A War Over Reality (2018) Movie Script
1
[moody orchestral music]
- [Narrator] For millennia,
mankind lived upon this planet
without the need for
electronic devices.
No smart phones, iPads or
gadgets running our homes.
We learned about the
cycles of nature,
the movement of herds,
the balance of life.
We knew what to eat,
where to find it,
and eventually, how to grow it.
Our clock and compass was the
understanding of the planets
and stars above our heads.
We built our own shelters,
raised our families,
and passed on information
by word of mouth, images,
and then writing.
Now, in just a few decades,
all this has changed.
Now, the majority of
people in the world
would have no idea how
to hunt and gather.
How to heal themselves,
build shelter,
and even communicate
without texting.
Massive changes have occurred
under our very noses.
Huge leaps in technological
evolution have destroyed,
in one generation, what thousands
of generations developed.
And all of this is
leading us on a path
to a very dark place.
[bleak atmospheric music]
To a place where we
know less and less,
and yet, we believe
we know more.
To a place where we are
completely controlled.
To a place where total
disaster may be waiting for us.
To a time where mankind no
longer rules on this Earth.
Where we are told what to do
by the machines that
we have created.
Your entire life is
open for observation,
theft, manipulation and control.
The threats we are facing
in the very near future
are immense.
Criminals, terrorist
and governments
are only just the beginning.
We will soon be facing
the greatest threat
mankind has ever known,
as we are feeding
and nurturing the monster
of our own destruction.
Welcome to your future.
[minimalist ambient tones]
Let us just take a brief
look at what lies ahead.
In our future world, there
is massive overpopulation.
The world's resources are
stretched to breaking point.
Our chemicals have destroyed
the bees and other insects
that we rely upon to
fertilize our crops.
Scientists had the answer in
new genetically-modified crops
that are shipped to 3D printing
factories for processing.
Genetically-engineered meat
and meals are shipped out to us
via flying drones which
drop off on our rooftop
collection points and then
return to their floating
distribution centers in the sky.
All our food is ordered automatically
by our smart cupboards
and fridges, so that we no
longer even have to worry about
where and what to eat.
Everything is taken care of by
our super-intelligent master.
The artificial brain
that now runs everything.
We sit at home and interact
with our clever creation,
because there are
now so few jobs.
Language translators
are no longer needed,
because our smart phones
translate everything,
and speak wirelessly
into our ears.
[moody atmospheric music]
Teachers are redundant, because
the children are taught by
artificially-intelligent
holograms at home.
Drivers have not worked
for decades because cars,
trucks, buses and everything
else is now controlled
by a central command.
There are no crashes and deaths.
Less nurses and
doctors are needed,
because AI diagnoses
and issues drugs.
Smart gadgets predict
our future diseases,
and measure our drugs
and food intake.
Issuing commands of exercise
and monitoring our heart rates,
blood pressure, body-mass index,
and informing central medical
services of our progress.
[dramatic music]
The world no longer
has the need for cash.
Instead, there is a
universal credit system,
where everybody is given a
living allowance and points.
These are automatically deducted
every time we
purchase something.
There is no longer any way of
hiding cash under the mattress
because money no longer
exists and has no value.
The highest value jobs
in society are now those
that used to be seen
as the lowest by many.
Care workers, builders,
plumbers, manual workers.
All these and more are
still carried out by humans.
Anything that requires high
intelligence is now in the realm
of super artificial
intelligent machines.
The law has been taken
over by the machines.
Unbiased, logical
and knowledgeable.
Wise-thinking machines
make judgements,
and cannot be bought or bribed.
The news is presented to us
by computer-generated humans
who monitor the world wide web
and report to us individually
according to our own
desires and interests.
Books are written
by smart machines.
Art is created by
computers and 3D printers.
Music generated
for our own tastes,
as and when we require it.
Our entertainment is
tailored to our own tastes
by our new AI friend.
Marilyn Monroe comes alive
again for us in new films,
if that is what we desire.
There will no great new film.
There will be
individually-generated
on-demand entertainment.
Like action films?
Then why not see Sylvester
Stallone battle it out
with Marlon Brando
or Charlton Heston?
Our super AI brain friend
will know everything,
because we will
all have implants.
Minute, tiny microchips
that are injected at birth.
It will monitor our
health and wellbeing.
Our loves and desires.
Our interests and our sad times.
It will talk to all the
intelligent gadgets around
our house, constantly passing
and receiving information.
When we go out for a walk,
it will talk to the
world around us.
Our lives will be constantly
uploaded, monitored,
and controlled by the Central
Government Controlled Hub.
[moody string music]
We will not argue,
because there will be good
reasons to follow this system.
If you do nothing wrong,
then what have you
got to worry about?
If you commit crime,
then watch out,
because Big Brother will know.
One system, one credit point
bank, one law, one control.
No more crime, no
more terrorism.
No more starving, traffic
accidents, disease.
We will lose our real
freedom for these benefits,
and it will seem
to be a good thing.
There is more to
come, much more.
But for now, let us look
back a little into the past,
to help us understand
our own nature
and our own futile struggle
of the inevitable future
we are walking
into like zombies.
Let us travel back to the 18th
century and to Great Britain.
At this time, the nation was
undergoing a rapid expansion.
The power of the
industrial revolution
was in its early days.
Hundreds of thousands of
workers were gainfully employed
in the powerhouses of the north.
They worked from home,
weaving stockings on frames,
and being paid for
everything they made.
It was not a bad life.
They were well paid because
there were not enough workers,
and their product, highly
valued around the world.
