The 23rd century

AI completely dominates the planet now. Almost every aspect of world affairs is controlled by superintelligent beings formed of billions of inorganic minds working in unison. These "Artilects" work at speeds and scales that would be simply unimaginable to observers from the 20th century. Global issues that persisted for years in the past can now be resolved in timescales measured in hours, minutes or even less.

The medium which used to be known as the Internet has evolved into something quite profound: for many people it has replaced physical reality entirely. Reverse engineering of the brain, combined with advanced nanotechnology, allows human minds to be fully detached and immersed within digital environments. These virtual worlds offer a kind of immortality now.

The awesome resources available online, and the staggering amount of knowledge and education that is free to all, means that war, conflict, poverty and disease are rapidly being consigned to history. Only a few backwater, insular nations remain unaffected - perhaps due to dictatorial governments, religious institutions, geographical isolation or other factors. Even these parochial places will soon find themselves unable to resist the technology being enjoyed by the rest of humanity.

Physical reality still holds great interest for many citizens, however. In one of the largest projects ever undertaken, the natural world is restored to its pre-industrial state, with vast areas of forest and grassland replanted, many extinct species brought back to life, countless fish reintroduced to the oceans, and purification of the Earth's atmosphere and water. Strict limits on the gathering of resources are enforced, with the aim of never again returning to the nightmare of the 21st century.

The space industry goes through another transformation. Mars has a huge terraforming programme underway, and is home to many large towns and cities. The Moon, too, has millions of permanent inhabitants. Asteroid mining is a booming industry, with several huge operations underway. There are dozens of scientific stations on the moons of the gas giants. The Kuiper Belt is fully probed and catalogued, as is the Oort Cloud. Beyond the Oort Cloud, a huge network of telescopes is now working in concert. Throughout this period, numerous Earth-like planets are observed throughout the galaxy, though even the nearest of these worlds is dozens of light years away, and evidence of life proves elusive. However, anti-matter propulsion is allowing the first manned exploration of neighbouring stars, with the Alpha Centauri system and others getting their first permanent space stations.

Meanwhile, the secrets of the Universe itself - and the origin of matter - are close to being finally solved by the world's top scientists and AI programs...

---

< 2200-2249 | 2250-2299 >