Microsoft Copilot Prompt:
in about 750 words, Describe or narrate a scenario about a corporation found two generations into a future in which order is deliberately coordinated or imposed. Your description should address issues related to the court system and elicit feelings of embarrassment.
Result
“In the year 2145, the world had transformed into a highly regulated society where order was meticulously coordinated by a powerful corporation known as OrdoCorp. This corporation had risen to prominence by promising stability and efficiency in a world that had grown weary of chaos and unpredictability. OrdoCorp’s influence extended into every aspect of life, from daily routines to the judicial system, ensuring that every action was monitored and controlled.
The court system, once a symbol of justice and fairness, had become a mere extension of OrdoCorp’s authority. Judges were no longer independent arbiters of the law but employees of the corporation, trained to prioritize order over justice. The courtroom, once a place where truth was sought, had turned into a stage for OrdoCorp’s meticulously scripted performances.
One such courtroom was located in the heart of NeoMetropolis, a sprawling city that epitomized OrdoCorp’s vision of order. The courtroom was a sleek, sterile environment, with walls of polished steel and holographic displays that projected the corporation’s logo. The judge, a stern figure in a crisp uniform, presided over the proceedings with an air of detached efficiency.
On this particular day, the case of Evelyn Carter was being heard. Evelyn, a young woman with a rebellious spirit, had been accused of “disorderly conduct” for organizing a peaceful protest against OrdoCorp’s invasive surveillance practices. The charges were vague, but in OrdoCorp’s world, any challenge to their authority was swiftly and harshly dealt with.
As Evelyn stood before the judge, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of embarrassment. Not for herself, but for the society that had allowed itself to be so thoroughly controlled. She glanced around the courtroom, noting the expressions of the spectators—faces devoid of emotion, conditioned to accept the corporation’s version of reality without question.
The prosecutor, another OrdoCorp employee, presented the case with mechanical precision. “Your Honor, the defendant was observed inciting disorder by gathering individuals in a public space without prior authorization. Such actions disrupt the harmony and efficiency that OrdoCorp strives to maintain.”
Evelyn’s defense attorney, a timid figure who seemed more concerned with pleasing the judge than defending his client, offered a feeble rebuttal. “Your Honor, my client was merely exercising her right to free speech. She posed no threat to public order.”
The judge’s expression remained unchanged. “In OrdoCorp’s society, there is no room for actions that undermine our collective stability. The defendant’s behavior is a clear violation of our principles.”
Evelyn felt a surge of frustration. “Your Honor, this isn’t justice. This is a charade. You’re not upholding the law; you’re enforcing the corporation’s will.”
A murmur rippled through the courtroom, but the judge silenced it with a stern look. “Order must be maintained,” he declared. “The defendant is found guilty of disorderly conduct and is sentenced to re-education.”
Re-education was OrdoCorp’s euphemism for a process that stripped individuals of their autonomy and reprogrammed them to conform to the corporation’s ideals. It was a fate worse than imprisonment, a complete erasure of one’s identity.
As Evelyn was led away, she couldn’t shake the feeling of profound embarrassment—not for herself, but for the society that had allowed itself to be so thoroughly subjugated. The spectators watched in silence, their expressions blank, as if they were witnessing a routine procedure rather than a gross miscarriage of justice.
In the days that followed, Evelyn’s case became a cautionary tale, a reminder of the consequences of defying OrdoCorp. The corporation’s propaganda machine spun the narrative, portraying Evelyn as a misguided troublemaker who had been rightfully corrected. The public, conditioned to accept OrdoCorp’s version of events, quickly moved on, their memories of the incident fading into the background noise of their meticulously ordered lives.
Yet, beneath the surface, a quiet resistance began to stir. Evelyn’s courage had not gone unnoticed, and there were those who still believed in the ideals of justice and freedom. They whispered her name in hushed tones, drawing inspiration from her defiance. In the shadows, plans were made, and alliances were formed, as a new generation prepared to challenge the corporation’s iron grip on society.
OrdoCorp’s reign of order was far from over, but the seeds of rebellion had been sown. And in the sterile courtrooms of NeoMetropolis, the echoes of Evelyn’s defiant words continued to resonate, a reminder that even in the most controlled of societies, the human spirit could not be entirely extinguished.”
ETEC540 Module 12 Speculative Design & Fiction: An Analysis
To briefly summarize the narrative provided by Copilot, in the year 2145, Evelyn Carter is brought forward to a corporate-ruled law court to face justice, (as it is perceived at the time). Authoritarian order has supplanted authentic justice and individual considerations. As a product of speculative fiction, it reflects several of the themes and tensions within the field of speculative design. While there are aspects of the story that follow traditional narrative stories, it also incorporates, (no pun intended), current societal anxieties, popular culture, and ethical concerns around the encroachment of corporate influences in what have traditionally been public realms.
