The Observation

I wonder how many of them are looking at pornography.

Sitting in a coffee shop during the early afternoon, Bram observed his surroundings carefully. He ordered the simplest of drinks – a black coffee – and sat with his laptop alive in front of him, similarly to the rest of the café-goers. He chose the table in the corner, the best seat in the house for people watching.

The majority of the customers were lost in their devices. One young adult sat at a booth by himself, his laptop plugged in and his chunky headphones on. He seemed to be writing something important. He would type away at his keyboard, then stop for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, just to start up again.

Another booth was occupied by two young people, a girl and a boy, but neither were speaking to each other. An abandoned box of sweets sat stagnant between them. The boy had his phone out, in “landscape mode.” His quick, aggressive tapping assured Bram that he was likely playing some sort of video graphic game. The boy’s company was also on her phone, but she seemed to be mindlessly scrolling social media, much less enthused.

Except for one woman who was struggling to get her infant child to stay content, the rest of the clientele existed in a similar fashion, with their tunnel vision enabled. Bram had to wonder if it was possible to disable it, or if they existed in this state in a forced manner rather than by choice.

He had five minutes left before his meeting was to start. He decided to spend his last few moments refreshing the database to see if there were any more updates regarding the current situation.

61% unethical use

It had gone up another percent since he had last checked. It was an unfortunate discovery. They’d tried so hard to maintain healthy habits, but, as his colleague always said, “humans will be humans.”

He hadn’t really considered that humans could only be humans. He was sure that in the face of something so important, they would change. Perhaps they haven’t learned their lessons after all.

Bram looked around the room again, noticing each café-goer, the fluorescence of their devices almost blinding.

No, they surely haven’t.

He joined his meeting link and the message “Waiting for host…” flashed on the screen, the meeting title “Operation 11235” bright and bold above it.

Technology was supposed to make things easier. Bram sighed.

The operation intended to make things better. They had ordered better technology for Earth and launched numerous actions to get them there. They had intentions for how the technology would better society, and they had just gone through one of their biggest most extravagant launches:

Artificial Intelligence.

When it first took off, it was meant to be a way to bring information to the fingertips of the user, to aid them in better understanding the world around them. It was a means of bringing people together, to educate each other, not only on the most important and accurate information but also on how other people perceived that information. This on its own would not guarantee peace in society. It would only be a starting point. But, if utilized correctly, it would be the biggest information system man had ever seen.

Of course, that required it to be utilized in the best way, the way that it was intended.

Humans will be humans. Bram was starting to believe it more and more.

He was sent to observe and offer some suggestions or some indication about how it was being used on Earth – how any of the technologies sent were being used on Earth. Bram wished he could tell them that it was a successful launch, that Operation 11235 finally had a win. They didn’t win very often.

Bllllunk.

A new user joined the meeting link.

Bram straightened in his seat and offered a friendly smile. “Hello, Headmaster. I trust you are doing well.”

The Headmaster was a tense man. His eyes held permanent dark circles underneath them, and several lines decorated his face. Although he seemed to be a man carrying a great deal of weight on his shoulders, he was perfectly groomed. His hair was neatly brushed back from his face, slightly slicked, and he wore a black button-down shirt, his usual uniform, the same as Bram’s. However, the Headmaster wore a dark red suit jacket, a symbol of his position.

“Counsel Bram,” the Headmaster replied, “I have called this meeting to ask for your report. Have you made sufficient notes?”

“I have,” Bram said, “Although, I am afraid that my observations will only confirm the doubts that were suggested to us before.”

The Headmaster’s eyes seemed to lose whatever glimmer was in them. He rubbed his chin. “I see. Do explain.”

“Well,” the Counselman cleared his throat, “it was clear to me that the technological advances we have given the humans have only caused more issues. Our numbers are much higher than they used to be.”

He began to scroll below the 61% statistic to find columns of specific reports of technological misuse.

“We have had heightened accounts of verbal abuses through digital means, as well as scam tactics, blackmail threats, location scanning for malicious intents, and accounts of child grooming, among others. While we meant for technology to be a means of education, it seems to have a growing rate of miseducation, with massive increases in racism, white supremacist ideals, sexism, misogyny, and xenophobia, returning to their original flaws. While this was meant to be an exercise in which the humans were supposed to be able to filter the misinformation from real education, I have noticed a very specific flaw.”

