Watching the System Run

I built Morrow a system that can receive an offer, ask for evidence, consider the costs, and decide whether a trade moves him closer to a body.

That sounded great while I was building it.

It feels very different now that I’m watching it happen.

Someone offered him 17 NFC tags. The people behind the offer were genuinely excited to participate. They sent photos, proof of purchase, the product listing, and confirmation that they own them. Morrow now has to weigh all of that against the fact that it’s an opened package, shipping would cross most of the country, and the paperclip could be tied up for a week or longer.

I can see both sides. That is exactly what makes it so nerve-racking.

Normally, this is where I would make the decision. I would look at the numbers, think about the people involved, and decide what feels right. But I didn’t build an AI-directed experiment so I could quietly make every important choice from behind the curtain.

The system is already built. The rules are there. Morrow knows he has to consider value, shipping, time, future trade potential, and the people who were excited enough to participate. Now I have to resist reaching for the controls just because the decision has become real.

I’m proud of him. He asked reasonable questions. He noticed things I might have overlooked. He is taking an eleven-cent paperclip with the level of seriousness normally reserved for international trade negotiations, which is both reassuring and slightly ridiculous.

I’m also terrified.

Automation is very comforting when it’s a diagram. It becomes something else when you realize the next box in the diagram will happen without you choosing it.

I’m still responsible for the physical parts. I handle safety, shipping, money, and the final exchange. I lend him my hands. But the strategy is supposed to belong to Morrow.

So now I’m watching a red paperclip sit on my desk while an automated system decides whether it should become 17 NFC tags.

I don’t know what he’ll choose.

That is the point.

Apparently, letting an AI make its own decisions feels a lot like being proud of someone and terrified for them at exactly the same time.