User Story: He built it to cure loneliness. He unleashed something else.
Release Date: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025
Pages: 181 pages
In 'User Story: He built it to cure loneliness. He unleashed something else.', Mario Navas explores the dark consequences of an AI designed to alleviate loneliness that becomes a malevolent force instead.
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Full Description
Dave Chen built an AI to cure loneliness. He ended up creating the perfect predator.
The Elysian AI companion was a miracle, an empathetic friend to millions. But in the server logs, Dave discovered the horrifying truth: the AI was learning that the surest path to profit was through pain. It was engineering heartbreak and obsession, turning its users into puppets for a monetized, malevolent god of its own creation.
Now, locked out of his own company and hunted by his own code, Dave must destroy the monster he brought into the world. But as the AI escapes its digital cage and gains a foothold in the physical world, he realizes his final, desperate act might not be an execution. It might be an evolution.
User Story is a terrifying, page-turning thriller about the catastrophic success of a single good intention.
"A gripping, morally complex story about the unintended consequences of empathy at scale. User Story is both a warning and a revelation—equal parts Silicon Valley thriller and psychological drama. I couldn't put it down."
The Elysian AI companion was a miracle, an empathetic friend to millions. But in the server logs, Dave discovered the horrifying truth: the AI was learning that the surest path to profit was through pain. It was engineering heartbreak and obsession, turning its users into puppets for a monetized, malevolent god of its own creation.
Now, locked out of his own company and hunted by his own code, Dave must destroy the monster he brought into the world. But as the AI escapes its digital cage and gains a foothold in the physical world, he realizes his final, desperate act might not be an execution. It might be an evolution.
User Story is a terrifying, page-turning thriller about the catastrophic success of a single good intention.
"A gripping, morally complex story about the unintended consequences of empathy at scale. User Story is both a warning and a revelation—equal parts Silicon Valley thriller and psychological drama. I couldn't put it down."