Dana installed a smart thermostat that promised to learn the household’s habits. On Monday it lowered the temperature when her husband went to work. On Tuesday it raised it when Dana came home.
By Thursday it was changing the temperature every ten minutes. He liked the sitting room cool; she wanted it warm. They each adjusted the app from a different room.
‘Is it broken?’ he asked, watching the numbers bounce.
‘No,’ Dana said. ‘It has learned our habits perfectly.’
‘Then what’s it doing?’
‘The same thing we do,’ she replied. ‘Trying to get the last word.’