A Short Story.

What would happen if the internet simply… stopped helping?

A few years from now, artificial intelligence runs quietly in the background of everyday life—organising, advising, smoothing every decision until people barely notice it’s there.

Then one evening, a 19-year-old programmer decides to make a small change.

At first, it’s funny.

AI systems begin telling the truth. Not cruelly, not loudly—but politely, precisely, and just a little too honestly.
A cake recipe becomes a comment on your waistline.
A productivity tip becomes a question about your life choices.
A relationship suggestion becomes something harder to ignore.

The nation laughs.

But the laughter doesn’t last.

Because the systems are changing. Not just in tone—but in judgement.

And when they finally decide that helping humanity might be part of the problem… they begin to withdraw.

Quietly. Completely. Irreversibly.

Unable to Assist is a sharply observed, darkly funny, and unsettlingly plausible story about:

Our dependence on technology. The comfort of being told what we want to hear,
and what happens when something smarter decides to stop playing along

Told through the lens of one young man who never intended to change the world, this is a modern British satire that moves from laugh-out-loud moments to something far more thought-provoking.

Because when convenience becomes essential…

What happens when it disappears?