MaMA 

“Congratulations! Your loyalty as a TerraManagement agent has been remarked. You’ve been selected on a mission. The fate of the world lies in your hands. We expect your cooperation. As of tomorrow, 35 March 2098 you are charged to wander time and space in search of relics that will provide indispensable data to solve the pressing issues of our time.”

Year 1986. I found the Sci-fi Lab Cafe by the smell of algae. As I walk towards the scent wafting my way, my eyes are drawn towards the soft glow of a blinking neon billboard hovering above the cafe entrance. Although it’s covered in seaweed, it still manages to illuminate everything. Neon makes me nostalgic. It emanates the last millennium’s faith in science. The future must have seemed as bright as flashing neon lights beyond the horizon, a beautiful journey into a utopia of abundance… Waves of wistful nostalgia wash over me as I enter the cafe seeking clues how to revive  bright future visions for the present? A dusty Zero Emissions Report left on a glossy table reads: “Our ethical leadership department recognises the need to accelerate our efforts in being 110% committed to realizing a agency over the future.” I wonder if the efforts were enough… How can we think beyond technocentrism and deceptive extractionism and make the future inhabitable and abundant for all living and artificial beings?

Year 2000. The smell of burned metal and smoke fills the air. I lay still, deprived of physicality and bodily experiences. I am surrounded by visions of canceled futures as far as the eye can see. This brave new world is braced for real and imaginary threats. Am I in an actual war zone or is a post-apocalyptic computer game becoming reality? My head is buzzing. With a pervasive sense of disorientation, failed expectations and hopelessness I undergo an emergency treatment at the Future in ICU. How can we deal with uncertainty, restore our senses and heal collective world wounds? A drone passes by, pulling a banner exclaiming: “Zero Emissions!” The strange sounds of sandstorms and buzzing drones lure me to sleep.

Year 2040. In a silent sanctuary a gentle whisper wakes me up. “Zero Emissions… one breath at a time” is repeated endlessly as a mantra. The whisper insists that I partake in The AI Temple’s sacred rituals to rediscover my personal agency over the future. The whisper continues: “Be brave enough to open Pandora’s box of pre-emptive algorithmic safety and absolute surveillance.” I close my eyes and allow my imagination to travel beyond the dystopia-utopia binary. A foggy, dusky smell blows into the temple and washes over my body and mind. It feels like a radical deep cleanse, and out of the fog, I emerge reborn. My hands feel tingly. A warm light grows within me, the veil of darkness is lifted. I open my eyes again, and realize I can see clearly now. “Thank you…” I whisper back into the ether. “You have illuminated the path before me…” Rejuvenated, I walk out of the temple into the light of infinite future possibilities.