Our Class Bets Everything on One AI

The class heartthrob, Kevin Mosley, who scores only 1000 in the SATs, claims that he has successfully enrolled at Starvard University and is just waiting for the semester to begin. He even guarantees that he can get the entire class admitted as well.

The whole class starts cheering and praising him for being their hero. All of them intend to let him submit their college applications for them.

But something about his story doesn't sound right to me, so I ask a few more questions.

That's when I discover that his so-called exclusive admission internal channel is CloudAI, which is just an AI chatbot!

It confidently tells him that it has already reserved a special admission slot for him and guarantees that he can report to Starvard University when the semester starts.

Trying to help, I point out that the AI is just generating conversational responses and telling him what he wants to hear.

My childhood friend, Janice Hudson, is the first to jump to his defense.

"Daryl Greer, how can you doubt Kevin? He's trying to help the whole class. What's it to you?"

My friend, Aaron Yates, chimes in as well. "Daryl, AI is cutting-edge technology. It's the future. You can't dismiss it just because you don't understand it."

Their words rile everyone up. As the argument escalates, I am shoved down a flight of stairs.

I hit my head and die on the spot.

When I open my eyes again, I find myself back at the moment when Kevin proudly announces that he's been admitted to Starvard.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

This time, I'll simply respect their choices and wish them the best.

The excruciating pain from the shattered skull in the back of my head still seemed to linger in my nerve endings. I jolted my eyes open at once, gasping loudly for air as a deafening roar of cheers filled my ears.

"Oh, my God! You're the best, Kevin! You say that you got into Starvard University even with just an SAT score of 1000? You're our entire class' savior!"

"It's no wonder that he's the class heartthrob! He even managed to get his hands on this exclusive insider information!"

"You're my role model! Please help me get in too, Kevin! I want to get into Starvard as well!"

I stared at this familiar yet absurd scene, completely drenched in cold sweat.

Kevin Mosley, the class heartthrob who couldn't even solve a single quadratic equation, was standing in front of the class before the whiteboard, holding up his latest iPhone, his face beaming with pride and smugness.

The phone showed an AI chat application interface.

I had been reborn and somehow traveled back in time to two hours ago.

"Alright, everyone! Get in line," he said, enjoying basking in the class' adulation as he spoke with feigned profundity.

"This is CloudAI, an advanced AI access that I paid a hefty price for. It has guaranteed that I can lock in an exclusive internal admission spot at Starvard University as long as I provide it with my ID number."

A couple of other classmates who usually scored quite well in class were still a little suspicious of it. They retained a shred of rationality in them, cautiously asking, "Is your AI reliable, Kevin? What if… What if we end up not getting in? This is our college application that we're talking about!"

The moment she heard someone questioning her role model, my childhood friend, Janice Hudson, immediately jumped in like a fiercely protective dog.

"What do you even know about this anyway? It's AI! Artificial intelligence! It's the next big thing! This is the future! Kevin's being generous by sharing such a precious resource with you, and yet, you dare to doubt him?"

Kevin gritted his teeth in a huff, tapping his finger against the phone screen.

"Since you don't believe me, let's personally ask it a few more questions."

Soon, CloudAI replied with a very lengthy reply. Kevin pressed on the "speech" button, and a mechanical female voice echoed in the quiet classroom, "Dear Kevin, rest assured that my system has fully taken over Starvard University's internal admissions network.

"If you fail to enroll as scheduled, our company will fully compensate you five million dollars for emotional distress. We always have a top-notch hacker team to protect you."

The entire class erupted in cheers when they heard the words "five million dollars".

"What the hell? Five million dollars if I can't get into Starvard? This is a guaranteed win-win situation for all of us!"

"Kevin! Count me in! I don't care if I can't get in anymore. I want that five million dollars!"

"That's right! It doesn't matter if I can't further my studies anymore. I wouldn't even have to work if I had five million dollars!"