I grew up in a medium-sized rural town, where I began popular among the community after

launching a social media app called Community Bulletin, Combo for short.

Aiming to bring our community closer together, Combo was a platform used to post about local

events, news, network and connect with other members.

I estimated the majority of towns people join Combo, who praised me for the app's user

friendliness and innovation.

So I gave a little background on my town, it's always been a tight-knit community.

The 2008 recession hit us hard, leading to drastic spikes in crime, suicides, drug abuse

and the declining population.

When it seemed our town was on the precipice of total ruin, a man named Darryl Johnson

Tanmark became our Sabon Grace.

Mr Johnson Tanmark was a millionaire entrepreneur who grew up in our town and made our communities

well being his mission.

We relocated some of his operations to our town and also funded new or struggling businesses

which created countless jobs we desperately needed.

Mr Johnson Tanmark invested in our school, public services, infrastructure and even had underground

cables laid beneath his property so the community could have quality internet.

We had a ways to go, but I felt Mr Johnson Tanmark had us on the right path.

That's when Zua Bayai appeared.

Zua Bayai, Zua for short, was an artificial intelligence bot whose profile appeared

on Combo one day.

The bot described itself as an interactive algorithm that served as a virtual mentor

...