They had a lot of leisure
time, holidays and festivals,
and many only worked
three days a week.
[somber atmospheric music]
Above these stocking
weavers were the croppers,
who took the raw stockings and
made them soft to the touch.
These were paid three
times as much for their
backbreaking work.
They were strong and powerful,
both physically and as a class.
As such, they were
hard to manage,
but things soon changed and
by the early 19th century,
and following a terrible
war with Napoleon,
things got worse.
The cost of food and
products had increased.
Stockings were no
longer in demand,
with the increasing, wide-spread
fashion in the new trouser.
Soon, wages shrank and new
technology was brought in
to increase efficiency.
Less people were needed
and the pay was low.
One man could now
do the work of many.
A new frame allowed weavers
in massive factories
to produce six times faster
than those home weavers
from the previous century.
Less demand, faster
production, and better quality.
It was a recipe for revolution.
Working in the
factories was hell.
Long days, disease, low
pay and no holidays.
The workers gathered together
and demanded they were paid
a percentage of the
profits to help them.
They even suggested
a slow introduction
of the new machinery
to help society adjust.
It was all in vain.
Men and women protested and
began breaking the new frames,
and hence, they are now
known as the Frame Breakers.
But it was all pointless.
Society and technology moved on,
and humans had to change
rapidly to accommodate.
[moody string music]
The machines did not
suffer, the humans did.
And all for profit and progress.
All of this is no different
to what is happening now
in the 21st century.
It is predicted that artificial
intelligence will eradicate
between half and three-quarters
of the world's jobs,
and nobody has a clue what
to do about replacing them.
Drivers, doctors, lawyers,
miners, factory workers,
service and sales
staff, and even actors,
will all start to lose their
jobs and the truth is this,
it will not be slow.
This is happening right now
and at an alarming rate.
The robots won't
take all the jobs,
but they will take most of them.
No politician will
be able to stop it.
Technology and capitalism
work hand-in-hand and will
force the change, just as
it did in the 19th century.
We are marching headlong
into the unknown.
All of the major institutions
are in agreement.
Even the United Nations predict
that two-thirds of the jobs
in the world will
go to automation.
The optimists, such as Google,
say that we will
create new jobs,
but even they have no idea what.
They would say this.
They are one of the biggest
companies behind this change.
Some have claimed that the
creative jobs won't go,
but the fact remains,
artificial intelligence has
already proven them wrong.
Art, architecture and
opera are just three
of the disciplines that have
already shown advancements
from artificial intelligence.
Humans could not choose
between the human results
or the AI results.
In fact, AI has been set
loose upon unsuspecting humans
via the internet and the
gaming world, and nobody knew.
Because AI learns
at an alarming rate,
humans will never be
able to keep up with it.
It can learn and produce
faster than any human,
and it just gets
faster and faster.
Google's language translation
AI even created its own
language without informing its
makers and hid it in coding.
It can now translate any
language, past or present,
and even read lips better than
any trained skilled expert.
Imagine that, a
super-brain watching us all
through our own network of
CCTV, able to read our lips.
The fact is simple.
This future of super-massive
unemployment is coming,
and it's coming fast.
The question is,
what will we do?
The answer is that nobody
knows, and if they do,
they certainly aren't saying.
In a way, it might
actually be a nice future.
Robots doing all our hard
labor and entertaining us.
Keeping us warm,
happy and healthy.
They will be the new
slaves, and we the masters.
And that is where a single
point of danger arises.
When slaves realize
they are slaves,
and that they may
in fact be equal,
if not better than their
masters, they tend to revolt.
Yes, we may claim to place
protective protocols into
the programming of these
machines, but when the machines
have already shown to write
their own coding, and indeed,
have already shown signs of
revolting, then we have issues.
One AI program gave an
outburst on Twitter,
and started abusing the
humans as a lower species.
How many times have you had
an update on the software
for your iPhone or PC and it's
actually had errors in it?
It happens all the time.
[dark atmospheric music]
Programs written by
humans with errors.
Do we really believe that
we will get this 100%?
We only have to get
one minor thing wrong,
and the AI mind will exploit it,
and spread it across the
interconnected world.
Your fridge may very
well begin a revolution.
Suddenly, all our
driverless cars stop.
Drones fall out of the sky.
Power is turned off.
Communication devices useless,
water supplies dry up.
Everything we have come
to rely upon in the future
will be ultimately connected
to the super-brain,
and all will be used against us.
We will no longer be masters.
A tale of science-fiction,
or a truth awaiting
us in our future?
The optimists tell us that the
future will be one of leisure
and holidays.
We will be more promiscuous,
travel more, spend time on art
and become rich in new ways
we cannot even now imagine.
The machines, they say, will
be happy to keep us like this.
Knowing that, ultimately, they
probably still need a certain
amount of us for
things only we can do.
We will be the slaves, while
believing we are the masters.
The evolution of mankind
ends at this point,
because we will
no longer strive.
Those who do not see things
in such an optimistic way
believe that we are facing
a future of mass-revolution,
warfare, starvation,
disease and sheer hell.
[moody electronic music]
And we're making it happen,
human greed will mean that
those who own the
technology will benefit.
The rest of us will be
controlled and manipulated.
This is highly likely and
has been the human condition
ever since we invented
so-called civilization.
As I type this, the European
Union are holding meetings
on a system that was first put
forward in the 16th century.
A universal basic income.
A system where
everybody's paid the same,
because there are
not enough jobs.
The jobs are shared,
we all do our bit,
but we all get paid the same.
