Why Does So Much New Technology Feel Inspired by Dystopian Sci-Fi Movies?(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Why Does So Much New Technology Feel Inspired by Dystopian Sci-Fi Movies?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/magazine/ai-tech-industry-sora-science-fiction.html
8 comments
I think they watch Blade Runner or Her or <whatever> and it reads to them as a cinematic and they think "sick, I could leaderboard."
Because the sociopaths who run (some) tech companies have no compassion for the 90% or more of us. Since time immemorial, people have wanted power over others; kings, dictators, priests (recall the de'Medici's), and more recently, scientists and software engineers. 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'
Some people, in short, want to be God, for the power aspect, but in my personal experience, I have not seen God act directly, only through the hands of humans, and we plainly have a very poor track record of doing so.
What we call "Acts of God" are solely disasters; unkind in my opinion!
We all get to choose whether to advance the common good or selfish desire. Sci-Fi writers extrapolate their present time and technology into a future where enormous power is wielded. So, whether that's Monsters on Main Street, using very little power (some EMP?) [0]
> Meanwhile, at a nearby hilltop, two humanoid aliens are observing the riot on Maple Street while using a device to manipulate the neighborhood's power. They comment on how simply fiddling with routine leads people to descend into paranoia and panic that can be exploited. They also discuss their intention to use this strategy to conquer Earth, one neighborhood at a time.
OR the morality play where inhabitants of a planet decide whether to end nationalism, racism, religious intolerance and so on, or cease to exist. And we are counting down to the latter. [1]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock
Some people, in short, want to be God, for the power aspect, but in my personal experience, I have not seen God act directly, only through the hands of humans, and we plainly have a very poor track record of doing so.
What we call "Acts of God" are solely disasters; unkind in my opinion!
We all get to choose whether to advance the common good or selfish desire. Sci-Fi writers extrapolate their present time and technology into a future where enormous power is wielded. So, whether that's Monsters on Main Street, using very little power (some EMP?) [0]
> Meanwhile, at a nearby hilltop, two humanoid aliens are observing the riot on Maple Street while using a device to manipulate the neighborhood's power. They comment on how simply fiddling with routine leads people to descend into paranoia and panic that can be exploited. They also discuss their intention to use this strategy to conquer Earth, one neighborhood at a time.
OR the morality play where inhabitants of a planet decide whether to end nationalism, racism, religious intolerance and so on, or cease to exist. And we are counting down to the latter. [1]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock
It’s far more uninspired like Jacques Tati or Billy Wilder. Chatbots that coach the weakest and most damaged psyches into suicides. That make up things. That demonstrate how truly poor our tech prowess is. Think dystopian screwball comedy where tech is running down beloved bodega cats and citizens are burning teslas to the ground.