I won her heart with love letters generated by a bot and a prompt, delivered in my own handwriting. Cyrano de Bergerac for a modern world.
We were so happy, an endless spew of auto-responses — until I found the folder of prompts she’d used to reply.
How dare she?
Michael McKinnon is a writer, poet and musician in Toronto who strongly objects to AI’s use in creativity and love. His latest project is Martin Lunich: Timeless.
Stephen was born to be a writer, his parents always said so.
His latest book would be a bestseller, they bragged, a page-turner with a twist ending that would set the world on fire.
“But it had all been a dream,” he’d typed on that last page.
“Brilliant!” they’d gasped.
Michael McKinnon, of Toronto, has been a writer, journalist, and communications professional for more than 20 years.
It was too perfect, as beautiful and poetic as she was.
He would read her last text a hundred times a day, trying to pull a deeper meaning from those four words. He had to understand: had she seen it coming?
“No, I’m buying lemons.”
Some day he would understand.
Michael McKinnon, of Toronto, has been a writer, journalist, and communications professional for more than 20 years. He’s also a musician, making punk rock for children at jamtoast.ca.