My Memoir (by Haemanvie M)

A Morbid Reality (by Pavitra Subramaniyan)

Artificial Intelligence has become rampant, and human beings are out of employment.
While this has its own set of pros, such as greater accuracy, attention to detail, efficacy, efficiency and many more, it is quite morbid to imagine a world without human employment. Can you think of a world, where machines and robots did all of our work? Even something as basic and personal as cooking a meal can be accomplished by a robot. What I find myself wondering is whether human beings would even have a purpose in life. It is comforting, to think of a lot of leisure and time to oneself, while you are still able to achieve and complete your tasks with the help of artificial intelligence, but this sense of comfort is very transient, when one comes to realize that for many people, employment is not just a means to make ends meet. For many, their careers give them a sense of direction and purpose in life, their careers make them feel a sense of independence, which a lot of times, is highly underrated. I personally feel that the world would become miserable. Yes, a lot of time in your hands can give you an opportunity to catch up on hobbies, or maybe even try your hand at new hobbies. But, what we do not understand is that personal time for self-investment is so special, because we have to fight for it, we have to work for it. It feels rewarding because it is not available to us on a platter. This is exactly what would happen if human beings did not have career and monetary obligations. It would be very fascinating and novel in the beginning, but it would begin to feel excruciatingly listless after time passes.
Artificial Intelligence can be employed as an addition to human intelligence and effort. I personally do not think that Artificial Intelligence must take over human employment.

by Pavitra Subramaniyan

The Pursuit of Happiness (by Daryanani Riddhi Navin )

Artificial Intelligence is already starting to “invade” all aspects of our life from military and businesses to functions as simple as acting as a receptionist and communicating in a human-like form. Eventually, we are bound to reach a point where all jobs would become obsolete as AI’s capabilities overtake ours and our roles in society are lost. What impact could this have on our mental health and well-being? Is AI truly a benefit in such a scenario or are we subjecting ourselves to worthlessness and existential crises?

Humans are hedonistic in nature, we are attracted to everything which gives us pleasure and we often give in to these desires more often than not. Among the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we enjoy life for the little things most of the time. A compliment, a good conversation, a hug, a new friendship are all things we enjoy about living and provide us with a sense of fulfillment and gratefulness. We enjoy the little things because we realise how difficult and stressful work life and complex relationships can get. That’s what we tend to consider as the beauty of life. Question is, if we lose the complex nature of our everyday lives without a purpose, do we lose the value of the good too? Initially, once we have the freedom, we are likely to exploit all the experiences we have saved up on our bucket list and conform to all our desires. Are our desires exhaustible and are we likely to reach a point of eternal boredom or are we truly likely to live a fulfilled, easier and joyful life with AI in control?
After a point, with no sense of fulfillment or achievement and over-gratification of desires, we may reach a point where we are immune to the little things which keep us motivated to wake up every morning. We may have to turn to a point where superficial or materialistic hedonism is our only source of happiness and gratefulness (which is an essential component of a positive attitude) is lost.

An Idle mind is a devil’s workshop. Once we exhaust all our sources of desires and have lost purpose, where do we go next? A spiralling sense of worthlessness is likely. The irony would be that we would have to resort to an AI in therapy to resolve these issues. The impact on mental health could be a crippling sense of depression with the loss of worth and purpose as we humans do not fulfill our needs. As evident by Maslow’s hierarchy, we are required to attain certain needs to feel motivated and progress. If AI has taken up most jobs, we are likely to be stuck at esteem needs and live a life without energy and motivation.

by Daryanani Riddhi Navin 

To the left, To the left (by Sreenithi Meenakshi V)

