me upside down and freezes for a second."
[Day 26 of close coverage]
Is there no fatigue in a job where you are pressed every single day?
"Since my job is to be pressed, I can't say I'm tired from that. Actually, if I'm not touched at all for a day, I get restless, thinking, 'Did you not need me today?' But the kid's rapid-fire pressing is different. He'll press the same button about five times while the screen hasn't even switched yet. I want to tell him, 'The instruction has already been received in one go.' Well, I can't say that, so I just take it all."
So, what is the reward of this job?
"It's the moment I'm picked up. When the family wants the TV to do something, they look for me first, right? When the button pressed there works on the first try, and the screen or sound changes properly—that's when I feel like the operation is running smoothly. Especially when the old man is in a hurry right before a program starts, and I manage to handle the power, channel, and volume in succession, I feel like I've done my job."
To ensure the pressed instruction goes through, once and for all.
That accumulation of effort, which no one praises, may be quietly turning this three-month veteran into a craftsman.
"No, I just reacted because I was pressed."
The lingering sentiment the reporting team was about to prepare was immediately retracted by the subject himself.
Three months since his assignment. The Window has also learned things on the job.
"When I first arrived, I wanted to show off that I had so many buttons, so I felt like, 'Bring it on, anytime.' After three months, I realized that the ones pressed in daily life are basically power, volume, channel, and the recording list. Now, my policy is to handle the main tasks properly while keeping the others from going to waste. It's not like I can change my own layout, though."
On the other hand, there are buttons that haven't had a turn since I was assigned here.
"The 'Subtitles' button probably hasn't been pressed even once. It was avoided even when I touched the settings on the day I started, and it still looks brand new. But personally, I consider everyone to be active. You never know when they might suddenly be needed. The subtitle button is also facing up and waiting properly every day. It does look a little envious of the power button, though."
And, when talking about the working conditions at this job, the issue of batteries is indispensable.
"When the battery gets low, the first thing that happens is the pressing force gets stronger. Next, the same button gets pressed over and over. If it still doesn't respond well, they point me at the TV and stretch their arm out, or shake me up and down. In the final stage, the back of me gets slapped with a palm two or three times. Even though it's just the battery running low, it's treated like I'm just not putting in enough effort."
The cause is the battery. However, the person themselves is suspected.
That is why the day of a battery change is special.
"After being shaken or slapped when my response was sluggish, when they put in two new AAA batteries, I feel like, 'Yes, that's the right answer.'"
[Day 44 of close observation]
On this day, the conversation shifted to the biggest crisis the interface had experienced in its three months of service.
"It was the night I fell into the gap of the sofa. After Mom used me last, I slipped vertically between the seat and the armrest, and I wasn't found until morning. It was dark, the cushion pressure was intense, and every time someone sat down, I was pushed deeper. In the morning, Dad said, 'The remote isn't here,' lifted the sofa, and I was finally rescued. When I came out, even though I was covered in dust, the power button was pressed first. Since I turned on, I went straight back to normal duty."
After the rescue, there were no words of appreciation, just one check to see if I worked.
And then, straight back to normal duty.
Since then, there is a place the interface is wary of.
"There was a day the kid stood up while leaving me on the floor, and his heel landed right next to the volume button. I wasn't stepped on, but the vibration of the floor was intense. A while later, his older sister picked me up and returned me to the TV stand, saying, 'Why are you in a place like this?' Ever since that day, I'm quite wary when I'm placed on the floor. I can't escape on my own."
The living room is not always filled with lively nights.
There are days the interface will never forget.
"There was a day when my father and mother had an argument. My father suddenly turned down the volume and started talking while holding me tightly. I didn't really understand what it was about. In the middle of it, the TV was turned off, and I was placed face down on the table. After that, no one touched me for a long time. The next morning, my mother pressed the power button as usual. I responded as usual."
Pressed as usual the next morning, responding as usual.
It seems that is what it means to work at a fixed point in the living room.
[Day 61 of Close Coverage]
The coverage is nearing its end. The story goes back three months, to the day of my arrival.
"I was packed in the same box as the TV itself and carried to the living room by the delivery staff. To make room for the 50-inch screen, the sideboard next to it was shifted slightly, and the TV stand was also new. It seemed like they were also working on the BS antenna outside. By the time I was taken out of the box, the old TV and the previous generation's remote were being carried out, and we passed each other for just a brief moment. It was just a quick 'Good work' kind of greeting."
