Thread by @timsoret

We are on the verge of a civilizational change.
Yet outside of books, there is an intense philosophical void.
Little thread.

Pop culture is failing to prepare us to the shattering existential & moral questions that will arise from technologies like AI or CRISPR. Outside of Her, Hollywood's depiction of AI is deceptively simplistic & misleading.

This will shake the foundation of human civilization, this will change the meaning of life, this will be the end of an era that has been going on for a few thousands of years.

Kojima is the one who understands it.
We are leaving the era of work, morphing to a new human form.
A human of leisure.
The homo ludens.

How do you compete with AI, in a world where Netflix can generate on the fly content tailored for you? Horror movies playing on your fears? Drama playing on your traumas? Where music is generated to your taste? Where your favorite game masterpiece is endless?

It will be the death of shared pop culture. Everybody in its own personal bubble of customized content. It's already happening. Algorithms are killing serendipity, reinforcing & solidifying your tastes, your interests, your worldviews instead of diversifying & challenging them.

What is the future of childhood, of education, of friendship, when we'll be nurtured by AIs tailored for our growth & needs? How children are going to see us in hindsight for our role in climate change? Will we be seen as barbaric & primitive for wearing leather or eating meat?

What is the future of love & sexuality once AIs will be tailored for us better than we could ever hope to find in real life? What is the future of reproduction once we can order children by blending & selecting DNA with our three best friends?

All the objects around us have been designed by us. This won't be the case in 20 years. How will it feel to not be able to optimise what's around us? To not be able to come up with better ideas and solutions? To not be in charge of our own evolution, our own social organization?

How will it feel to not be the apex of intelligence on Earth? To feel insignificant? To not even understand AIs, no more than ants could understand a highway? This could be mortal wound to our ego.

What if AIs scientific findings will be immoral and validates worrying worldviews about IQ & genetics? Or on the contrary, what if we implant morality and AIs start censorship, bias correction, enforce certain worldviews, intercept & prevent thoughts from spreading?

What is the future of religion, of nationalism, of identity politics, of internet outrages & trials, of political extremes, of culture wars, of civil wars, of technological wars?

What is the future of competition, of cooperation, of leisure, of politics, in a world essentially similar to the free-to-play situation you can see on mobile today? Where Instagram-like online influence is a new global currency to get all kind of favors?

There is so much more to say about the future than a badass bike, a cool gun, a glowing bionic eye, a new drug or a single physical CPU becoming sentient.

Pop culture needs to wake up.
We have to start preparing the questions of tomorrow.
Without a solid philosophical base, we might be heading straight for massive loneliness, existential angst & meaningless lives. We are not ready for what's to come. Not a single one of us.

This why I'm waking up everyday.
This is why we are making The Last Night.