2052
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The year is 2052. Communication technologies are increasingly connected and integrated into our lives and into our bodies as well. The world is more connected now than it has ever been before due to the advent of integrated translation. Any digital communication is facilitated through translation AI automatically. In a face-to-face settings, there are many effective tools to accurately and instantly have a conversation.
We use the concept of a “post-print society” to describe our society – communication takes place almost exclusively in digital spaces. However, there is still the need for print materials in day-to-day life – often in commercial settings.
The biggest change though was the improvement and ubiquity of AI in the production of communication content. Text, art and music are mastered by AI technologies at an exponential rate. Many technologies use AI to facilitate their functionality. These become known as the “Telepathic technologies”. While they don’t actually have the ability to “read minds”, they very realistically anticipate the intention of the user or create media productions that are nearly indistinguishable from those that are human-created. This new AI in in communication will allow for automation of many tasks that have to do with document creation and media production. For instance, A reporter on the scene of an accident will record and simply run the footage through AI to create the accompanying new story.
These are the tools and technologies that shaped our future. However, there were two diverging paths produced by these new technologies. In a dystopian or utopian path, these technologies are either used responsibly or will go unchecked by users and state governments. Can you guess which path is closer to our current reality?
The Dystopian Path
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Due to increased communication efficiency and global linguistic connectivity, Corporations become increasingly globally minded. Megacorporations become larger and take up more share of the global market. Legal precedents fall behind and new technologies continue to erode privacy rights.
Mental health issues are at an all time high. There are issues of increasingly diminished attention spans across all ages and demographics. The diminished opportunity for face-to-face interaction coupled with a focus on productivity and constant screen time leads to increased rates of anxiety, depression and the exacerbation of all pre-existing mental disorders.
Telepathic technologies are used to create media productions in unethical ways. For instance, AI is used to create more and more sophisticated automated online money scams. In academia, students use AI to produce essays simply by inputing some sources and a thesis statement. In these cases, it is very difficult to prove that something was created by AI because it is so indistinguishable from human productions.
New technologies and specifically AI student monitoring and evaluation technologies are used to justify larger class sizes and students lose the benefits of more time connecting socially.
The Utopian Path
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In this utopia, the push for a completely “post-print society” coincides with climate action: deforestation has slowed, integrated technologies work from renewable resources and work also to automate communication and ultimately encourage efficiency across all sectors.
Access to new AI technologies has a very low threshold for access. Open source technologies allow for most modern personal devices to utilize these technologies. Globally, the access to new technologies becomes ubiquitous and adopted in all nations to the benefit of all people. Schools are funded to ensure that students have access to current technologies in the classroom.
AI has a positive effect in the education system. From a young age, children are introduced to current technologies and encouraged to build ethical practices into their own lives. This feeds into the ongoing effective and ethical use of new technologies.