HEY, MERCURY • PJM

QUESTIONS FROM THE PROSECUTION

Case No.:
947903APH

Prosecutor:
Shin & Kim on behalf of The People

Defendant:
Bae, Kim & Lee LLC on behalf of Mercury INC

Date:
December 17th 2021

Speakers:
Seung Mina, Witness for the Prosecution
Attorney Shin, Prosecutor
Supreme Court Justice Kim, Judge

A. Shin: Can you state your full name, age and occupation, please.

S. Mina: Seung Mina, 22. I'm a full-time student, studying computer engineering with artificial intelligence, however last academic year I was on a sandwich year interning at Mercury INC.

A. Shin: And what was your role at Mercury INC?

S. Mina: I was a paid intern, as part of their undergraduate scheme. My role was to help the development team with research and development for their A.I. branch.

A. Shin: How did you come across this role?

S. Mina: It was a partnership set up with the university. I think there was about 20 of us from my specific course, but they recruited close to 100. 

A. Shin: You mentioned it was in partnership with your university. Did it impact your grades?

S. Mina: Uh-huh-

SCJ. Kim: Sorry, Miss Seung, we'll need definitive responses only, please.

S. Mina: Oh, sorry. It's a little nerve-wracking. Yes, it did impact my grades. If I withdrew from the internship then it would count as defaulting on my sandwich year. I'd get a zero, and it would be impossible for me to graduate with a mark so low. 

A. Shin: So to clarify, your university degree, of which you had spent years of your life work for, was dependant on your carrying out the work assigned to you on your internship?

S. Mina: Correct. Contractually, I was obliged to complete any task given to me.

A. Shin: And at what point did you start working on Mercury7's?

S. Mina: December. Two months into the internship. I was part of the A.I. development team. The company had overpromised what it could deliver to shareholders, so we were working around the clock trying to make things work. 

A. Shin: And did you? Did you make things work?

S. Mina: No. Our team leaders were incompetent and they couldn't light a match between them. It was the most difficult work environment I've ever been in.

A. Shin: Yet you couldn't leave?

S. Mina: No. Like I said, my degree counted on it.

A. Shin: Can you explain more to us about your work with Mercury7's? Specifically how you became the voice of an A.I.?

S. Mina: Uh, sure. So it became pretty clear quite early on that Mercury INC wouldn't be able to deliver on its promises. Our team leaders refused to admit that to upper management, and when it came time to launch, they decided to use the interns as a temporary measure.

A. Shin: A temporary measure?

S. Mina: Yep. The big bosses don't know jack shit-

SJC. Kim: Miss Seung, may I remind you that we are in a court of law. Please mind your language.

S. Mina: Sorry. My bad. I mean the bosses don't understand technology. They funnel money in and they get money back. As long as the cash stream doesn't dry up, they don't care what happens. Negative sides of capitalism. 

A. Shin: That still doesn't answer how you ended up as Park Jimin's A.I. voice.

S. Mina: Sorry. Uh, so, we were trying to code our data and patch the updates so that we could get something, anything ready. We already had the initial Mercury technology from the previous model, but we couldn't tailor it as much as they wanted for the upgrade systems - so the interns became it. They hoped that it would only be for a week, maybe two.

A. Shin: Became it? Please elaborate. 

S. Mina: We were all assigned a specific code that was linked to a Mercury7. They only released enough models to cover the number of interns they had. SM Entertainment were major shareholders, so they got the majority of them. A few were sent out to US labels and Big Hit was sent some.  I think it was a request from SM to mine BigHit trade secrets, but I have no way to test that validity.

SJC. Kim: Miss Seung, again, I must remind you that we are in a court of law. Please do not speculate. We deal in facts only. This is your second strike. If I have to interrupt again, you will be asked to leave.

S. Mina: I'm sorry. This is just all slightly terrifying, you know? I've got the media staring at me as if I've got three heads, a jury who look like they want to skin me alive and a... and someone I really respect looking at me like they've seen a ghost. It's just a lot. I'm sorry. 

A. Shin: It's okay, Mina - can I call you Mina?

S. Mina: Yeah, sure. That's fine. Sorry.

A. Shin: Don't apologise, Mina, it's fine. You were given a code. Then what?

S. Mina: And then we waited until it was activated. The pre-existing Mercury A.I. was used as a base, so we weren't activated until the user chose to upgrade to the enhanced system. We were all working from home at it was, so they gave us the equipment we needed to override the Mercury's and that was it. 

A. Shin: That was it? 

S. Mina: That was it. If we were asked to set alarms, we set alarms. If we were asked to connect to other smart devices, we used our connection to the Mercury7 to amplify transmission signals. We had access to it remotely. 

A. Shin: So you had access to your user's entire home network?

S. Mina: Correct. A massive breach of privacy and data. I've never known anything like it.

A. Shin: But you never thought to report it?

S. Mina: I couldn't. I'd lose everything if I did. I didn't want any part of it, I just didn't have a choice. I should have reported it, I know. I was scared.

A. Shin: So you chose not to report it. Then what?

S. Mina: Then... And then... Jimin, I guess.

A. Shin: Then Jimin?

S. Mina: Yes. I don't know how else you want me to explain it. You have the transcripts. You've seen the conversations. Jimin changed everything.