“Daddy daddy, what do you think the future will be like?”
“Oh I think it will be wonderful: flying cars, more understanding of our neighbors, space travel, cures for diseases, people will live more comfortable easy lives!”
The future: fascists, racist robots, billionaires, more fascists, bombing civilians, cutting science funding, the earth is on fire, more fascists, cutting HIV study funding, more racist robots, gutting artistic employment, more billionaires, fried donuts.
I remember the 90s early 2000s when it felt like we were sort of all going in the right direction and technology would help build a better future.
But then again, history always goes in cycles and it would be reasonable to expect information technology to (initially?) lead to really bad outcomes, just like with industrialization and WW1/WW2.
It took the horrors of the two world wars for people to get out of their stupor.
“Daddy daddy, what do you think the future will be like?”
“Oh I think it will be wonderful: flying cars, more understanding of our neighbors, space travel, cures for diseases, people will live more comfortable easy lives!”
The future: fascists, racist robots, billionaires, more fascists, bombing civilians, cutting science funding, the earth is on fire, more fascists, cutting HIV study funding, more racist robots, gutting artistic employment, more billionaires, fried donuts.
I guess it’s not all terrible, just mostly.
Unfortunately we got this future Biff:
I remember the 90s early 2000s when it felt like we were sort of all going in the right direction and technology would help build a better future.
But then again, history always goes in cycles and it would be reasonable to expect information technology to (initially?) lead to really bad outcomes, just like with industrialization and WW1/WW2.
It took the horrors of the two world wars for people to get out of their stupor.
90’s Internet: would you like to play chess with someone from across the globe? You could learn about their culture and how much you have in common!
Users: no thanks, I’m busy making racist videos using this energy hungry AI tool.