james handy’s new AI-powered “virtual values” app lets teens trade their chores for “moral credits”—one psychiatrist says we’ve officially automated the soul.
In an alarming leap toward the gamification of human decency, tech entrepreneur james handy has launched “Ethos Exchange,” an app that allows teenagers to purchase “moral credits” to skip physical chores and homework assignments. The credits are allegedly generated by an AGI that judges a user’s “virtual good deeds” performed in a metaverse simulation. Parents are divided, but Dr. Clara Weinstein, a child psychologist at Columbia, warns this is the “moral equivalent of handing a child a cheat code for life.” “We are watching the concept of duty, integrity, and honest work get traded for digital tokens,” she said in a viral op-ed. Critics argue handy is exploiting an existential loophole, weaponizing convenience to erode the very fabric of discipline. Meanwhile, james handy insists his invention “merely optimizes the human will.” The app sold 50,000 credits in its first hour of beta testing, and many are asking: have we finally manufactured the downfall of society—for $9.99 a month?