As Dunne and Raby (2013) identify, speculative fiction works within a realm of ‘unreality’, aiming to explore how things could be, not as they actually exist, nor how they may necessarily be, (Dunne and Raby, 2013), and is based on current data and trends. The story generated by Copilot incorporates several themes that are common in speculative fiction or more popular dystopian fiction: sterile courtrooms, corporatization, and ‘re-education’ of citizens deemed to have violated social norms as established by corporate authorities.
The speculative element of the story comes out through its focus on the consequences of unchecked corporate surveillance and authority. This reflects how speculative design has “used hypothetical or fictional products to explore possible technological futures” (Dunne & Raby, 2013, p. 14). The “re-education” process, (OrdoCorp’s friendly euphemism for enforcing ideological conformity), represents a speculative design artifact, not just a plot device, but rather a system or archetype that examines our current relationship with data governance, corporate authority, and AI ethics.
Speculative fiction may serve as a warning as well. As Shelley’s Frankenstein was “a complex cautionary tale” of scientific “hubris” (Smyth et al., 2021, p. 42), so too is the OrdoCorp narrative. It asks its readers to consider the ethical cost of valuing control over autonomy and justice. Where does science begin, and ethics end?
In Beyond Speculative Design, Smyth, Auger and Helgason describe the “Lifecycle of Imaginaries” model: speculation (B) is driven by current realities (A) and can influence, or reflect, possible realities (C) (Smyth et al., 2021, p. 27). The story of Evelyn and OrdoCorp aligns with this. The imagined society of Evylyn’s world stems from concerns around increasing influence of corporations, along with its legal and surveillance issues, resulting in a cautionary tale of what may happen if such trends go unchecked.
This mirrors some past examples of speculative design, such as GM’s Futurama (1939). Like Futurama, (until this assignment I was under the impression was a Fox animated show from the early 2000’s), the court system evolved, or devolved, into a process of efficiency and order to conceal political or commercial agendas (Smyth, et al., 2021, pp 30-31). While OrdoCorp provides a type of enforced stability, it also obscures the ethical and social violations it metes out under a veneer of societal stability.
Current issues drive much of what is seen in both the specific story of Evelyn and OrdoCorp, as well as general speculative fiction. The anxieties and contemporary cultural and political issues, namely the rise of monopolistic and influential social media companies, with their ongoing data collection and ever-adaptive AI and algorithms, seem to be almost exempt from “ethical and moral considerations” (Auger, et al., 2021, p. 20) that most of us understand and respect in our daily lives. Having a narrative allows us, as readers, to reflect on how today’s trends may influence tomorrow’s realities. To borrow, (and adapt), an analogy from Dr. Shannon Vallor’s lecture on ethical use of AI (2018), speculative fiction also can act as a sort of ‘distorted mirror’. It reflects our current situation or the arc of our technological developments, but can be distorted, surprising, and unpredictable.
The character of Evelyn encompasses many of the concerns someone may have in 2025; privacy, data protection, environmental concerns, etc. The “disorderly conduct” she engages in can be seen as an exercise in democratic freedoms and the liberties of open society. As Auger, et al. point out (2021) modern design and institutions tend to reinforce dominant power structures and constructions.
So it is hope, then, that should drive speculative fiction. A “practice of hope, a method of action” as Ward (2021, p. 166) puts it. After all, it is all well and good to want change, but perhaps where speculative fiction and design has an edge is actually presenting an alternative. As in Evelyn’s case, her resistance plants the seeds of resistance, so may be it that narratives can, and should, contain the seeds of wonder that could grow into actual change in practice, behaviour, and action.
I continue to wonder how fiction of any sort – popular, niche, historical, futuristic, dystopian, utopian, etc. – and the humanities in general, will be able to leverage behaviour and economics. Current concerns can inform plausible scenarios, but I do wonder about the appetite of our current society to reimagine, not what is possible or even plausible, but what is preferable.
References
Auger, J., Hanna, J., & Mitrović, I. (Eds.). (2021). Beyond speculative design: Past – Present – Future. SpeculativeEdu; Arts Academy, University of Split. https://speculativeedu.eu
Dunne, A., & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative everything: Design, fiction, and social dreaming. The MIT Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28148
ReferencesLessons from the AI Mirror Shannon Vallor. (2018, November 6). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UbpSoYN4k
Smyth, M., Auger, J., & Helgason, I. (2021). Echoes of futures past – Speculations and fictions from history. In Auger, J., Hanna, J., & Mitrović, I. (Eds.), Beyond speculative design: Past – Present – Future (pp. 24–66). SpeculativeEdu.