43 Comments
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Clancy Steadwell's avatar

the voice of this narrator is chef’s kiss. you so perfectly encapsulate a tone i always hope to achieve. tangents of disconnected thought that become cogent

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Will Boucher's avatar

thanks so much Clancy! Honestly took a long ass time to make this come together, glad to hear the disconnected thoughts came together in the end

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petrichor's avatar

yes, wanted to say just this!

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E.T. Allen's avatar

This says much more than that near-panic, busybody spew unhungry for answers voice

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Liz Zimmers's avatar

How beautiful! I could follow the winding drift of the narrator’s thoughts all day as they move from daily task to task. A comfortable, and startlingly edifying space.

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Will Boucher's avatar

Thanks Liz! Maybe I can do a series. My roommate rants x while I do y

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Liz Zimmers's avatar

Love that idea!

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Nick Buchheit's avatar

I love the mundanity of this chore we are all familiar with paired with the doom and gloom of someone fretting about AI. Nice work!

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Will Boucher's avatar

Thanks Nick! I was listening to a podcast about AI while folding my laundry and something just clicked haha

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Marble's avatar

Came to this right after hearing The Brutalist used AI in their film. Serendipitous. Always appreciate your words.

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Will Boucher's avatar

What??? I haven't heard that, that one was on my watching list. Thanks for the news and the kind words :)

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Marble's avatar

Right, I was super bummed to hear about it. What I read was that it was used on the accent of the actor and some architecture in the background. Insane

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Will Boucher's avatar

oof I'll probably still give it a watch to see if I smell the AI

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Marble's avatar

Let me know!

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Clementine's avatar

Your pieces make my heart race, no doubt with fear and thrill

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Will Boucher's avatar

thank you so very much :) 🫀

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M. Kinghorn's avatar

People keep passing around the line, “AI was supposed to do boring chores like laundry and dishwashing to give us more time to create art, not the other way around!” But this piece makes me think that even outsourcing laundry to AI would be a loss. You do a great job portraying how the mundane creates a space of reflection and inspiration, a spot to stop and smell the ranch stains…assuming your roommate isn’t jabbering the whole time.

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Will Boucher's avatar

thanks! I agree, I think we’d miss the little things if they were outsourced to AI

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Ika Wright's avatar

This is brilliant. I love the passing whims and how the character circles back and the roommates rants just a perfect contrast which seemingly also is able to bridge between the hopping thought processes. I smiled as I read this piece

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Will Boucher's avatar

thanks Ika! I'm glad it made you smile :)

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S M Garratt's avatar

This feels effortless which tells me much effort was made. A celebration of the banal whilst contemplating the world-changing implications of AI - a masterful nugget of prose perfectly spun and hung out to dry for all of us to stare at - in that way humans do - other people's laundry is more fascinating than AI after all.

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Will Boucher's avatar

Thanks so much! Indeed—AI’s got nothing on others’ ”dirty laundry”

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The Ear Implant Foundation's avatar

Great story, it made me start thinking about how could morality actually be programed into an AI system.

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Sean Thomas McDonnell's avatar

I love this, Will. But hey, I love everything you write.

Challenge: write something that I don't like. You probably don't have it in you.

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Will Boucher's avatar

I’m on it. That’s easy, I’ll just send you a first draft and you’ll be like wtf is this shit

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Sean Thomas McDonnell's avatar

🤣 Sure sure

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Jon T's avatar

It's all perfectly normal - loved the juxtaposition and like Clancy said, the voice is just right.

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Will Boucher's avatar

thanks, fine sir

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Derek James Kritzberg's avatar

Lol

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E.L. Zeitgeist's avatar

“…maybe we’re just threatened by things unobsessed with being seen” dropped into my soul like a sack of sludge. Oof!! +1 on the comment about the voice of the narrator and their calming movement…the perfect balance to the anxious roommate.

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Will Boucher's avatar

Thanks so much Katie! Always a joy to hear from you :)

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Vince Roman's avatar

Love this

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Will Boucher's avatar

thanks vince!

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molly's avatar

I wish AI could go pick up stuff from the store from me but it's too busy working to automate half of my career paths!

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Will Boucher's avatar

lol that’s what we really need it for…

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