
I wrote this in 2016, in my book Technology vs. Humanity – and this is now the dominant narrative (just add the corona virus for more flavour):
“Welcome to HellVen! It is becoming clearer that the future of human-machine relations very much depends on the economic system that creates them. We are facing what I like to call HellVen (i.e. a blend of hell/heaven) challenges (#hellven). We are moving at warp speed towards a world that may resemble Nirvana, where we may no longer have to work for a living, most problems are solved by technology, and we enjoy a kind of universal abundance—sometimes referred to as the Star Trek economy. 8 However, the future could also usher in a dystopian society that is orchestrated and overseen by supercomputers, networked bots, and super-intelligent software agents—machines and algorithms, cyborgs and robots—or rather, by those who own them. A world where non-augmented humans might be tolerated as pets or as a necessary nuisance at best, or, at worst, enslaved by a cabal of cyborg gods; a dark society that would be deskilled, desensitized, disembodied and utterly dehumanised”

Related: From magic to manic to toxic
Read Douglas Rushkoff's new book TEAM HUMAN.
