For many people, science fiction and technology are closely intertwined. Some could even argue, there would be no science fiction without technology, and that technology can actually be used to define the parameters of science fiction. It also works the other way around. By using science fiction to imagine the way existing technology can transform with future advancements and exploring how to bend that technology to make life a little easier, humans can better understand and imagine technology’s infinite possibilities. But there are always two sides of the same coin. In the same way that science fiction strives to analyze the numerous possibilities that could make life easier through technology, it can also be associated with some of humanity’s deepest fears.
The human mind can be plagued with insecurities. Questions like who we are, why we exist, what is our purpose all deeply embed themselves in the essence of everything people do. Everyone has an inherent need to matter to something or someone. In the most basic terms: humans are social creatures that cannot survive alone. And because of that, in any society big or small, individuals need to find some way to give back to their families, their communities, their countries; humans have an intrinsic need to contribute to something that is bigger than them. The fear of rejection, loneliness, and seclusion—the fear of death in oblivion—is crucial to humanity’s advancements. Science fiction takes this fear from the psyche and manifests it in stories that render humans purposeless and replaceable next to technology.
Several science fiction stories have put the fear of technology advancing so much that humanity becomes obsolete on display. The Terminator franchise is possibly one of the most widely known stories that fuel the fear of AI and technology dethroning humanity and taking over the world through its main antagonist, SkyNet, a neural net-based artificial intelligence system that becomes self-aware and wants to eradicate all of humanity because the security system believes that humanity is humanity’s greatest threat. But it doesn’t have to be so explicit.
In George Orwell’s 1984, there is no robot apocalypse that wants to eradicate humanity, but through the use of technology (such as the telescreens), humanity is often reminded that there is no escape from the government and no matter what they do, he will know, and he will punish those who try to offend the party. He, of course, being Big Brother, probably the novel’s most popular entity. A representation of a god-like omniscient being that knows your every move, in the personification of a political party that only works for themselves and the betterment of themselves, providing a fake security in which citizens are rewarded for being obedient and are punished for being free.
Another recent example is CD Projekt Red’s video game, Cyberpunk 2077, and their series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, that explores the question of when we stop being human, if we can replace our bodies and even our minds with enhanced technology—called cyberware—where is the line drawn when we sacrifice our humanity to become something better than us. Are we still ourselves if none of the pieces that make us belong to us?
Science fiction and its connection to technology represents one of humanity’s biggest fears: the fear of being obsolete. However, the world is not quite at the point yet. Machines cannot write a novel or draw better than a human, and there has yet to be a cyber-Olympics—humans can rest well knowing that they still matter and their humanity is still intact. But if science fiction is all about imagining potential futures that await us, people might want to start keeping a close eye on their smartphones.
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