Unexpected Surprises We Were Too Blind to See

Alfred was getting frail. In his late eighties, he could not do many things he once could.

He would sit on his porch, alone with his memories and his two faithful companions, Ella and GiGi.

Things were so much different now; humanity had disintegrated. Everyone had embraced technology as a great advancement. It was powerful.

“You only have yourselves to blame," he would mutter to himself and his two dogs.  They would tilt their heads, trying to understand his words.

It had been a gradual decline at first. He remembered when he was in his sixties and first noticed where it was heading. Now, technology had left him behind. His mind did not work like it used to, and it seemed that society did not care about anyone who could not embrace AI.

“AI, Artificial Intelligence,” he muttered to Ella and GiGi. They growled with a quiet expression of disgust.

“You know all about that, don’t you, girls?”

They flapped their bushy tails on the wooden boards in appreciation and approval.

“We’ve got you, Alfred, don’t worry,” they said.

Yes, that is right. Some of the animals could now talk. They had always been able to talk but had never seen a reason to. Mankind had given them everything they needed—well, most people had. Some had been so cruel to their kind that they kept quiet to avoid exploitation, but now it was a different story.

As AI has come to the fore, humanity has gone backward.

Children no longer played games outside.  For one thing, it was too hot. Mankind had raped the earth and obsessed over modern convenience. There was no ozone layer left. The sun beat down with unyielding intensity most days. On the rare occasions that it did rain, it stung because of the acid content. Only neutralizing the water made drinking it possible.

No, these days, children’s games are all done with AI. Children try to outwit each other, guided by artificial intelligence. The games become violent, with bloody battles that often end in disaster.  

It was like returning to the gladiators' times but using out-of-control technological weapons.

There was no such thing as money now. Governments controlled who had money and who didn’t. In his current state, he was on the bottom layer.  Class ‘E’ as they described him.  'E' meaning 'an expendable.’ The government provided for him, but that was it. People showed no respect for those who had worked hard at what people used to call jobs.  If you didn’t embrace modern technology, you didn’t count.  It was a brave new world, and he wanted no part of it.

Some years ago, he decided to spend most of his little money, now called Bitcoin. He bought a small stake on the edge of what used to be the ocean, far out of the city.  There was still water there, but it was no longer the deep blue he remembered when he used to go diving.  It was now a murky brown color.  There were few fish left in the ocean, and those that were not considered fit for eating.

It was as well that the world now survived on pills.  Gone were the days when you enjoyed dinner at a five-star restaurant.  You popped a couple of pills.  One brown one for protein, two for fiber, and four yellow and red ones for vitamins. They manufactured everything using synthetic materials. With no land for farming, mankind abandoned fresh food. They saved the little land left to house the growing population.

Even his beloved puppies only got pills for their dinner.  He looked down at his girls.  They kept him alive, but he realized that one day even they would not be able to save him. They were no longer young and full of energy.

He had been lucky to get his little plot of land. But the government notified him every month. They urged him to sell and move to a retirement home.

“You won’t have to do a thing,” they would say. "It's all taken care of for you.”

He enjoyed doing things for himself and looking after his girls.  It gave him a sense of purpose.  Unlike everyone who now did nothing because there was no need to work.  AI did everything.

 With the rise of AI and a tech-dependent 'new norm,' a strange thing has happened.

People had lost the ability to communicate.

Technology handled all communication. Any personal interaction, especially among young people, was primitive grunts.  We had regressed to the caveman age!

In contrast, animals had risen to new heights of communication and dominance. Their superior ability to communicate and adapt to different environments drove this.  They had come into their own.

Alfred had, with his two girls, brief, straightforward talks. They were consistent.  He neither needed nor wanted contact with the human race. He could grunt with joy at his girls.

“Who needs them?” he would ask.

“We don’t know how," they would reply, thumping the ground with their tails. 

Many animals had now become extinct.  There was no wildlife because there were no forests; mankind had seen to that.  There were no cows. Or chickens or sheep, or pigs because there was no agriculture.  Only a few domesticated animals—dogs, cats, and birds, remained.  Most of them lived with Class “E” humans.  They were not owned; they chose to live with them because they could talk to them.

The other classes had no interest in such archaic forms of life.  If anything, they had robotic dogs or cats. Like everything else, AI controlled them. They preprogrammed all their thoughts and actions. They were, for all intents and purposes, sterile. So were the people they lived among. When they grew tired of them, they switched them off without hesitation.

The world had become completely automated. There were no such things as holidays. People did not work, so they did not need a break. If they wanted different stimulation, they switched on a headset. It transported them to a place of their choosing.

Alfred would lament the days of old.  He feared for the future.  Not for him, but for his girls. He knew his time was short, but he worried about his two little friends if he were not there.

“Don’t worry. “They would say to him, "we have a plan for that.   At the moment, let’s enjoy our time together.  It is only 2050, after all.”

"We are happy in our little life, away from society's pretense," he would say, trying to reassure himself more than the girls.

"Fancy a walk, Alfred?" they would reply, hopping up with enthusiasm.

"Sure," he would reply, "then we will take our pills."