[Short-Short] You're not using AI, are you? (1,766 characters)
"You're not using AI, are you?"
When my boss asked me that, I was panicking inside, thinking I was in trouble. I had thought I might get caught someday, but I never expected to be caught off guard like this. For a moment, I considered trying to make an excuse, but I realized it was useless to resist, so I decided to apologize meekly.
"I'm sorry, I'm not using it."
As I bowed my head, my boss raised his voice.
"Why not? I've told you many times to use AI to write your emails, haven't I? Why do you insist on writing with your own brain? If there's trouble because of that, you won't be able to take responsibility, will you?"
I had no words to reply. I could only keep apologizing, saying I was sorry over and over. In the midst of that scene, the senior colleague at the next desk quietly disappeared. He must have thought I was a troublesome person.
With the spread of AI, it has been a long time since the world became one where all communication is premised on using AI to avoid risk. From important negotiations to politicians' responses, musicians' stage banter, daily business correspondence, and even casual conversation, AI checks have become like a mandatory duty. When it comes to grumbling at a bar, it's common to hear things like,
"These days, even celebrities rely on AI for their apology press conferences, don't they?"
"If they spoke in their own words, they'd get flamed. It's only natural, right?"
Such content has become standard, and not using AI has come to be seen as a dangerous act by someone who overconfidently thinks they are smarter than AI, leading to natural persecution.
When I first started working, I accepted that this was just how society was, adapted to it, and trusted AI 100%. However, gradually, I began to harbor a vague anxiety that if this was the case, AI could just communicate with other AI, and humans weren't needed at all.
That was when I heard rumors of the Natural Intelligence Club. It seems that people who secretly think with their own brains while evading AI surveillance are developing a grassroots movement. Since they would be caught by AI on the internet, they are slowly expanding offline connections, and I heard someone on the commuter train saying that it had grown to a decent size. I was immediately excited, and my heart raced with the desire to join that group right away.
That said, how could I become a member? I reasoned that if I acted in an anti-AI way, a member who noticed might approach me, but it was easy to imagine that if I did that, my boss would immediately notice and I would be fired. For that reason, without knowing what to do, and unable to use AI innocently like in the past, I spent my days muddling through my work by half-heartedly mixing in my own thoughts.
I was prepared for the fact that I might get scolded someday. But I kept at it, encouraging myself that since I was using AI to some extent, it wouldn't become a big deal. Besides, I thought to myself, I could quit this job anytime, so I didn't care if I got scolded. Yet, when I was actually being lectured by my boss like this, I felt deeply ashamed, thinking I had done something terrible.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"If apologizing solved everything, we wouldn't need the police. You know our company's work rules, right? If you don't use AI, you're fired. Fired. No, to be precise, it's disciplinary action, disciplinary action. I'll tell you for the record, everything I'm instructing you on right now is based on advice I received from AI in advance. While it's possible that in the heat of the moment I might say something different from the AI's view, I'll give you a document later, so basically, make your judgments based on what's written there. Anyway, there's a problem with your behavior!"
And then, my boss left the scene. As a serious person, I was left standing there, unable to do anything but be stunned, holding onto the anxiety of being placed in front of total darkness.
Before long, my senior colleague, who had returned quietly, spoke to me gently, perhaps intending to cheer me up.
"Hey, you're not using AI, are you?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry for the trouble."
Feeling apologetic for causing concern and unable to hold back my remorse, I expressed my regret, but my senior pressed a finger to her lips with a "Shh!" and shot me a stern look.
"You're not using AI, right? If not, I'll invite you."
"Does that mean, by any chance..."
"Yes. Welcome to the Natural Intelligence Club."
(End)
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