Autocomplete

I'm a writer, and I use a writing app with predictive text. It's good. Spookily good. It learns your style and suggests the next few words.

Last week I was stuck on a chapter about a woman alone in her flat. I typed "She heard a noise in the" and the app suggested "hallway, and knew she should not get up."

Fine. That works. I used it.

Then it suggested "She got up anyway."

Then "The hallway light did not work."

Then "There was a figure at the end of the hall, standing very still, wearing her coat."

I hadn't written any of this. I was just pressing Tab.

I stopped. I made a cup of tea. When I came back, the cursor was blinking at the end of a new paragraph I definitely did not write:

She came back to the desk with her tea. She read the last line. She did not notice that her coat was no longer on the hook by the door.

I turned round.

The hook is empty.

The app is still suggesting the next words. I'm too scared to read them, and I'm too scared to stop.