Future of technology

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching Bladerunner 2049 in theaters and it made me think of the futuristic technology displayed in the film. In this future humans are able to create thinking robots called replicants which are used for slave labor. They are used to build and maintain colonies on other planets for humans to live on. Robots aren't the only new technology however, there's also flying cars, giant hologram advertisements, and drones that fly around and let you see through their cameras. In the timeline of Bladerunner 2049 it seems technology has advanced significantly in the next 32 years

In this universe the main technology that changed the way people behaved were the replicants. There is an entire police force dedicated to stopping and putting down old replicants that pose a danger to humans. The most powerful figure in the universe is the head of the Tyrell corporation which makes and sells the replicants. It seems like the majority of the rich and powerful now live on the off earth colonies and only the poor and disadvantaged are left on earth. It is fair to say that this technology has greatly affected how people, society and the government interacts and makes decisions.

I'd say the technologies were definitely portrayed in a negative light for the majority of the film. The film has a noir style so everyone seems depressed, distraught or unhappy in some other way. The cities we see also seem crowded and dirty, where no one seems to be enjoying themselves. Then there is the sad story of the replicants themselves, who are used for there slave labor and tortured and abused by their masters. The movie is definitely painting a dystopian future where creating human like robots ends up depriving us of our humanity.

In my opinion I would not want to live in this future, or at least the version of it that is shown in the movie. We are not shown what the offworld colonies are like and for all we know life there is far better then what is shown on earth. However, since there is always the underlying risk of a robot rebellion it probably still wouldn't be that pleasant. Putting aside the practical concerns, morally it would be hard to appreciate the new technologies knowing it was created on the back of millions of slaves. Even though they are not human they can still think, feel and suffer and knowing that would be too much to bear. 

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