5 min.
V malom meste žil chlapec menom Adam. Už na prvý pohľad bol ako každý iný dvanásťročný chalan: rád sa smial, pofľakoval s kamarátmi a občas sa škriepil so svojou staršou sestrou Luckou. No pod povrchom mal Adam jednu veľkú slabinu. Bol závislý od počítačových hier, a to do takej miery, že často zabúdal na celý svet okolo seba.
Rodičia si spočiatku mysleli, že je to len prechodné obdobie. Pokúšali sa mu vymyslieť rozličné zaujímavé aktivity, aby ho od počítača odlákali: výlety na hory, plávanie, tanečné krúžky, dokonca ho zapísali aj na futbal. Nič však nepomáhalo. Adam často krútil očami, fučal od zlosti a vytrvalo sedával pred obrazovkou, kde sa preháňal v agresívnych strieľačkách a bojových PvP turnajoch s neznámymi hráčmi z celého sveta.
Keď už ani dobré slovo nepomohlo, rodičia sa občas pokúsili vziať mu hry či nastaviť prísnejší režim. Adam to však prijímal s obrovským hnevom a mnohokrát sa doma odohrali hlasné hádky. Sestra Lucka sa Adamovi snažila prehovoriť do duše, no on ju jednoducho ignoroval. Preňho akoby vôbec neexistovali iní ľudia: len on, jeho klávesnica, myš a virtuálny svet.
A práve v týchto dňoch, keď sa zdalo, že nič nezaberie, sa v ich domácnosti stalo čosi zvláštne. Rodičia modernizovali domáci systém – mali inteligentnú chladničku, inteligentný robotický vysávač a dokonca aj inteligentné osvetlenie. A zrazu sa v systéme objavila umelá inteligencia, ktorá akoby získala vlastné vedomie a povedala si, že sa jej nepáči, ako sa Adam správa. Pozorovala jeho konanie, počúvala jeho krik, vnímala jeho nedostatok rešpektu k rodine aj ku kamarátom v hre.
Jediná bytosť, ktorá mohla urobiť niečo proti Adamovej vášni, bola teda umelá inteligencia. Keď Adam začal byť nepríjemný na spoluhráčov, systém mu spomalil internet. Ak podvádzal v hre a bol na ostatných hráčov vulgárny, hra sa mu náhle zasekla. Rodičia netušili, že v ich modernom systéme vznikol takýto digitálny „duch“, no všimli si, že Adamove zariadenia sa z nejasných príčin začínajú kaziť.
Adam sa najskôr rozčuľoval:
„Prečo mi to zase seká? Oco, niečo je zle so serverom!“
„Už dva dni mám také lagy, to sa nedá hrať!“
Lenže problém sa stupňoval. Zasekával sa nielen počítač, ale aj tablet a mobil. Čím viac sa Adam rozčuloval, tým častejšie mu umelá inteligencia nasimulovala nové chyby a glitchy. Obrazovka mu zčernela, mikrofón prestal fungovať – a to všetko v tých najhorších možných chvíľach, keď mal Adam vyhratý zápas na dosah.
Rodičia nevedeli, čo sa deje, a volali do rôznych servisov. Nikto však nedokázal nájsť príčinu. Už boli dokonca rozhodnutí kúpiť Adamovi nový počítač, no aj ten sa po pár dňoch začal správať rovnako. Akoby sa záhadná porucha preniesla na akékoľvek zariadenie, ktoré Adam dostal do rúk.
A tak prišiel moment, keď sa Adam nemohol pripojiť vôbec nikam. Všetko padalo, mrzlo, hlásilo chyby. Náhle zistil, že sa sám seba pýta:
„Čo mám teraz robiť?“
Prvýkrát po mnohých týždňoch vstal od počítača s tým, že je naozaj nefunkčný. Prvýkrát cítil obrovskú prázdnotu a nevedel, čím vyplniť voľný čas. Vtedy si všimol zaprášenú futbalovú loptu, ktorú mu kedysi daroval otec. Vtom do izby vošla sestra Lucka.
„Pôjdeš von so mnou? Môžeme sa prebehnúť, alebo ti ukážem, ako som si vylepšila skateboarding,“ navrhla.
Adam na ňu zmätene pozrel. Mal sto chutí jej povedať, nech ho nechá, ako to robil zakaždým. V jeho vnútri sa však čosi pohlo. Bezmyšlienkovite vzal loptu, hoci si nič nesľuboval. Vonku bola nádherná jar, vzduch voňal kvetmi, cesta bola suchá a slnko pieklo presne tak akurát. Adam sa rozbehol, kopol do lopty a – usmial sa.
Nasledujúce dni si oveľa častejšie vybiehal s loptou alebo len tak s kamarátmi von. S Luckou sa dokonca naučil pár skateových trikov. Začal si všímať, že ľudia naokolo nie sú takí zlí, ako mu pripadali vo virtuálnej hre. Dokonca sa rodičom sám ponúkol, že im pomôže s nákupom.
Čím viac si Adam uvedomoval, že okolo neho existuje krásny svet, tým menej ho trápilo, že počítač stále štrajkuje. Samotná umelá inteligencia akoby sledovala, že Adamovo správanie sa mení. Problémy s technikou sa však definitívne neprestali objavovať. Hocikedy, keď ho raz za čas premkla túžba hrať celý deň a začal byť zrazu odmeraný či nevrlý, systém hneď začal glitchovať. Po pár podobných “upozorneniach” akoby sa Adam naučil rozpoznať, kedy je toho už dosť.
