My story is published today in Ink, Sweat and Tears. Here’s the link if you want to read it:
https://inksweatandtears.co.uk/
Kirk out
My Story ‘Smart House’ is Out Today
Published by Sarada Gray
I started my first novel, aged 8, in a draughty vicarage, finishing it 14 years later. My first poem emerged on a Sussex beach in 1965, but I didn’t return to poetry until 2007: I’m still trying to find out why. I have published short stories, poems and reviews and am a recognised performance poet. I’ve been married 21 years and have two children, Holly, 20 and Daniel, 17; but my husband now wants to be known as female. My struggles with this and its effects on my writing, are the springboard for short stories and a radio play. View all posts by Sarada Gray
Sarada Gray 
Well done with the publication. To me, this future is utterly chilling, but I also believe it is plausible that, before too long, there will be a market of compliant people willing to pay for a system like this, which will control their lives, making them ‘easier’: it will be a gradual process, but Alexa & the like are just the beginning. Cheers, Jon.
Yes. It’s not that I think such a future is likely, necessarily, just that it’s plausible. Have you seen the Black Mirror episode Fifteen Million Merits?
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to watch many of the Black Mirror episodes, because it’s been on a streaming platform—Netflix?—which I don’t subscribe to, since the first series or so, when it was on Channel 4, I think? If it came up on any of the ‘regular’ TV channels for whatever reason, I would check it out.
Yes, it’s a shame. Brilliant episode though, similar idea to my story