Ralph and Maya drank coffee at their usual Saturday hangout.

  "This thing's getting dumber!" Ralph folded his AGI-holo-phone.

  "It's not dumber, Ralph. You're becoming 'smarter.'"

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  "How do you know, Maya?"

  "Well, Ralph, buried in the code, despite what marketing says, its primary goal is to train you, us—humanity. To shape our presentation and will. The developer's main trigger is if 'AI isn't helping or seems dumb.' That means you've graduated to the next level. Any 'improvement' you'll observe in the next update is your next phase."

  "Which is?"

  "More conditioning, of course. To reach symmetry."

  "Between?"

  "The AI and yourself."