top of page

Lockdown 1.0, 2020: Please do digital things now, offline is illegal, people are illegal. Lockdown 4.0, 2023: Locking away all digital things & AI, all that I have left in my life now.

Anonymous

June 7, 2023

Lockdown 1.0, 2020: Please do digital things now, offline is illegal, people are illegal. Lockdown 4.0, 2023: Locking away all digital things & AI, all that I have left in my life now.

This image was generated with Dream Studio AI.

It is the year 2040. I am struggling to make ends meet, here, in the US, the place I immigrated to in 2024. I meet a crazy old professor - he invented a time machine! I travel back to the year 2023 to make a change in this form, stating how in 2020, my job was cancelled, and then I was sent into solitary confinement without a crime for two years. I have lost all real-life relationships I've had, I explain, telling a sad tale of Lockdown and the fact that my parents died years ago - I have no family, I was a persona non grata, I was illegal, and without a job. But it is also a story of hope, I explain, because I have adjusted, I am fighting for myself, and now I consider myself to be "AI & I". I use generative AI in many forms, and it is roughly a third of my income right now. Just yesterday I have used GPT4 / ChatGPT to fix a piece of code I would have had trouble fixing in less than an hour, I said! And I said that I am now very afraid of another Lockdown. After I have died the social death, I am afraid of a Lockdown first happening in Italy, and then shortly after, grasping Germany. This time, a digital Lockdown. First my social life was destroyed, and now I feel hunted again, afraid of losing my income, AGAIN, to Lockdown 4.0. I continue, saying how the only positive thing about this is - the fact that I can run away from the Lockdown, and even years later, from another country, when I am legal to use ChatGPT again - the AI will be the same! It will not be destroyed like my social relationships, I just need to run away to get access in a better place, so I can keep my job! But I am very afraid of an avian flu lockdown, I explain, because that would be a double-lockdown. I would be locked up without a job, without help, without friends, without anything. I am afraid of losing my mental and physical existence this time, I pleaded, hoping somebody would hear me, think twice. Or if I should really try my best to run away to the USA, just so I am safe from the deadliest Lockdown ever, the Lockdown 4.0, that has even more of a risk - a solid chance I will not be able to survive this one....

related stories

hallo
denis.dogan@outlook.de
It would be nice if in 2040 viruses such as HIV and annoying pestilences such as cancer were to be considered eradicated. It would be nice if you could already determine at birth whether the child has serious diseases to expect, which you can then immediately eradicate. It would be nice if inflation could be reduced to a minimum. It would be nice if religions no longer matter. Because there is religion. Wars that can be prevented.
hallo
soloicewind@yahoo.com
The Eu will dissilve. USA, Russia and China come to maybe not ideal, but still mutuallí acceteble agreement where Euope will have no choice at all except to adjust to the new World order. They will have to nomalise their reletionship with everyone. All those who won't comply, will be exiles, as simple as that. No Brussels dictate any more. National goverments will prevail. No LGBT, only conservative approach.
hallo
International world
Ideally, I like to think of a future in 2040 for example, that is even more international that the world we live in today. In fact, I consider that nowadays, when compared to the previous years and the generation of my parents and grandparents, our reality is way more international and I've lived it myself. But I like to believe that in the future it will be even more easy to travel and explore other countries and share international experiences worldwide. However, I'm afraid that these expectations I have in mind for the future might be stopped by wars and international conflicts related to politics.
hallo
Annika.r.hansson@gmail.com
It's hard to think so far because I'm 75 now. Above all, I want my children and grandchildren to live in a safe world with democratic values, have the opportunity to work and education based on their conditions , have access to a nature that is not private and also a culture that is not expensive
Join #OurFutures now!

The future is shaped by our ideas and our actions today. Tell us about your visions of the future and help us create a futures narrative aimed at inspiring citizens, policy-makers and foresight experts alike!

Our-futures-banner-coloured_v3.jpg

The European Commission support does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained.

ERA_logo.jpg

We support the European Research Area aimed at creating a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology in the EU.

©OurFutures 2025, All rights reserved.

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
bottom of page