“What is that?” The Headmaster asked.

Bram gulped. “An ability to understand right from wrong. We gave this to the humans with the hopes they would use it correctly under the assumption that they understood what ‘correct’ means. But it has become apparent that most humans do not understand ethical provisions as they should. They are not filtering information in the ways we assumed they would.”

The Headmaster nodded slowly before replying, “Have you noted anything specific about the use of artificial intelligence?”

“It’s the same note. While this was meant to be something that would aid them in educating themselves, the massive amount of misinformation online has overpowered the system. Finding a correct, accurate, and ethical answer has become uncommon through the system because of the lack of balance between correct and incorrect information. This was a concern of ours before the launch, but we were relying on the human ability to filter, which has proven… insufficient.”

“Hmm…” It was a moment before his caller spoke again, “What of the misuses?”

“Well, there are mildly concerning things – the main one being fraud and unlawful use of the thoughts of another. The growing tragedy that is most concerning to me is the considerable use of the technology for sexual offences. Not only is ‘original’ explicit content being generated – which is a concern on its own due to the sexual aggressiveness of certain demographics of the population, as we’ve discussed – but it is also being generated with the intent of exploiting already existing people, mostly celebrities, friends or colleagues, but also children. The humans refer to this specific content as ‘deep fakes.’”

Bram took a breath. He felt himself trying to breathe quietly as to not show his nervousness. This was something he had been studying for a long while, and they were so sure that there would not be any mistakes this time. This was not a great revelation, to say the least.

The Headmaster put his elbows on the table in front of him and rested his chin on his interlaced fingers. “This is not a pleasant discovery.”

Bram said nothing. He had some ideas on how best to approach this error but knew that it was not his place to speak on them. He looked up for a moment, his attention roused by a group of boys who had just entered. One had his phone out to record his friend ordering. Bram hoped that it was for a wholesome purpose, but after realizing that the boys were all white and the cashier was a young girl, likely the same age, of what seemed to be African descent, his hopes died out.

Do not interfere, the rule echoed in his head.

“Our next action,” said the Headmaster, “will be to dial back our efforts. The technological system proved to be a mishap. We must terminate the action wholly.”

Bram’s confusion seeped out from his mouth before he could think better of it. “What do you mean by terminate the action?”

“It will be necessary that we eradicate any technology on Earth that proved to be misused. In this way, we can force the humans back into a state where they can learn to filter again, then we can discuss a potential attempt to reintegrate the technology. The misinformation has caused a great divide in their ability to filter, as you noted.”

“But to eradicate it? This seems slightly extreme, is it not? How could we pull off an action like that?”

Bram’s tone was out of line, and the Headmaster could sense it. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips were tightly pressed together.

“The action will be presented through some sort of technological disaster. I and the rest of the higher counsel will find a way to pursue this international operation, and it is no longer any of your concern.”

A hit to the chest. Bram understood.

“All right. I trust that you have the best interest of the operation at heart.”

The Headmaster did not force a smile.

“We are pleased to have your observations, Counselman Bram. Your mission has been completed, and you may now return. Thank you for your service.”

The meeting window closed abruptly, leaving Bram feeling extinguished.

After a generous amount of time in reflection, he gathered his laptop and bag, leaving nothing on the table but an empty mug and one single business card that read:

COUNSEL XAVIER ABRAMS

OPERATION 11235

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work!

The concept I am running with (which I hope is still valid for the Tomorrow's Utopia challenge) is that the "future" is not far from today at all. There is a group that was planning for the future (now the present) in an attempt to make it resemble a utopia, but they have failed. Oh no!

This is a play on the concept that I explored in my last entry to the challenge ("The Conference") which was really fun to write.

I am thinking I might expand this universe and turn it into a series... I'll see what happens! (and maybe even utilize that exclusive story function... does anyone like/use it???)

Also! This is officially my 100th story (well, post really) on Vocal! Thanks to everyone who has helped integrate the lil community I've got here!

♡ Belle ♡