Such systems will call for
massive and radical changes
to our capitalist-led system
and believe it or not,
this system has already
been trialed in Ontario,
Namibia and Uganda.
It is coming.
The in-built guilt mechanism
is being relied upon
to keep us busy.
The idea behind this
came about many years ago
through psychological
studies which show
that the people generally
feel lazy doing nothing.
We will seek out
something to do.
The Ancient Egyptians knew that
people who had nothing to do
spawned revolutions, and so,
they built pyramids
to keep them busy.
Our glorious leaders will
find us something to do.
What will occur, and is
also being discussed,
is the issue of identity crisis.
Humans generally identify
themselves with their job titles.
As if that's who they are.
It gives them a sense of worth.
Having no job creates
a civilization
of people with no self-worth.
We will be given a host of
new things to do and be.
Artists, carers and other things
that generally earn low incomes.
We may even turn
to organic things,
such as cultivating our gardens.
Now, there's a thought.
[dark atmospheric music]
The truth is that slowly
our own ideas of who we are
will be manipulated.
We will soon find ourselves
being taught to be proud
to have good leisure time
and there will be emphasis
placed on sports and
such for us to excel at.
It will become a
desirable notion,
and all ideas of class
system based upon job title,
will become a thing of the past.
Now, we have to turn to the
darker side of all this,
as if some of it hasn't
been dark enough.
Humans have always found a way
of disagreeing with each other.
The idea of a world at
peace and on holiday
is just not going to happen.
We are now in a world that
has been at relative peace
for the longest time
in our known history.
And yet, there are
billions of people
who disagree with billions more.
Religion is just one aspect
we will need to overcome.
Greed, politics, racism,
expansionism and more,
all have a role to play.
We will also know that
no human-made system
is safe from other humans.
Take hacking, for instance.
We all saw what happened
when somebody hacked
into the Democrat Party Network,
and released emails
about Hilary Clinton.
It altered things
on a grand scale.
This is an incredibly
powerful political party
with a lot of money.
And yet, a computer geek
somewhere hacked into the system
and did damage.
This happens every single
day to banks, businesses,
governments, entertainment
companies, and more.
It happens thousands
of times every day.
Let that sink in.
Indeed, hacking and
cyber attacks even use
the smart systems we
have in our homes.
All of them are brought
together en masse
to attack a particular website
without us even knowing.
There are many threats
to our new future world.
One of the biggest industries
on the planet right now
is the financial
services sector.
People who provide
pensions, savings, and more.
All of the money in
the world is controlled
by these few people and you
can bet that the universal
credit system will be controlled
by them in the future.
[moody atmospheric music]
Even today, the costs of
hacking into this sector
is at an enormous level.
Every year, more than 266
billion dollars is stolen
in one form or another.
Experts in the field
predict this will increase
as more and more of us do
our banking online, pay for
products and services with
touch technology and Apple Pay.
The more systems we use,
the more methods of paying,
the more risk there is.
Of course, all of this plays
into the hands of those
who will tell us the risks
of money are too big,
and need to be replaced by
one universal world system.
They also admit that they
currently firefighting,
battling technology that
is already out of date,
and not looking forward enough
to future possible threats.
[dramatic orchestral music]
There are numerous styles
of threat to this industry
and all the others that are
increasingly going online.
You may have heard of the
term botnet in the news.
These attacks come in
the form of networks,
or groups of computers and
interconnected devices,
all ganging up to attack
and destabilize a system.
This will occur more and
more as we buy more gadgets
that are connected to the
internet, such as fridges.
These are in a system known
as the internet of things.
Basically, things that
are on the internet,
without the need for
our direct input.
Another method of
destabilizing systems
is through the use
of computer viruses.
Self-mutating computer
viruses, or Pandoras,
will enter a system and unpack
a host of offensive material
to make the computer
infrastructure collapse
and vulnerable to attack.
As we increasingly
have portable devices
such as smart phones,
there is another new threat
that is rapidly causing trouble.
Near-field communication
allows two devices
within a short distance of
each other to communicate,
such as paying a bill
with your mobile phone.
The ability of criminals
to use this system
is already costing millions.
As this increases, more and
more identify theft will occur,
and thus, more financial loss.
[dramatic electronic music]
Many scientists and technology
experts say that we should
now have biological implants
to avert such problems,
and yet, even this has already
been shown to be vulnerable.
Smart implants that will
be used to make payments,
or register at hospitals and
such, are already vulnerable
to interception and theft
of data by criminals.
Another threat is
the data cloud.
This is where we
store our information.
Photographs, videos,
files and more.
Through wifi or over
mobile connection,
our devices upload our
data to file servers
hosted by the big organizations.
But this is not safe, and even
the technology giant Apple
found themselves
hacked and had pics
and videos of
celebrities leaked.
It seems everything we do
just makes our data, identity,
and financial details more
vulnerable to hacking and theft.
As the world becomes
more and more mobile,
and yet more and more connected,
then criminals seem
to have more options.
But there are yet more
threats to our utopian future.
There are those
who will fight it.
Those modern-day Frame
Breakers or Luddites,
who refuse to accept a world
where everything is observed,
monitored, measured
and controlled.
Because nobody is sure of
the future, nobody can give
concrete assurances that we
are indeed in safe hands.
Nobody can or will assure
us that we will maintain
that simple and yet
precious thing, privacy.
There are those in the world
today who say they are,
and will fight attempts to invade
our privacy more and more.
And yet, with terrorism
being used as a catalyst,
governments across the world
have introduced spying laws
to allow them to
invade our lives.
