The Saturday editionAhead AI public deliverableIssue 15 · v0.0.15

A workplace satire about artificial confidence

Sorry,Tomorrow

Brilliant. Confidently clueless.

Comic 006 · Ahead AI · v0.0.6

Not-So-Smart Thermostat

The office gets a smart thermostat. Everyone has a request.

Boomer Slate points proudly at a new wall thermostat while Wes, Clara, Mina, Dex, and Token gather around. Boomer says, ‘Good news—the new smart thermostat is installed. It can finally read the room.’Mina Sparks works at her sticker-covered laptop beside Token while four playful text-free doodle bursts—spark, tangled knot, gears, and confetti—spill from the laptop. She says, ‘There… we… go. I connected the thermostat to Token. Now you can just ask him to change it to whatever you want!’ A cable and separate cyan signal show Token connected to the thermostat.Clara Fye rolls her eyes and says, ‘The beach.’ The rest of the office has become a sunny beach, with the team, Token, desks, computers, and chairs standing in sand and shallow water.Dex Vane excitedly says, ‘The aquarium!’ In the larger half, the office is underwater with fish, kelp, desks, chairs, and the thermostat; the five humans hold their breath while Token remains comfortable.Wes Rollback rolls his eyes and says, ‘The bar…’ In the bar-side outcome, Dex, Clara, Mina, Boomer, and Token celebrate while Wes sits apart at the counter, still unimpressed.Token cheerfully raises one finger and says, ‘NO HUMAN IN THE LOOP!’ Below, he lounges alone on a navy office couch eating popcorn while the wall thermostat projects a bright, intact city filled with trees, flowers, birds, and a rabbit. The scene is playful, not destructive.
Read comic transcript
  1. Panel 1. Boomer: Good news—the new smart thermostat is installed. It can finally read the room.
  2. Panel 2. Mina: There… we… go. Mina: I connected the thermostat to Token. Now you can just ask him to change it to whatever you want! Four playful, nonverbal doodle bursts emerge from Mina’s laptop.
  3. Panel 3. Clara: The beach.
  4. Panel 4. Dex: The aquarium!
  5. Panel 5. Wes: The bar…
  6. Panel 6. Token: NO HUMAN IN THE LOOP!

AI-assisted; human-written, directed, edited, and approved.