Elon & Edward
Everything in bold was written by me. The rest is auto-continued by an artificial intelligence called GPT-3.
Elon Musk and Edward Snowden walked into a bar. There was no menu or barkeeper to be seen, just a QR code on the wall.
Elon looked at Edward. "Did you bring your smartphone?"
Edward nodded.
"Alright then, scan the QR code."
Edward scanned the code and a menu popped up on his phone.
"What'll it be?"
"How about a beer?"
"Sure, tap the beer option."
Edward tapped the beer option and a Pint of Boddington's magically appeared in front of him.
"How'd you do that?"
"Magic."
"Can I have a whiskey too?"
"No problem, tap whiskey."
Edward tapped whiskey and a shot of Jack Daniels appeared in front of him.
"That's incredible, where's the bartender?"
"There is no bartender, this is the bar of the future."
"How does it work?"
"I have a 3D printer behind the bar. I put in the ingredients for the beers or drinks I want to serve and the printer creates them."
"That's amazing."
"It is. Also, if I want to create something new, I can scan a QR code on the wall and see the recipe of an existing drink. I can then tweak the recipe and print new drinks."
"Wow, and you own this bar?"
"I do, I call it The Internet Bar."
***
After a few drinks, Elon suddenly remembered a conversation he had with a friend.
"You know, the Internet is like a bar."
"Really? How?"
"Well, the Internet is a collection of disparate things, like different drinks in a bar. People go to the Internet to find what they need."
"That's true, the Internet is just like a bar."
"I wonder what would happen if we put an Internet bar in space."
"What?"
"Yeah, just put a bar with drink dispensers in space, it'd be such a hit."
"I don't think so, people need gravity to enjoy a drink."
"Ok, so the Internet Bar would be a giant wheel spinning in space."
"That sounds like a terrible idea."
"But the Internet Bar would be so cool."
"I don't know..."
"We'd get a great view of Earth too."
***
Shortly before midnight, in the dim light, another guest arrived. She was a scientist named Susan.
Edward looked over at Susan and smiled. "Hey Susan, come join us."
Susan smiled back. "Hi Edward, Elon, how are you?"
"We're doing great, come join us for a drink."
Susan looked around the bar. "This is a great place you have here."
Elon turned to Susan. "Susan, Susan, Susan. You know, you and I have worked together for years. I have a question for you."
"Sure, Elon, what is it?"
"I've been thinking a lot about the future, and I've come to the realization that in the future, everyone will either have an infinite personal jet pack or they'll be dead. What do you think?"
Susan smiled. "That's a really good question, Elon. I'm going to go with option two."