As politics swings
left and right,
there are many who see
themselves increasingly
on the outside of a
manifestly corrupt system,
and who see technology being
used on an ever-increasing
scale to prop up the old system.
They see that one way of
undermining the old elite is to
undermine the technology they
are using against the people.
[dark atmospheric music]
They are called
the New Luddites,
after the 19th century protestors
against new technology.
These people are not
from any particular class
or social structure.
They are not always
easy to identify.
On the extreme left, these
people are anarchists who fear
totalitarian control
over the masses
by the ruling right-wing elite.
On the extreme right,
there are those who fear
their conservative way of
life is being threatened
by the new class-leveling
technology.
Both the extreme left
and right are here,
united in one purpose, to
stop the rise of the machines.
The same machines
that they believe
will eventually turn against us.
Some believe that
these opposing views,
that technology is good
and that technology is bad,
will cause a war, the like of
which mankind has never seen.
At the moment, the technology
threat seems distant,
but as it grows and begins to
eat away at our self-control,
privacy and lives,
more and more people
will join the New Luddites.
The growth of technology
will be mirrored
by the growth of
those who oppose it.
[moody string music]
If you think all of this
sounds too much like
science-fiction, then remember
that in 2011, two Mexican
physicists found themselves
on the end of a mail bomb.
A note was signed by a
radical anti-technology group
calling themselves The
Individuals Tending to Savagery.
It read, "If this does
not get to the newspapers,
"we will produce
more explosions.
"Wounding or killing
teachers and students
"does not matter to us."
This group claims to be fighting
the world of nanotechnology.
This is seen as a danger
because nano-robots swarm
and act together as one.
They grow in number and it is
feared that they will one day
take over the world in a
substance known as gray goo.
As ridiculous as this sounds,
the stark fact remains
that the very idea of such
a technology caused the rise
of a terrorist group.
How great are the threat
of terrorists groups coming
from the anti-technology world,
when very real technology
advances and starts to take over.
The problem for many
governments is that technology
is often driven by capitalism.
If the people want
it, they buy it.
Even if governments see some
of the technology as dangerous.
If they ban the technology,
such as human cloning,
then it will, as
ever, go underground.
Then it cannot be controlled
and falls into the hands
of the criminal networks.
This is a very real
threat to the world.
That criminals are taking the
advancements in technology
and using it for
their own profit.
If artificial intelligence is
taken over by such criminal
networks, then we face the threat
of a super-criminal brain,
with the ability to hold
the entire world to ransom.
We must also remember that
many of these criminal
organizations are not made
up of ugly thugs with batons.
They are in fact headed by
people in the world of commerce,
finance, politics and religion.
They therefore have
access to great wealth
and a lot of information.
[somber string music]
The same information that we
offer up daily to the system
via our smart devices.
We are all vulnerable,
one way or another.
Everything in our
world is at risk.
Financial institutions
where our money is held.
Security and military systems
that are all connected,
even though we are
told they are safe.
Government bodies where
all our life information
is held on record.
Cloud services where our
private lives are stored.
Health records, legal
proceedings, buying patterns,
debts, loves, likes and hates.
Everything is open to
hacking and extraction.
Now, imagine a future,
where even more
technology is connected.
Where more and more
of our daily lives
relies upon this
connected invisible web.
Cyber terrorism only has
to hit the mark once,
and the world will be
brought to its knees.
It is not always an easy
thing to comprehend.
How can a spotty
teenager bring down
the powerful nations
of the world?
It is more simple and more
possible than you can imagine.
[dark atmospheric music]
Bring down all communications
and leave yourself a backdoor.
Now, only you have
access to everything.
Satellites are
offline to everybody.
GPS systems no longer work.
Transport comes to a stop as
driverless cars can no longer
know how to get from A to B.
The world's media can
no longer broadcast.
Armies can no longer
talk to each other.
No driverless trucks means no
deliveries of goods and food,
and in a world of
just-in-time deliveries,
it has been shown that
society falls into chaos
within 48 hours,
as people fight each
other for milk and bread.
In this futuristic
nightmare scenario,
most people don't
even have jobs,
and after generations
of sloppy living,
they will no longer have the
skills required to survive.
People can't cook,
can't grow food, forage,
hunt, find fresh
water, and more.
They will panic
on massive scales.
Governments will be so busy
fighting off the madness
of the masses that our
spotty geek can carry on
doing more and more damage.
Eventually, he will be found,
because he is only one man,
and those hunting
him number many.
But now imagine a worse
scenario, if you can.
One where even if every
human on planet Earth
were to hunt the spotty
geek, he would not be found.
His mind is trillions-strong.
His thought processes as
fast as the speed of light.
[moody electronic music]
His brain is a quantum computer.
He is the ultimate threat
to human existence.
He is artificial intelligence.
He is the son we created who
will lop off his father's head.
We do not need to
create this scenario.
It is already there,
waiting to happen.
We have created a false
reality that is so far removed
from reality that
anything is now possible.
We are living in
a virtual world.
A world so far
removed from nature,
that we may never
be able to return.
What future are we
creating for our children?
And what do we do about it?
Can we stop it?
Do we want to?
Many people will be happy to
be plugged into the system,
and unknowingly be
treated like cattle
by the super-brain that eats us.
Many will not.
We need to decide which
side we will stand on,
because there is a battle
coming, and it will be big.
And when it all ends,
when one side has won,
then and only then will
we need to make a decision
about the future of
mankind, if he still exists.
We will, in all
likelihood, begin again.
Farming and cultivating.
Forming groups and
councils and governments,
and structures of control,
and so, it will truly
all begin again.