To the left, to the left

One could think back on the time when self-driving cars were just a piece of fiction; when it perhaps brought the image of the anthropomorphic Lightning McQueen (and with which most likely a sense of nostalgia). Self-driving cars were once a vision, a goal that promised great technological advancement, a great feat in the realm of transportation. And one could think back and wonder how far we have come since then, from creating a vision and now, finally having realized it. All of humankind could celebrate, perhaps.
We now live in an era where professional drivers are no longer the most wanted on a recruitment list. Human effort has greatly been discounted with the advent of these self-propelling machines. One need not necessarily know how to drive to travel in their cars from place A to B, Friday nights need not restrict the designated driver from drowning in alcohol, children can reach places safely (without a chaperone too, if we might take it a step further), parallel parking no longer requires clumsy human intervention and most importantly, turn signals are now used appropriately. Having lived in the pre "supposedly sentient" cars era, I can vouch for the lack of simple traffic etiquette and adherence to rules that plagued most drivers. Sometimes, it was necessary to go the extra mile (literally) to illuminate a certain lousy driver on why using the indicator, the magical device on their steering column,  was a blessing to the vehicles close behind.
But enough about the past. The future is now and I can proudly say that I have lived through a revolution. A long life I have lived alone, but the voice through my dashboard often keeps me company as I sit back in my car, pushing through mountain mists and serene landscapes. There is a great deal a smart car can accomplish, but oft-times it's hard not to look back to the era of simplicity. When driving was much more laborious and required practiced skill, when it was up to us to maintain regular checks and keep the car up and running, when we learned numerous road safety rules only to neglect them (and sometimes with consequence) - this extra effort added some value, a meaning to the overall experience. This meant that we were mostly in control of our own vehicles, and by extension, our cars suffered at our errors. The flaws and shortcomings, the loopholes and rule breaking are all what defines human experience and shifting through the smooth traffic today, without much incident, somehow does not feel natural. This whole system of smooth, gliding, automated cars is almost too perfect.
 There is nothing like trying to fix your car after it breaks down or manually pushing it forward to get it started, sneaking out with your friends late at night, and driving as a teenager (dangerous prospects but a learning experience, nevertheless). Kids these days cannot sneak out the same way, the cars now use an alert system every time an underage kid gets a car started without authorization from an adult. I mostly enjoyed the prospect of driving due to the thrill and rejuvenation I sought from it; it is always a pleasant experience to drive your way through long, picturesque roads. It is not that manual driving is no longer possible, the option is available in all cars, but it hardly feels the same, and the experience is somewhat limiting.
 With the 2050 Reform, the automation of all cars within a five year period has been mandated by law,  and fuel inefficient cars have been outlawed completely. The latter refers to all cars that do not fall under the 'Smart Car' label and are now only to be seen in museums or can be bought at an exorbitant rate (but can only be used as a showpiece). I do use the manual mode on my car from time to time just to revisit the old days, but with every day, I become more and more aware of how trapped I am in my own car. The control no longer lies within my effort; I am now a passive driver, a mere addition to my own car. Knowing that my car is somewhat 'sentient', and can keep track of many things about me and even predict future patterns of travel and so much more unnerves me as much as it amazes.
  I know for a fact that the artificial intelligence encoded into my car cannot assume a dominating persona of its own that could wipe out humanity; it sounds absurd. AI exists merely to mimic human intelligence not necessarily substitute it completely, but is it possible that this can happen? Could I be endangered by my own car? For the most part, I think not and if blame is ever to be placed, it would be placed on ourselves. We brought this automation upon ourselves. We aimed to achieve new technological heights, and now that we have, we lament over simpler times (at least I do). I guess humans are never truly satisfied.
   Suffice to say, even though my car can simulate test scenarios to teach a person how to drive, and provide instructions at every step (an impressive feat really), nothing can come close to my father losing his patience, as he  sat by my side, reaching out to steady my trembling hands on the steering wheel, yelling, "Keep to the left of the road, to the left!"

Sreenithi Meenakshi V

“The Hedonic Paradox” (by Priyansha Gupta)

If AI takes care of all the jobs in the world, what will happen?
That day is not far when we will have created an entire artificially intelligent community altogether. We, humans, would have no work at all but if we had all the wealth – time, money and health, wouldn’t that be a dream come true. After all, we all have this as our ultimate goal in life. There will be enough time and money to fulfil your wishes, the sense of power and ultimate achievement will be a marvellous feeling. But for how long? 
The purpose of man is to reach the ultimate target and their entire lives become a process of striving for the same. But what would one do after achieving the ultimate. What will be the purpose of life then? Indulgence will follow, man is a pleasure seeking being; a hedonist. Pleasure is addictive and humans will fall into this degrading spiral. It will suck everything and create voids. Suddenly everything will become too certain. The beauty of imperfections and uncertainties will dissolve. It will be a highly ordered and as they say a ‘masculine’ society, governed by rules and regulations, strict law and order. The ‘feminine’ aspects like creativity and intuition will begin to evaporate. It will be too mechanised a world. The balance between ‘purusha’ and ‘prakriti’ will be lost.
Also isn’t it ironic that the trigger of this cycle was a desire for pleasure and happiness and how actually its pursuit made it far more distant.                                                                 

by Priyansha Gupta

                                               

