by William Skink
As we stumble toward the dystopia science fiction writers anticipated decades ago, I wonder what Philip K. Dick would think of Facebook’s roll out of AI technology to detect suicidal posts before they’re reported.
Why does it feel like every episode of Black Mirror is whispering to us from a world lurking just around the next corner?
The latest season of American Horror Story, my friend tells me, synched weirdly with current events. One episode was quickly edited after the Las Vegas shooting because the content was deemed too similar and too soon after the massacre. Another coincidence was the death of Charles Manson near the end of a season that featured a cult leader with undertones of Charlie.
Is fiction taking over? Are stories stronger than facts?
I say yes, and yes. Fiction is taking over because we increasingly can’t trust the sources trying to define what the facts are. Faith in institutions, faith in authority, is bottoming out. The compass is broken.
And Skynet is getting the red carpet roll-out from Facebook.