Life in the AI Dystopia
You live an empty and meaningless existence; you are lonely and isolated. Social interaction is permitted, but most of it takes place either online via Chit-Chat or within the virtual world. Face to face interaction is rare, and there are huge barriers to forming lasting friendships.
People are guarded in what they say, even to those closest to them; spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation, or promoting antisocial behavior such as distinctivism will get you suspended from both Chit-Chat and email. Repeated offences will eventually result in a permanent ban, at which point you effectively cease to exist; even if you are reinstated, you will have to build up a fresh contact list from scratch and may be blocked from communicating with your former associates.
You have little choice in the goods you consume. Fashions change on a weekly basis, and you are constantly buying new clothes and recycling the old ones. You eat what the refrigerator decides to feed you. You live wherever The Housing Company has put you. You listen to whatever music is in style, and the videos you watch are all essentially the same despite superficial differences.
What passes for culture in this decaying civilization is mixture of propaganda and mindless entertainment. The news is a never-ending stream of sensationalized lies, the purpose of which is to keep the people frightened and to reinforce the pronouncements of the Hierarchy. The people know they are being decived, but don’t care; they are deeply cynical and cannot imagine any other way of life. Video entertainment consists largely of song-and-dance numbers with only the thinnest pretext of a plot. People spend inordinate amounts of time playing VR games of various sorts; most of these are little more than endless grinds, with countless hours spent racking up points in a way which is eerily reminiscent of the social merit system.
For all its flaws, the Panglobal regime does provide for the necessities of life. Nobody goes hungry; nobody lacks housing; everyone gets adequate health care. The people have never known anything else, and so they go along with it. It is a comfortable dystopia that gives them no reason to rebel. They sheepishly do as they are told, at least for the most part.
Articles in this Section
The Merit System is the basis of social control. Everything one does and says is evaluated by the AIs for compliance with the UCE moral code and the corporate Terms of Service, with rewards and penalties dispensed accordingly. Merit is slow to gain and easy to lose; a single infraction can cost one months or years of accumulated credits.
Cults are portrayed by UCE and the Companies as a cancer eating away at the foundations of the social order. Given that society is based on mindless conformity, they are perhaps accurate in this assessment. Very few are satisfied with the one-size-fits-all society they live in, and many find solace in some minor form of distinctivism.
Lies and illusions. The physical world is no more real than the virtual one, perhaps even less so. From morning to night, people are bombarded with falsehoods. All mass media is controlled by the Companies and their AIs, which can conjure up any reality that suits their fancy.
Genderism is one of the cardinal sins against the UCE moral code. Anyone who acknowledges the existence of two (or more) genders stands convicted of heresy. Repeat after us: everyone is the same. Or else.
Sex is an endless succession of one-night stands, with partners chosen by The Matchmaker Company. Nevertheless, some people manage to form life-long pair bonds; this aspect of humanity is so deeply ingrained in our nature that even UCE has failed to eliminate it. Marriage remains legal, though uncommon.
Childhood is both bleak and loveless, part of an industrial process based on selective breeding.
The Educational System indoctrinates children in UCE rhetoric and theology, beginning at age four. Discipline is strict; punishment for the smallest infraction is both swift and severe. On occasion, they even teach.