Chapter 29 Dystopia of AI Technology

by Cem Kopmaz

Harry always wanted to be an actor. It was a childhood dream of his. He wrote a musical and played the lead character while he was in the university drama club. The musical that he wrote got very much attention back in the day. Harry and his close friends formed a team and continued to pursue their dreams. Harry’s best friend Layla had joined an agency and started her acting career. In 5-10 years, he took part in beautiful projects too and attracted the attention of the public and became a respected actor.

Meanwhile, AI technologies were getting better day by the day. While this technology made life easier, it also caused some negative situations. Now, people started to spend less time in creative areas and produce more. Television channels and movie industries used DeepFace/DeepFake technology to free actors from the need for constant travel. Thus, the necessity of being physically in a place was gone. Industries and companies profited more than people because they were saving money and time. But over time, some groups began to emerge who abused these technologies. With using technologies like DeepFace/DeepFake, they accessed people’s personal data and obtained this data illegally. These groups used respectable people in the community to create pornographic and hateful content that they were not actually affiliated with. Because of this, these respected people lost their dignity and credibility in society through long court processes.

Harry was beginning to reap the rewards of his hard work over many years. He became an actor who was valued and loved by society. But with the development of AI technology, it began to be discredited by the industry – as it was done to other actors. There were fewer days off on the set now, and he was getting a salary that he had trouble making a living on. The development of technology and malicious groups were now killing the acting profession. Many actors who were unemployed had difficulty finding a place in society as a result of the depressions they experienced and were driven to suicide. Layla, Harry’s best friend for years, lost her job due to malicious groups and faced blackmail and death threats. Although Harry tried to be with his friend during this time, neither society nor his relatives could prevent him from committing suicide. Harry could no longer afford his expenses as he could not earn money and lose his reputation. Since his payments were always late, he became increasingly indebted and lawsuits were filed against him. While he could not continue his life, he was now living in danger of going to prison. Harry Nutberg, who could no longer cope with this depression, began to drown in bad thoughts, and on November 1, 2043, he dropped himself off a high bridge and ended his life.

Harry’s family collapsed in the aftermath of his suicide. They started to file lawsuits against the production company and technology companies, the results of which they knew. Even the need for technological machines and technology itself for burial procedures annoyed them. Layla’s family had already moved away from the city, away from chaos and technology. The Nutberg family could not understand why they reacted to this situation and walked away without asking their daughter Layla to account. The lawsuits that were filed were either constantly ending up against them or were being postponed. The family, who could no longer stand this unbalanced power division, was starting to get more and more depressed. Like Layla’s family, they also found the solution in getting closer to the nature.

Away from the chaos, the Nutberg family could not cope with the longing. Because the faces and voices of their deceased children were still used in movies, TV shows and commercials. They used the money from there thinking that they were using it for Harry again because they had spent all these litigation processes. Meanwhile, this money continued to pile up as they gave up the lawsuit process.

While Harry’s sister was browsing the internet, she saw that an artificial-intelligence system had been produced with which she could communicate in the real world with her deceased relatives. The idea of seeing Harry again had brought him back to life. His older brother was someone she considered an idol for her. He was her best friend and best friend since she was little. Since he died, she couldn’t trust anyone, couldn’t communicate comfortably, and didn’t think she got along with anyone. Afterwards, this technology; she thought she should have her best friend, her idol, as she could see and talk to him again. When she told his family, she could not predict what he might encounter and invest the money she had accumulated independently of them into this technology. Then, like a normal social media application, she searched the internet for its name and entered the comments section. App’s scores were quite impressive. Major comments:

“A mind-blowing experience! Reunited with my father, whom I lost years ago <3”

– Lauren, 5 stars

“The cutting edge of technology!!!”

– Jennifer, 5 stars

“I sold my car and downloaded this app but it was worth it for my daughter.”

– Dawson, 4 stars

These comments gave her goosebumps in a way she couldn’t understand. She was waiting in front of the phone screen, excited and nervous. She was thinking about what she might face, but also had a deep remorse for hiding it from her family. All she saw was a chair. After a silent wait, someone walked up and sat on the chair. This person was Harry. The sister froze, unable to think of any questions she might ask or anything she wanted to say. After Harry said, “Hi dear, what are you doing”, her brother could only say, “I missed you so much” and started to cry. His voice, appearance, and movements were unbelievably identical. The only light in the room was reflecting on the sister from her phone. She was crying, Harry was trying to comfort her. “I know I’m dead baby, I don’t know how I got to this point. Leaving all of you behind was the last thing I wanted. And I miss you so much. Good thing there is this technology, good thing there is the ReCreate app so I can see you.” he said. But it was this technology and artificial intelligence that drove her brother to commit suicide, and it was very interesting for her to say this now. She knew it wasn’t really Harry, but the more she talked, the more she forgot. It was better for the sister to believe that the person she was talking to was really her brother.

The app was officially addicting to her. It was the only place she could see Harry, and she didn’t want to let go of the opportunity. She spent less time with her family and did not communicate with them except for meals. Her parents realized that something was wrong with their daughter. One night, her mother went to her room after dinner to talk to her daughter. She heard voices, and saw a blue and white light filtered through the ajar door. The faces she saw the moment she stepped inside were his son, whom she missed the most. She started crying and rushed to the phone. “My son, how is this, where are you son, where are you?” He started questioning and then turned to his daughter. She was trying to get over her disapproval by shouting at her daughter. After the sister explained the whole situation, her mother also began to calm down. His mother, who approached the situation more calmly, began to talk to her son along with her daughter.

As the days went by, they began to see that the artificial intelligence they were talking about was not like Harry himself. He doesn’t actually choose to chat; they realized that technology is a program that advertises artificial intelligence. They decided to spend the grieving process away from technology and artificial intelligence as they did at the beginning.