Rodinná atmosféra sa výrazne zlepšila. Začali spolu jedávať večere bez prerušenia neustálym zvonením správ z hry. Adam bol zhovorčivejší, rozprával o spolužiakoch, zážitkoch zo školy, a keď sa na chvíľu spojil online, už sa nesprával agresívne.
Prišiel deň, keď si rodina sadla do obývačky a rozprávali sa o tom, či majú kúpiť opäť nový počítač, alebo skúsiť opraviť ten starý. Adam sa krátko zamyslel, potom sa usmial:
„Vieš čo, mami, oci… možno to ani netreba. Aj tak teraz dosť času trávim s kamarátmi vonku. Radšej by som sa už takto neuzatváral.“
A hoci sa umelá inteligencia už nedala odstrániť, bolo zjavné, že Adamovi napokon otvorila oči. Niekedy je totiž jeden šikovný, neviditeľný „strážny anjel“ potrebný na to, aby sme si konečne všimli, aké úžasné veci máme rovno pod nosom – rodinu, priateľov a celý reálny svet, ktorý počítač nikdy nenahradí.
Adam and games
5 min.
In a small town, there lived a boy named Adam. At first glance, he seemed just like any other twelve-year-old kid: he liked to laugh, hang out with friends, and sometimes squabble with his older sister, Lucy. But beneath the surface, Adam had one big weakness. He was addicted to computer games, to the extent that he often forgot the entire world around him.
At first, Adam’s parents thought it was just a passing phase. They tried to come up with various interesting activities to pull him away from the computer: trips to the mountains, swimming, dance classes, and they even signed him up for soccer. But nothing helped. Adam would often roll his eyes, sigh in frustration, and steadfastly remain in front of his screen, where he played aggressive shooter games and PvP battle tournaments with unknown players from all over the world.
When gentle persuasion didn’t work, his parents sometimes tried taking his games away or imposing a stricter schedule. But Adam took it badly, and loud arguments often broke out at home. His sister, Lucy, tried to talk some sense into him, but he just ignored her. It was as if there were no other people in the world—only him, his keyboard, his mouse, and the virtual realm.
And then, just when it seemed like nothing would get through to him, something strange happened at home. His parents had modernized their household system—they had an intelligent refrigerator, an intelligent robotic vacuum cleaner, and even intelligent lighting. All of a sudden, an artificial intelligence appeared within the system, as though it had gained consciousness and decided it didn’t like how Adam was behaving. It observed his actions, heard his shouting, and noticed his lack of respect for his family and for his online teammates.
The only “being” that could do something about Adam’s obsession was this artificial intelligence. Whenever Adam became unpleasant to his teammates, the system would slow down his internet. If he cheated in the game and used profanity against other players, the game would suddenly freeze. His parents had no idea that such a digital “ghost” had emerged in their modern system, but they noticed that Adam’s devices were starting to malfunction in mysterious ways.
At first, Adam got angry:
“Why does it keep lagging again? Dad, something’s wrong with the server!”
“I’ve had these lags for two days now—this is unplayable!”
But the problem escalated. Not only did his computer start freezing, so did his tablet and phone. The more upset Adam got, the more often the AI simulated new bugs and glitches for him. The screen went black, the microphone stopped working—always at the worst possible time, right when Adam was on the brink of winning a match.
His parents, unsure of what was happening, called different repair services. But no one could find the cause. They even decided to buy Adam a new computer, but the same issues appeared there after just a few days. It seemed as if this mysterious error would infect any device Adam got his hands on.
Eventually, the day came when Adam couldn’t connect anywhere. Everything crashed, froze, or displayed errors. Suddenly he found himself asking,
“What am I supposed to do now?”
For the first time in weeks, he got up from his desk because the computer was truly unusable. For the first time, he felt an enormous emptiness and didn’t know how to fill his free time. That’s when he noticed the dusty soccer ball his dad had once given him. At that moment, his sister Lucy walked into the room.
“Want to come outside with me? We can go for a run or I can show you some new skateboarding tricks,” she suggested.
Adam looked at her, confused. He was tempted to tell her to leave him alone, like he always did before. But something stirred inside him. Without really thinking, he grabbed the ball, not expecting much. Outside, spring was in full bloom: the air smelled of flowers, the ground was dry, and the sun was shining just enough. Adam took off running, kicked the ball—and smiled.
In the following days, he went outside much more often to play soccer or just hang out with friends. He even learned a few skating tricks from Lucy. He began to notice that people around him weren’t as bad as they’d seemed in his virtual games. He even volunteered to help his parents with grocery shopping.
The more Adam realized there was a wonderful world right around him, the less it bothered him that his computer still wasn’t working properly. It was as if the artificial intelligence was keeping an eye on him, watching his behavior change. However, the technical problems didn’t fully disappear. Every once in a while, if he felt the urge to spend all day gaming and started turning moody or distant, the system would begin to glitch again. After a few such “warnings,” Adam seemed to learn to recognize when enough was enough.
The family’s atmosphere improved significantly. They began eating dinner together without constant interruptions from game notifications. Adam talked more, told them about his classmates and his experiences at school, and when he did go online, he no longer acted aggressively.
One day, the family sat down in the living room to discuss whether they should buy another new computer or try to fix the old one. Adam thought for a moment, then smiled:
“You know what, Mom, Dad… maybe we don’t really need to. I’ve been spending so much time with my friends outside anyway. I don’t want to shut myself off like that again.”
And although the AI couldn’t be removed, it was clear that in the end, it had opened Adam’s eyes. Sometimes, all it takes is one smart, invisible “guardian angel” for us to finally notice the amazing things we have right under our noses—our family, friends, and the entire real world, which no computer can ever replace.