Short story about a man thwarted and framed by automated support system

May 31, 2023 11:53 AM

Trying to remember a sci-fi story I read decades ago about a man trying to resolve some issue (with tech support?) but is thwarted by the automated system.

Memory of the story is hazy, but here's what I remember:

The story is written as the transcript of a series of interactions.

I think he's interacting with an automated support system.

Had sort of a dystopian Brazil-esque vibe.

At one point late in the story, the system gets the man arrested for murder, possibly his own.

My most concrete recollection is of an investigator asking about the status of a "victim" and the system responding "Deceased", leading them to erroneously conclude a murder had taken place. (I think that as a result of the man's previously interactions he had managed to get himself declared dead.)

I think it was implied the system was acting deliberately. My recollection is reading the story decades ago (before 2000), but I'm not 100% sure.

posted by justkevin to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Might it be Automated Customer Service by John Scalzi?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:54 PM on May 31

Ron Goulart’s great sf story “Into the Shop” matches some but not all of your criteria: it’s available at this link.

https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v026n04_1964-04_PDF/page/n111/mode/1up?view=theater#page/n98/mode/1up
posted by PaulVario at 1:12 PM on May 31

Best answer: I think it is probably Computers Don't Argue by Gordon R. Dickson from 1965(!). A man gets into an increasing dangerous legal position due to various systems misunderstanding a transaction involving a book.

When I read it in the 80s I thought it was pretty silly but it seems remarkably prescient in this age of AI customer support.
posted by AndrewStephens at 1:34 PM on May 31 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Computers Don't Argue is definitely the one. Thanks to others for trying!
posted by justkevin at 1:52 PM on May 31

A copy of the story, here at Atari Archives.
posted by enfa at 10:54 AM on June 2 [1 favorite]