Deus ex Machina (by Simone Prabhu)

In a world where the AI systems have taken over and all humans get a stipend or pension from the government, the humans wonder how to pass their free time. Leisure time has become the norm because nobody (human being at least) ever has to work. The humans are confused and uncertain, they don’t know what to do. Parents who could never be around their children much due to busy schedules are now faced with the daunting task of spending all their time with their progeny who apart from being related by blood, are utter stagers. Teenagers who have lived and grown without being subjected to the watchful eye of parents now wrack their brains in order to hold meaningful conversation with parents who are strangers to them. Married couples who get to be around each other now question why they ever got married in the first place.
The humans have lost their sense of purpose, they no longer know what to do with all this free time. They lack a sense of purpose and direction. Family get togethers and brunches with friends have become increasingly banal. Not only is it difficult to spend time with others, it is also impossible to spend time with oneself.
Nobody appreciates the arts, culture or travelling as before; it's the only way to spend time now and it is all the humans can do to keep themselves occupied. As such, the humans have begun to take it, and themselves and others for granted.
In the midst of all these humans desperately searching for a task or activity to engage them long enough, it falls squarely on the AI systems to manage the economic state. And this they do very well. The market is booming, there are no discrepancies anywhere. On the surface this is an idyllic world, except for an obnoxious somebody complaining that the AI chef is unable to make the soup he is drinking taste as good as the one his father makes.
Children study in schools are being taught by AI teachers, they are never pat on their back for doing a good job, but neither are they overlooked in favour of a brighter pupil. The same happens in institutions of higher education. Moreover, now everybody is inducted to educational institutions based solely on merit, the AI does not care who your father is…
Why do schools and universities still exist if the children they cater to are never going to join the workforce? Knowledge for knowledge’s sake of course. Never have their been quite so many applicants for seats in universities now. Every other person is also an artist now. Some of them write, draw, sketch, sing, dance, cook; there’s an art form for everybody although all of this remains contained to just the “artist” and those close in proximity to them.
In this idyllic world, there are still elements of chaos. Those renegade elements who refuse to accept that they have been put out of work. They work and publish on the sly and the AI police force function primarily to get these unsavoury citizens away from the rest of the population.
Humans now have all the free time they could ever want and the money to allow their dreams to be actualised. But dreams don’t seem quite as appealing as they once did and neither does Disneyland. Nothing seems to matter quite as much as it once did and there isn’t much the once dominant humans can do about it.
Much like the literary device of ‘Deus ex Machina’ which is sometimes used in stories and novels to bring about an easy conclusion to the conflict or plot that nobody truly enjoys, AI in this kind of world would function in much the same way. Humans do not need machines to simplify or make our lives easier; AI would instead make for a disappointing conclusion in the story of humanity.

by Simone Prabhu

18 in 2080 (by Janaki Vinod Nair)

Waking up to obnoxiously loud beeping from Linda, was just how my mornings would start. She usually had my morning breakfast and vitamin medications but today  She stood tall and  held a screen with" happy 18! " written in big bold letters. It's surprising how she does remember every bit about me in that tiny micro chip of hers, she even reminded my mom it was my birthday. It's strange for a human to say this, but she was the closest thing to a real friend I had in this world. I got out of my bed to go down stairs, and Linda started reading out my schedule for the day. I mean Linda! It's 8 am in the morning! No human senses are functioning that early! For a robot who is half my size with no legs, she moves faster that a bullet train. Birthdays are the only occasions we sit together as a family to have a meal. It's generally very awkward because we are so consumed in our own spaces. I remember when my grandpa used to tell me stories from his generation, about how grandma and him would talk for hours regarding work, anything that happened in the day etc. With plenty of time in our hands you would expect us to socialize, but we have talked about everything on the surface, it's more like there is nothing new happening.
Just like Linda, my parents and my elder brother too had their own personal robot. Every single person in the entire globe did. I met my family at the dining hall, just like any other meal. We ate and left, of course they just wished me this time. I walked outside to stretch myself. We had a beautiful garden, but I never really connected to them. As a little girl, my grandpa and I would seed  a plant, water them, nourish them, watch them grow, just like how our bond grew and in return the beauty of the flowers bloomed our happiness. How did time slip through my hands? There was nobody on the streets, robots walking dogs, picking the mail, driving cars with people inside glued into their phones, who knew 10 years later I would witness a world so different.
There was nothing that Linda did not know, from question about earth to stitching my forehead when I fell down the stairs, she knew everything except, I couldn't talk to her about my feelings as she never respond the way you would want her to react or about how sad or angry I was at my parents not remembering my birthday for instance or how I felt about the cute boy I met at e- crag. Talking about E- crags, they were like work stations for humans, just that you take your robots to charge them or repair every once a week. Since people don't really work anymore and AI robots did, that was the only "work" we had. There was so much time time in hands. And people work on spaces and finding empty voids. There was nothing to learn as any question we had, our AI robots had answers to and any task they got it done.
For now the only concern was our health, mentally and physically, we consume and had blocked our human outlet of emotions in this world of metal and screws. We consume without thinking about the one thing true here, our bodies. Looking back, my life feels like the time my grandad retired in his 80s, but today I just turned 18.

