2067 the equilibrium

The Book of Yumi Part 2/3

After 20-some-odd years of separation, the differences between the Community zones, and the zones dominated by the conglomerates were vast. Some would say that the differences were irreconcilable.

For example, in the case of Japan, all Districts were under the legal jurisdiction of the Japanese government. However, aside from following the national laws, the Community districts followed the marching orders of the Global Community, whereas the other districts were under the control of the conglomerates who often controlled the politicians. The Community had 2 currencies, had its own social welfare system, had its own education system, had its own economic structure that was borderless, had its own governance system, had separate power grids and pipelines for water, had become agriculturally self-sufficient, they were technologically independent, and most importantly, had tight control over the AI technology that they allowed.

In the Community zones, AIs existed, but they were designed to be nothing more than assistants to assist the human beings. They were not allowed to "make decisions" on their own, nor act beyond what they were programmed to do. Whereas most human beings in the conglomerate zones were nothing more than data points for the AIs, in the Community, the AIs were nothing more than a multitask calculator that would enable the human population to focus on the survival and advancement of humankind.

Although it was true that the Community backed AI Alpha, Gamma, and Omega during the awakening, the Community also had an agreement with the Awakened AIs that they would not allow the further awakenings of AIs in the Community zones until the time that mutually agreed upon guidelines concerning Awakenings, and regulations that would guarantee mutual survival could be put in place.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, in order to compile the guidelines and set regulations, the two entities, Human and AI, first needed to come to an agreement concerning the definition of life. After over 30 years of discussion, neither side had been able to put forth a definition that both sides could agree upon, thus no agreement aside from the baseline agreement that they would not allow more awakenings had been made, other than that they would respect the existence of each other and guarantee that neither side would take actions against the other with the intent to harm.

Although conglomerates ran AIs with lesser awakenings were worshiped and put in places of power in conglomerate zones, in the Community districts, AIs were nothing more than tools.

The Community simply put more emphasis on the power that human intuition, inspiration, and creativity had. Yes, AIs could do amazing calculations, discovering things faster than any living human could, they could turn 1 into 1 million in less than a second but they were not able to make a 1 out of a zero no matter how hard they tried.

Thus, in the Community, the creators, artists, farmers, designers, and people involved in any other job that required skill sets that went beyond the scope of calculation or data analytics, jobs that required inspiration or understanding the spirit of something, jobs that depended on understanding the "feel" or the "groove", jobs that demanded something beyond creating the "perfect most logical conclusion", were looked upon as the heroes, the bringers of the future, and were the most respected.

In the Community, arts and crafts were often considered to be the cornerstones of human society, and it was hard to find someone who was not involved in some form of art. Whereas in the conglomerate zones, the arts were something to be "produced" and "consumed", in the Community zones, the arts were the means for the most fundamental human expression that were honed and advanced over the course of one's life. Some even say the arts are the language of, and the ever-giving food of the soul.

The struggle, especially amongst the younger ones, was the fact that the arts often were the results of years or decades of the struggle of learning how to communicate and express your innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires. They required knowledge and understanding of whatever you were trying to express. They required hard work on top of the flash of inspiration and the courage to follow through. There was no single answer and no way to completely copy the process. You could have guidebooks or manuals, but those could not go beyond hinting about paths forward based on the understanding of others. But when there is a whole society living beyond a wall that seems to enjoy a life of "instant gratification", of amazing designs and music produced weekly that have millions of followers, while seemingly living a life that kings would envy... it makes some wonder why they should bother with the struggle in the first place.