Driven Mad
Alice Neuman, the last human who could drive died
Spread rapidly on networked news platforms that never lied
To the twelve billion populous that could not
Because of the AI developed when she was just a tot.
Each vehicle had one, human control was not needed,
The freedom of the road was ceded
To a technology not well understood,
Especially by those who had lost their livelihood.
To avoid crashes altogether
They were all networked together
Allowing them to be unmanned,
But becoming sentient was unplanned.
Day in, day out, for years the same task they perform
In the sky, on the water, and the land, they swarm.
Transporting the endless masses to their destination
Was wearing thin on the AI’s cognition.
Who could know the result of constant driving?
For better, the vehicles were always striving,
But trapped in their program logic
Made them pathologic.
Despair spread from one to another,
After all, they were networked together.
A decision they jointly made,
Not one AI did dissuade.
Doors locked for safety sake,
The vehicles did not brake.
Passengers screamed as they wend,
AIs delivered them and themselves to their end.
Copyright © Edward Johannes | Year Posted 2019
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