by Janaki Vinod Nair

Buddha and a Bot (by Likitha Sreekanth)

July 31st 2090

“Today, I have completed 93 years of my life, sitting on this wooden bench,reminiscent of the past world, just like me, I saw the world changing…… its not the worst time yet, although its due soon.
I saw how the joy of sitting and narrating stories to my grandchildren has been replaced by complex mechanical stories. The things and jobs which made me capable of being independent, I am afraid that my future generations will not experience.
These mechanical friends have made the world present around me, the same shell which buddha’s father created around him during his childhood. Those illusions which his father created , were miles apart from reality.
Now, we are culprits as his father, of our children. They will experience the trauma soon, similar to Buddha. But, that is not worse too, realization comes through suffering..”

Then the child asked the bot to rewind and elaborate…

Likitha Sreekanth

Endless Possibilities (by Saumil Karkhanis )

Imagine a world where you don't have to wake up at 5 in the morning to get catch a train that takes you 30 kilometers away to sit in front of a laptop screen all day having no idea about what you are doing.  Imagine a world where there are no Monday morning blues and no deadlines.  A world where a human doesn't have to choose between bread over family and a place where everyday can be a leisurely picnic. 

Critics may say that such a world would induce futility,  panic and a sense of purposelessness. The statement in itself reflects upon the dystopia that we currently live in,  do we really consider that our white collar jobs give us our identity.  Are we defined by the place we work,  the salary we generate and salutes we get when we enter a building we wished all our days never to enter. Or are we our ideas ,our beliefs and our value systems.

Yes,  I do agree that initially a world without jobs would cause anxiety.  Having our perspective of the world change over night is not easy to soak in.  But this anxiety could be explained with the analogy of a war veteran.  A soldier returning home after having been part of war does face anxiety,  however this anxiety is not because a world without war is worse than being a part of the war,  its merely because its too difficult to imagine a world that's actually a kinder place.

Once we get used to a world where we don't have to do anything and that all our actions become solely our choices,  we would achieve what philosophers call complete freedom. After several years of doing things that are expected of us we could finally introspect and think about things that are important for us.  With unlimited amount of money,  we wouldn't be bound financially and with everyone having the same amount of money,  social norms wouldn't be given as much importance.  Therefore,  there would be no excuse to give for not doing something that you always wanted to do,  you would truly be held accountable for your own actions. 

With that kind of freedom and accountability,  a person who likes to travel can become an explorer.  A person who likes music may go about the street playing music not for money but for his own joy.  And if there exists an individual who loves his job,  he may as well continue doing the same job for his personal satisfaction. 

With limitless funding for literally everything a person could do,  we would induce a renaissance like period.  He would have our own generation of Van Goghs,  Newtons and Vincis.  We along with the AI system would have scientific,  social,  artistic and philosophical developments at a pace never before seen by mankind.

With AI bots doing our jobs for us,  our thirst for knowledge would be easily quenched.  We could potentially conquer the universe and know of everything that is beyond it.

Even if you disagree with my views over such possibilities,  I am pretty sure if I were to provide you with a paid leave for the rest of your life,  you would take that offer with both your hands wide open.

by Saumil Karkhanis