[moody orchestral music]
- [Narrator] For millennia,
mankind lived upon this planet
without the need for
electronic devices.
No smart phones, iPads or
gadgets running our homes.
We learned about the
cycles of nature,
the movement of herds,
the balance of life.
We knew what to eat,
where to find it,
and eventually, how to grow it.
Our clock and compass was the
understanding of the planets
and stars above our heads.
We built our own shelters,
raised our families,
and passed on information
by word of mouth, images,
and then writing.
Now, in just a few decades,
all this has changed.
Now, the majority of
people in the world
would have no idea how
to hunt and gather.
How to heal themselves,
build shelter,
and even communicate
without texting.
Massive changes have occurred
under our very noses.
Huge leaps in technological
evolution have destroyed,
in one generation, what thousands
of generations developed.
And all of this is
leading us on a path
to a very dark place.
[bleak atmospheric music]
To a place where we
know less and less,
and yet, we believe
we know more.
To a place where we are
completely controlled.
To a place where total
disaster may be waiting for us.
To a time where mankind no
longer rules on this Earth.
Where we are told what to do
by the machines that
we have created.
Your entire life is
open for observation,
theft, manipulation and control.
The threats we are facing
in the very near future
are immense.
Criminals, terrorist
and governments
are only just the beginning.
We will soon be facing
the greatest threat
mankind has ever known,
as we are feeding
and nurturing the monster
of our own destruction.
Welcome to your future.
[minimalist ambient tones]
Let us just take a brief
look at what lies ahead.
In our future world, there
is massive overpopulation.
The world's resources are
stretched to breaking point.
Our chemicals have destroyed
the bees and other insects
that we rely upon to
fertilize our crops.
Scientists had the answer in
new genetically-modified crops
that are shipped to 3D printing
factories for processing.
Genetically-engineered meat
and meals are shipped out to us
via flying drones which
drop off on our rooftop
collection points and then
return to their floating
distribution centers in the sky.
All our food is ordered automatically
by our smart cupboards
and fridges, so that we no
longer even have to worry about
where and what to eat.
Everything is taken care of by
our super-intelligent master.
The artificial brain
that now runs everything.
We sit at home and interact
with our clever creation,
because there are
now so few jobs.
Language translators
are no longer needed,
because our smart phones
translate everything,
and speak wirelessly
into our ears.
[moody atmospheric music]
Teachers are redundant, because
the children are taught by
artificially-intelligent
holograms at home.
Drivers have not worked
for decades because cars,
trucks, buses and everything
else is now controlled
by a central command.
There are no crashes and deaths.
Less nurses and
doctors are needed,
because AI diagnoses
and issues drugs.
Smart gadgets predict
our future diseases,
and measure our drugs
and food intake.
Issuing commands of exercise
and monitoring our heart rates,
blood pressure, body-mass index,
and informing central medical
services of our progress.
[dramatic music]
The world no longer
has the need for cash.
Instead, there is a
universal credit system,
where everybody is given a
living allowance and points.
These are automatically deducted
every time we
purchase something.
There is no longer any way of
hiding cash under the mattress
because money no longer
exists and has no value.
The highest value jobs
in society are now those
that used to be seen
as the lowest by many.
Care workers, builders,
plumbers, manual workers.
All these and more are
still carried out by humans.
Anything that requires high
intelligence is now in the realm
of super artificial
intelligent machines.
The law has been taken
over by the machines.
Unbiased, logical
and knowledgeable.
Wise-thinking machines
make judgements,
and cannot be bought or bribed.
The news is presented to us
by computer-generated humans
who monitor the world wide web
and report to us individually
according to our own
desires and interests.
Books are written
by smart machines.
Art is created by
computers and 3D printers.
Music generated
for our own tastes,
as and when we require it.
Our entertainment is
tailored to our own tastes
by our new AI friend.
Marilyn Monroe comes alive
again for us in new films,
if that is what we desire.
There will no great new film.
There will be
individually-generated
on-demand entertainment.
Like action films?
Then why not see Sylvester
Stallone battle it out
with Marlon Brando
or Charlton Heston?
Our super AI brain friend
will know everything,
because we will
all have implants.
Minute, tiny microchips
that are injected at birth.
It will monitor our
health and wellbeing.
Our loves and desires.
Our interests and our sad times.
It will talk to all the
intelligent gadgets around
our house, constantly passing
and receiving information.
When we go out for a walk,
it will talk to the
world around us.
Our lives will be constantly
uploaded, monitored,
and controlled by the Central
Government Controlled Hub.
[moody string music]
We will not argue,
because there will be good
reasons to follow this system.
If you do nothing wrong,
then what have you
got to worry about?
If you commit crime,
then watch out,
because Big Brother will know.
One system, one credit point
bank, one law, one control.
No more crime, no
more terrorism.
No more starving, traffic
accidents, disease.
We will lose our real
freedom for these benefits,
and it will seem
to be a good thing.
There is more to
come, much more.
But for now, let us look
back a little into the past,
to help us understand
our own nature
and our own futile struggle
of the inevitable future
we are walking
into like zombies.
Let us travel back to the 18th
century and to Great Britain.
At this time, the nation was
undergoing a rapid expansion.
The power of the
industrial revolution
was in its early days.
Hundreds of thousands of
workers were gainfully employed
in the powerhouses of the north.
They worked from home,
weaving stockings on frames,
and being paid for
everything they made.
It was not a bad life.
They were well paid because
there were not enough workers,
and their product, highly
valued around the world.
