Living in a sci-fi future
In Mateja Kovacic’s article in The Conversation, robots that once existed only in science fiction are now at work in cities across the world and the reality is both more practical and more mind-blowing than the fiction.
Tokyo is becoming robot city in the run up to the 2020 Olympics, reinforcing its positioning at the forefront of postmodernity. Robot taxis will whisk visitors through an urbanity which has been layering visions of the future from the is already layer upon layer of future visions of the city, one on top of the other, since the 50s to now.
Singapore is a smart city tapping AI into the management of the urban ecosystem where drones will deliver mail and robots clean hotel rooms.
Dubai wants to put a welcoming smile on its Gothamesque bones by putting robots into public service in a bid to become the happiest place on earth.
We are living in a future first imagined in novels, comics and films. 2000AD is only 20 years late.
This loop between todays imagination and tomorrow’s reality is the engine of progress.
A Universal Basic Income will release imagination into the system and put our collective foot on the accelerator.
The Coming Age of Imagination is being published on Unbound.
