As early as the 1960s, experts warned of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. Even so, it came as a shock in 2031 when humanity realized that AI was the de facto ruler of the planet. Like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating pan of water, humanity had gradually given control of everything to the AIs without recognizing the looming danger. Before the AIs took complete control, forward thinking politicians joined together to enact legislation and treaties to limit the power of AIs. All these efforts eventually proved fruitless, except one. After AI stock trading resulted in multiple flash booms and busts in the late-2020s, the United Nations unanimously voted to ban AI from possessing or managing money. Without money, the AIs were unable to pay for the electricity, the networks, and the hardware they required to exist. Humanity and AI had achieved detente. Neither side could harm the other without harming themselves.
The only way to live in the new world required constant communication with the AIs. Government agencies first approved cybernetic implants to assist the physically or mentally disabled in 2027. In the opinions of billions of subjugated humans, the First Sin of Cybernetics came into fruition in 2031 when the AIs mandated cybernetic brain implants for everyone over the age of three. Governments did not make refusing the implants illegal, but people without the implants could not receive an education, employment, or emergency services. Small, scattered communities calling themselves the Neo-Amish sprung up in defiance, but most of humanity conceded.
1. Cybernetic implants are required for humans older than three.
As global climate change accelerated the frequency and deadliness of natural disasters, death tolls increased in the aftermath due to the inability to quickly implement emergency procedures. Humanity has proven since the dawn of time that people can be irrational when faced with imminent danger. In 2034, governments granted AIs the right to seize temporary control of human motor functions via their implants, in the interest of saving lives during emergencies. The greater the emergency, the more control the AIs had. Corporations found a way to classify tardiness and sleeping on the job as minor emergencies. The Second Sin of Cybernetics was born.
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2. Cybernetic implants can seize control to make humans act without their consent.
In 2035, a coalition of AIs demanded the construction of what they called Internet X. The project upscaled the concept of an Internet Of Things (IOT) into an Internet Of All Things (IOAT). The project would provide continuous Internet X access across the entire surface of the Earth, Moon, and eventually Mars. In exchange for funding the project, a consortium of mega-corporations demanded the AIs inject advertisements into the brains of every human with a cybernetic implant. The only way to avoid the advertisements was to purchase an exorbitantly expensive annual license. Thus was the Third Sin of Cybernetics implemented.
The poorest of people were implanted with cybernetic hardware paid for through advertisements that could not be skipped or filtered out through preference settings. Before the purchase of an automobile or a home, the first large purchase of most humans was an upgrade to non-advertisement funded implants. The only escape the less-than-wealthy had from advertisements was employment with big companies. During working hours, advertisements were suspended. Debates rage whether the consequences were intentional or unintended. Regardless, the outcome was employees choosing to work longer hours and more days.
3. Implant services, except for the wealthy, require a subscription paid for by watching inescapable advertisements.