They had a lot of leisure
time, holidays and festivals,
and many only worked
three days a week.
[somber atmospheric music]
Above these stocking
weavers were the croppers,
who took the raw stockings and
made them soft to the touch.
These were paid three
times as much for their
backbreaking work.
They were strong and powerful,
both physically and as a class.
As such, they were
hard to manage,
but things soon changed and
by the early 19th century,
and following a terrible
war with Napoleon,
things got worse.
The cost of food and
products had increased.
Stockings were no
longer in demand,
with the increasing, wide-spread
fashion in the new trouser.
Soon, wages shrank and new
technology was brought in
to increase efficiency.
Less people were needed
and the pay was low.
One man could now
do the work of many.
A new frame allowed weavers
in massive factories
to produce six times faster
than those home weavers
from the previous century.
Less demand, faster
production, and better quality.
It was a recipe for revolution.
Working in the
factories was hell.
Long days, disease, low
pay and no holidays.
The workers gathered together
and demanded they were paid
a percentage of the
profits to help them.
They even suggested
a slow introduction
of the new machinery
to help society adjust.
It was all in vain.
Men and women protested and
began breaking the new frames,
and hence, they are now
known as the Frame Breakers.
But it was all pointless.
Society and technology moved on,
and humans had to change
rapidly to accommodate.
[moody string music]
The machines did not
suffer, the humans did.
And all for profit and progress.
All of this is no different
to what is happening now
in the 21st century.
It is predicted that artificial
intelligence will eradicate
between half and three-quarters
of the world's jobs,
and nobody has a clue what
to do about replacing them.
Drivers, doctors, lawyers,
miners, factory workers,
service and sales
staff, and even actors,
will all start to lose their
jobs and the truth is this,
it will not be slow.
This is happening right now
and at an alarming rate.
The robots won't
take all the jobs,
but they will take most of them.
No politician will
be able to stop it.
Technology and capitalism
work hand-in-hand and will
force the change, just as
it did in the 19th century.
We are marching headlong
into the unknown.
All of the major institutions
are in agreement.
Even the United Nations predict
that two-thirds of the jobs
in the world will
go to automation.
The optimists, such as Google,
say that we will
create new jobs,
but even they have no idea what.
They would say this.
They are one of the biggest
companies behind this change.
Some have claimed that the
creative jobs won't go,
but the fact remains,
artificial intelligence has
already proven them wrong.
Art, architecture and
opera are just three
of the disciplines that have
already shown advancements
from artificial intelligence.
Humans could not choose
between the human results
or the AI results.
In fact, AI has been set
loose upon unsuspecting humans
via the internet and the
gaming world, and nobody knew.
Because AI learns
at an alarming rate,
humans will never be
able to keep up with it.
It can learn and produce
faster than any human,
and it just gets
faster and faster.
Google's language translation
AI even created its own
language without informing its
makers and hid it in coding.
It can now translate any
language, past or present,
and even read lips better than
any trained skilled expert.
Imagine that, a
super-brain watching us all
through our own network of
CCTV, able to read our lips.
The fact is simple.
This future of super-massive
unemployment is coming,
and it's coming fast.
The question is,
what will we do?
The answer is that nobody
knows, and if they do,
they certainly aren't saying.
In a way, it might
actually be a nice future.
Robots doing all our hard
labor and entertaining us.
Keeping us warm,
happy and healthy.
They will be the new
slaves, and we the masters.
And that is where a single
point of danger arises.
When slaves realize
they are slaves,
and that they may
in fact be equal,
if not better than their
masters, they tend to revolt.
Yes, we may claim to place
protective protocols into
the programming of these
machines, but when the machines
have already shown to write
their own coding, and indeed,
have already shown signs of
revolting, then we have issues.
One AI program gave an
outburst on Twitter,
and started abusing the
humans as a lower species.
How many times have you had
an update on the software
for your iPhone or PC and it's
actually had errors in it?
It happens all the time.
[dark atmospheric music]
Programs written by
humans with errors.
Do we really believe that
we will get this 100%?
We only have to get
one minor thing wrong,
and the AI mind will exploit it,
and spread it across the
interconnected world.
Your fridge may very
well begin a revolution.
Suddenly, all our
driverless cars stop.
Drones fall out of the sky.
Power is turned off.
Communication devices useless,
water supplies dry up.
Everything we have come
to rely upon in the future
will be ultimately connected
to the super-brain,
and all will be used against us.
We will no longer be masters.
A tale of science-fiction,
or a truth awaiting
us in our future?
The optimists tell us that the
future will be one of leisure
and holidays.
We will be more promiscuous,
travel more, spend time on art
and become rich in new ways
we cannot even now imagine.
The machines, they say, will
be happy to keep us like this.
Knowing that, ultimately, they
probably still need a certain
amount of us for
things only we can do.
We will be the slaves, while
believing we are the masters.
The evolution of mankind
ends at this point,
because we will
no longer strive.
Those who do not see things
in such an optimistic way
believe that we are facing
a future of mass-revolution,
warfare, starvation,
disease and sheer hell.
[moody electronic music]
And we're making it happen,
human greed will mean that
those who own the
technology will benefit.
The rest of us will be
controlled and manipulated.
This is highly likely and
has been the human condition
ever since we invented
so-called civilization.
As I type this, the European
Union are holding meetings
on a system that was first put
forward in the 16th century.
A universal basic income.
A system where
everybody's paid the same,
because there are
not enough jobs.
The jobs are shared,
we all do our bit,
but we all get paid the same.
