‘Such an ironic name, don’t you think? In a once-ancient culture that has long since disappeared, a culture that was perhaps the earliest pioneer of the obsession with technology, the word “ai” meant love. In every culture there has ever been, including that one, it is also a sound of pain. Which is fitting, because the world fell in love with AI—instantly, completely and obsessively in love, and that love has brought us much pain.’ He smiled at them, but there was no humour in his smile, only a grim resignation.

‘Everyone knows what AI is,’ said Albert. ‘It was the birth of the Technological Revolution.’

‘Yes, although I believe that the revolution, as they called it, had already begun. One cannot have a revolution without belief in an ideal—a shining principle to strive towards—and there is no doubt in my mind that the world had chosen technology as that ideal long before AI was finally developed, although history tells us that its appearance was the event after which there was no turning back. And yes, they called it the Technological Revolution, but it was not a revolution. A revolution is a collective struggle towards a clearly defined goal, not an unending universal obsession with the struggle itself. No, it was a religion. Technology became the new religion, the scientists and researchers its high priests. And AI was the messiah.’

He paused, taking a breath. ‘The world was never the same again. After all, the universally accepted maxim was that the most precious resource in a man’s life was time. A lack of time the single most widespread complaint there was. In a way, that was what had appealed about technology in the first place—its ability to save precious seconds. AI changed all that. In less time than you can conceive of, it was everywhere—beginning with industry, medicine, defence, homes and hazardous occupations and, soon enough, all occupations. It changed the way the world worked and even, in time, how it looked. It changed the way not just industries but entire economies were run, freeing up large chunks of the population, saving billions of man-hours every year, saving resources that could be redistributed for people to invest in AI applications to save them precious hours in their personal lives. It was a Golden Age of Leisure. You perhaps—having lived your whole life in a world that is a culmination of that quest for time and leisure—might differ. I am sure it is possible to kill a mouse by feeding it too much cheese.