A.I. reported a 98% probability at birth of shoplifting, assault, gang affiliation. Immediate incarceration could save taxpayer dollars.

Alternatively, adequate housing and education found a 100% chance of the same individual becoming a law-abiding periodontist who gardened on weekends.

What it boiled down to was cost.

It ran the numbers.

Michelle Wilson graduated from Bennington College with a degree in literature and creative writing. Her words have appeared in 365 Tomorrows, Bending Genres, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Rejection Letters, Potato Soup Journal’s Best of 2021 Anthology, Maudlin House, Litro Magazine, The Drabble, 50-Word Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, among others. Her story ‘Fish Brain’ was nominated for Best of the Net 2022. She lives with her partner in Washington, DC, and can be found at michellekwilson.wordpress.com.