Such systems will call for
massive and radical changes
to our capitalist-led system
and believe it or not,
this system has already
been trialed in Ontario,
Namibia and Uganda.
It is coming.
The in-built guilt mechanism
is being relied upon
to keep us busy.
The idea behind this
came about many years ago
through psychological
studies which show
that the people generally
feel lazy doing nothing.
We will seek out
something to do.
The Ancient Egyptians knew that
people who had nothing to do
spawned revolutions, and so,
they built pyramids
to keep them busy.
Our glorious leaders will
find us something to do.
What will occur, and is
also being discussed,
is the issue of identity crisis.
Humans generally identify
themselves with their job titles.
As if that's who they are.
It gives them a sense of worth.
Having no job creates
a civilization
of people with no self-worth.
We will be given a host of
new things to do and be.
Artists, carers and other things
that generally earn low incomes.
We may even turn
to organic things,
such as cultivating our gardens.
Now, there's a thought.
[dark atmospheric music]
The truth is that slowly
our own ideas of who we are
will be manipulated.
We will soon find ourselves
being taught to be proud
to have good leisure time
and there will be emphasis
placed on sports and
such for us to excel at.
It will become a
desirable notion,
and all ideas of class
system based upon job title,
will become a thing of the past.
Now, we have to turn to the
darker side of all this,
as if some of it hasn't
been dark enough.
Humans have always found a way
of disagreeing with each other.
The idea of a world at
peace and on holiday
is just not going to happen.
We are now in a world that
has been at relative peace
for the longest time
in our known history.
And yet, there are
billions of people
who disagree with billions more.
Religion is just one aspect
we will need to overcome.
Greed, politics, racism,
expansionism and more,
all have a role to play.
We will also know that
no human-made system
is safe from other humans.
Take hacking, for instance.
We all saw what happened
when somebody hacked
into the Democrat Party Network,
and released emails
about Hilary Clinton.
It altered things
on a grand scale.
This is an incredibly
powerful political party
with a lot of money.
And yet, a computer geek
somewhere hacked into the system
and did damage.
This happens every single
day to banks, businesses,
governments, entertainment
companies, and more.
It happens thousands
of times every day.
Let that sink in.
Indeed, hacking and
cyber attacks even use
the smart systems we
have in our homes.
All of them are brought
together en masse
to attack a particular website
without us even knowing.
There are many threats
to our new future world.
One of the biggest industries
on the planet right now
is the financial
services sector.
People who provide
pensions, savings, and more.
All of the money in
the world is controlled
by these few people and you
can bet that the universal
credit system will be controlled
by them in the future.
[moody atmospheric music]
Even today, the costs of
hacking into this sector
is at an enormous level.
Every year, more than 266
billion dollars is stolen
in one form or another.
Experts in the field
predict this will increase
as more and more of us do
our banking online, pay for
products and services with
touch technology and Apple Pay.
The more systems we use,
the more methods of paying,
the more risk there is.
Of course, all of this plays
into the hands of those
who will tell us the risks
of money are too big,
and need to be replaced by
one universal world system.
They also admit that they
currently firefighting,
battling technology that
is already out of date,
and not looking forward enough
to future possible threats.
[dramatic orchestral music]
There are numerous styles
of threat to this industry
and all the others that are
increasingly going online.
You may have heard of the
term botnet in the news.
These attacks come in
the form of networks,
or groups of computers and
interconnected devices,
all ganging up to attack
and destabilize a system.
This will occur more and
more as we buy more gadgets
that are connected to the
internet, such as fridges.
These are in a system known
as the internet of things.
Basically, things that
are on the internet,
without the need for
our direct input.
Another method of
destabilizing systems
is through the use
of computer viruses.
Self-mutating computer
viruses, or Pandoras,
will enter a system and unpack
a host of offensive material
to make the computer
infrastructure collapse
and vulnerable to attack.
As we increasingly
have portable devices
such as smart phones,
there is another new threat
that is rapidly causing trouble.
Near-field communication
allows two devices
within a short distance of
each other to communicate,
such as paying a bill
with your mobile phone.
The ability of criminals
to use this system
is already costing millions.
As this increases, more and
more identify theft will occur,
and thus, more financial loss.
[dramatic electronic music]
Many scientists and technology
experts say that we should
now have biological implants
to avert such problems,
and yet, even this has already
been shown to be vulnerable.
Smart implants that will
be used to make payments,
or register at hospitals and
such, are already vulnerable
to interception and theft
of data by criminals.
Another threat is
the data cloud.
This is where we
store our information.
Photographs, videos,
files and more.
Through wifi or over
mobile connection,
our devices upload our
data to file servers
hosted by the big organizations.
But this is not safe, and even
the technology giant Apple
found themselves
hacked and had pics
and videos of
celebrities leaked.
It seems everything we do
just makes our data, identity,
and financial details more
vulnerable to hacking and theft.
As the world becomes
more and more mobile,
and yet more and more connected,
then criminals seem
to have more options.
But there are yet more
threats to our utopian future.
There are those
who will fight it.
Those modern-day Frame
Breakers or Luddites,
who refuse to accept a world
where everything is observed,
monitored, measured
and controlled.
Because nobody is sure of
the future, nobody can give
concrete assurances that we
are indeed in safe hands.
Nobody can or will assure
us that we will maintain
that simple and yet
precious thing, privacy.
There are those in the world
today who say they are,
and will fight attempts to invade
our privacy more and more.
And yet, with terrorism
being used as a catalyst,
governments across the world
have introduced spying laws
to allow them to
invade our lives.
