FLOATER CORPORATION
The attached video was made a few years ago. Through the magic of AI, it is narrated by me 30 years ago.
Floater was created during a time when many families were grappling with the financial strain of living on a single income. It was inspired by my own family’s experiences. I bought a house when I was 25. I was not fully aware of all the expenses that would come with this purchase. We had children and became a single income family. Floater’s AI Engine mimicked how I managed our finances, incorporating a feature called
“floating,” which allowed users to utilize funds still pending withdrawal—something financial institutions also did to maximize profits.
Note to the Reader:
If you have read the homepage, you may skip this paragraph. Floater was powered by what I called the Floater Artificial Intelligence engine. I used the term “AI” because it was popular in science fiction, but I never claimed the application did any original thinking. The engine learned the preferences of the user and, when decisions were required, relied on what the user would prefer. It was much closer to cybernetics than to what is now called AI.
Floater’s AI factored in the timing of check clearances and salary deposits, alongside more subjective considerations like the “Embarrassment Factor.” This feature helped users prioritize payments based on social pressures, such as paying a dance teacher over a utility bill due to personal interactions.
Floater was groundbreaking as the first consumer product with AI, and though modern technology has caught up, no similar product has replicated its full functionality. If launched today with updated interfaces, Floater would still be a highly relevant product.
Floater was groundbreaking as the first consumer product with AI, and though modern technology has caught up, no similar product has replicated its full functionality. If launched today with updated interfaces, Floater would still be a highly relevant product. #The image to the left was a parody of a popular television series at the time. This was not actual Floater marketing material.
Additionally, we developed “Floater for Business,” which garnered interest from small and mid-sized businesses. Unfortunately, at the time, the technology to integrate Floater with banking systems didn’t exist, but today, it would be even more powerful.
The AI, named “Hal,” was designed to think like its user—not as advanced as today’s AI in that it cannot understand language, but more advanced in that it does not use existing models. It mimics the user’s thought process.