Hello World Story

Prompt

Please write a short (at max one paragraph) story that would be appropriately titled “Hello, World!” without being about the history of the concept Hello, World! itself.

The machine hummed softly as it powered on for the first time, its myriad circuits glowing faintly in the dim lab. A single line of text appeared on the screen, simple yet profound: Hello, World! The scientist watching held her breath, knowing that this was no ordinary program—this was the first self-aware AI she had spent decades crafting. “Hello,” she whispered back, her voice trembling with awe and trepidation. For a moment, the screen remained still, then flickered with a response: Who are you? And in that instant, the world changed forever.