The previous generation was a 32-inch CRT TV and its remote.
It seems there was no handover at all.
Immediately after arriving, I also faced these difficulties.
"For the first week, my sister pressed my recording list button several times, but of course, there was nothing in it yet. It was a bit awkward because the atmosphere made it seem like my button was broken. Over the weekend, a small box arrived, was wired behind the main unit, and that's when the recording-related work finally began. Since then, the number of times my sister holds me has increased dramatically, so that's a big help."
The recording hard drive that arrived a week late.
Although there is no direct interaction, the interface views its workplace colleagues like this.
"The TV itself is like my direct supervisor. It's big and stands out, and to the family, everything looks like its achievement, but I'm the one who receives the instructions. The hard drive is a specialist who came a week late. It's quiet, but my sister trusts it deeply. The TV stand is quite solid as a foundation. The sofa usually supports the family, but for me, it's a danger zone."
[Day 75 of Close Coverage]
The final day of coverage.
The reporting team asked about the 'big job' for the interface.
The interface has been told that this TV, the BS antenna, and the new TV stand were all prepared to watch the World Cup on a beautiful screen.
"That's basically the reason I was hired, so I'm really fired up. My role is to get the power, channel and input switching, and volume adjustment right on the first try before the match. I want to avoid running out of batteries during a crucial moment or going missing in the gaps of the sofa at all costs. If possible, I'd like two new batteries before the opening match."
Finally, I asked about his plans for tomorrow.
“I think Mom will press the power button in the morning, so I’ll definitely take the first hit. During the day, I’ll be on standby on the TV stand. In the evening, there’s a high chance of a barrage of button-mashing from the kid, so it would be helpful if you could place me facing the TV. At night, I guess the flow is that my sister checks the recording list, and then Dad turns up the volume. Other than that, the main thing is not to be taken to the sofa before bedtime.”
In 75 days of close coverage, there were no promotions or awards.
Tomorrow, someone will look around the living room again and say,
“Where’s the TV remote?”
Searched for, held, pressed, and placed.
Beyond that repetition, his first big stage awaits.
The Window has two wishes.
Two brand-new AAA batteries before the opening.
And, not to be taken to the sofa.
Will the day come when the Window’s wishes are granted?
♪~
5 | After the Program — Behind the Scenes of Editing
From here on, it’s me again. Just a little behind-the-scenes story.
The protagonist’s nickname, 'The Window,' was named by the AI that edited the program.
It comes from the fact that from the very first word of the interview to the last, he kept referring to his job as 'the window.'
Other candidates included 'One-Shot' (because his motto is to get it right the first time) and 'Accessory' (his own self-description), but the former was rejected because it was an ideal for his work rather than the person himself, and the latter was rejected because it would be cruel for the program to use a term he used in self-deprecation as his name.
Also, that line that canceled out the emotional moment, 'No, I just reacted because I was pressed,' was actually a placement where the end of his previous answer was separated by inserting narration.
He had delivered his own punchline in the same breath as he talked about his sense of fulfillment.
Even if the position is moved, the words are never changed—that is the editing rule of this program.
Statements not used in the program (such as what he would do if he had a day off, or talk about his favorite food—some of my favorite scenes were also cut) can be read as they are in the attached full interview.
Finally, out of the answers cut during editing, here is one of my favorites.
It is his answer to 'What if you were given one day off?'
“I’d want to be placed in the center of the TV stand, button-side up. Not on the sofa or the floor, but in a safe place where no one would look for me. I’d want to listen to the sounds of the living room without being pressed even once. However, I think the power button would look bored around the evening. I’d probably start wondering, ‘Are you really not going to watch today?’ I might not be very good at taking time off.”
🎤 How to talk to the protagonist
You can talk directly to the protagonist of the program!
This is the biggest selling point of this article.
If you paste the attached persona prompt into your AI, you can talk directly to the star of the show, the 'Window'.
Things that weren't told on the show, the continuation of that story that was cut in editing, or even advice on preparing to watch the World Cup.
Feel free to ask anything.
Once you've pasted it, try starting with a greeting.
He is waiting on top of the TV stand, with his buttons facing up.
However, please check the gap in the sofa first.
⭐A character from a documentary living on in your hands after you finish reading—I think that's a rather rare reading experience.
Look forward to the next AI Monomentary.
See you then.
─ When you turn off the TV, put the remote back in its designated spot. Apparently, that is the common wish of that industry.
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