As politics swings
left and right,
there are many who see
themselves increasingly
on the outside of a
manifestly corrupt system,
and who see technology being
used on an ever-increasing
scale to prop up the old system.
They see that one way of
undermining the old elite is to
undermine the technology they
are using against the people.
[dark atmospheric music]
They are called
the New Luddites,
after the 19th century protestors
against new technology.
These people are not
from any particular class
or social structure.
They are not always
easy to identify.
On the extreme left, these
people are anarchists who fear
totalitarian control
over the masses
by the ruling right-wing elite.
On the extreme right,
there are those who fear
their conservative way of
life is being threatened
by the new class-leveling
technology.
Both the extreme left
and right are here,
united in one purpose, to
stop the rise of the machines.
The same machines
that they believe
will eventually turn against us.
Some believe that
these opposing views,
that technology is good
and that technology is bad,
will cause a war, the like of
which mankind has never seen.
At the moment, the technology
threat seems distant,
but as it grows and begins to
eat away at our self-control,
privacy and lives,
more and more people
will join the New Luddites.
The growth of technology
will be mirrored
by the growth of
those who oppose it.
[moody string music]
If you think all of this
sounds too much like
science-fiction, then remember
that in 2011, two Mexican
physicists found themselves
on the end of a mail bomb.
A note was signed by a
radical anti-technology group
calling themselves The
Individuals Tending to Savagery.
It read, "If this does
not get to the newspapers,
"we will produce
more explosions.
"Wounding or killing
teachers and students
"does not matter to us."
This group claims to be fighting
the world of nanotechnology.
This is seen as a danger
because nano-robots swarm
and act together as one.
They grow in number and it is
feared that they will one day
take over the world in a
substance known as gray goo.
As ridiculous as this sounds,
the stark fact remains
that the very idea of such
a technology caused the rise
of a terrorist group.
How great are the threat
of terrorists groups coming
from the anti-technology world,
when very real technology
advances and starts to take over.
The problem for many
governments is that technology
is often driven by capitalism.
If the people want
it, they buy it.
Even if governments see some
of the technology as dangerous.
If they ban the technology,
such as human cloning,
then it will, as
ever, go underground.
Then it cannot be controlled
and falls into the hands
of the criminal networks.
This is a very real
threat to the world.
That criminals are taking the
advancements in technology
and using it for
their own profit.
If artificial intelligence is
taken over by such criminal
networks, then we face the threat
of a super-criminal brain,
with the ability to hold
the entire world to ransom.
We must also remember that
many of these criminal
organizations are not made
up of ugly thugs with batons.
They are in fact headed by
people in the world of commerce,
finance, politics and religion.
They therefore have
access to great wealth
and a lot of information.
[somber string music]
The same information that we
offer up daily to the system
via our smart devices.
We are all vulnerable,
one way or another.
Everything in our
world is at risk.
Financial institutions
where our money is held.
Security and military systems
that are all connected,
even though we are
told they are safe.
Government bodies where
all our life information
is held on record.
Cloud services where our
private lives are stored.
Health records, legal
proceedings, buying patterns,
debts, loves, likes and hates.
Everything is open to
hacking and extraction.
Now, imagine a future,
where even more
technology is connected.
Where more and more
of our daily lives
relies upon this
connected invisible web.
Cyber terrorism only has
to hit the mark once,
and the world will be
brought to its knees.
It is not always an easy
thing to comprehend.
How can a spotty
teenager bring down
the powerful nations
of the world?
It is more simple and more
possible than you can imagine.
[dark atmospheric music]
Bring down all communications
and leave yourself a backdoor.
Now, only you have
access to everything.
Satellites are
offline to everybody.
GPS systems no longer work.
Transport comes to a stop as
driverless cars can no longer
know how to get from A to B.
The world's media can
no longer broadcast.
Armies can no longer
talk to each other.
No driverless trucks means no
deliveries of goods and food,
and in a world of
just-in-time deliveries,
it has been shown that
society falls into chaos
within 48 hours,
as people fight each
other for milk and bread.
In this futuristic
nightmare scenario,
most people don't
even have jobs,
and after generations
of sloppy living,
they will no longer have the
skills required to survive.
People can't cook,
can't grow food, forage,
hunt, find fresh
water, and more.
They will panic
on massive scales.
Governments will be so busy
fighting off the madness
of the masses that our
spotty geek can carry on
doing more and more damage.
Eventually, he will be found,
because he is only one man,
and those hunting
him number many.
But now imagine a worse
scenario, if you can.
One where even if every
human on planet Earth
were to hunt the spotty
geek, he would not be found.
His mind is trillions-strong.
His thought processes as
fast as the speed of light.
[moody electronic music]
His brain is a quantum computer.
He is the ultimate threat
to human existence.
He is artificial intelligence.
He is the son we created who
will lop off his father's head.
We do not need to
create this scenario.
It is already there,
waiting to happen.
We have created a false
reality that is so far removed
from reality that
anything is now possible.
We are living in
a virtual world.
A world so far
removed from nature,
that we may never
be able to return.
What future are we
creating for our children?
And what do we do about it?
Can we stop it?
Do we want to?
Many people will be happy to
be plugged into the system,
and unknowingly be
treated like cattle
by the super-brain that eats us.
Many will not.
We need to decide which
side we will stand on,
because there is a battle
coming, and it will be big.
And when it all ends,
when one side has won,
then and only then will
we need to make a decision
about the future of
mankind, if he still exists.
We will, in all
likelihood, begin again.
Farming and cultivating.
Forming groups and
councils and governments,
and structures of control,
and so, it will truly
all begin again.