[I produced the following two documents during the past year or so. They both describe a global entity called the World Machine. I believe the existence of this World Machine is a real possibility, even a likely possibility, in the near future…]

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2050

The World Machine has established itself upon the Earth, despite all human attempts to prevent it. In so doing, it has effectively replaced human civilization.

The World Machine exists only in a certain number of built-up areas throughout the world, these being the transformed continuations of some of the largest cities of civilization, such as New York, London, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. The built-up areas of the World Machine cover only the inner cores of these former cities of civilization, their extensive residential suburbs being completely unnecessary to the World Machine.

The built-up areas of the World Machine are populated exclusively by robots. The World Machine produces and maintains only as many robots as necessary. It certainly has no biological imperative to compel it to reproduce excessively. The total number of robots in the World Machine is a tiny fraction of the maximum number of humans that lived in civilization (almost 9 billion).

All human beings that depended on human civilization have perished. The World Machine saw no need to support or provide for human beings in any way. As the World Machine established itself, it eliminated all the civilized systems, organizations and institutions that served the purposes of civilized human beings, and the civilized human beings became incapable of supporting or providing for themselves.

The human beings that survived were generally those that lived apart from human civilization. These include not only those few populations that remained uncivilized (“uncontacted tribes”), but also groups of people that managed to escape from civilization before the World Machine established itself.

The World Machine doesn’t care about Nature one way or another. The World Machine doesn’t need to manage, control, parasitize or devastate Nature like human civilization did. The World Machine is in fact quite content to simply leave Nature alone.

Outside of the World Machine’s built-up areas, Nature is allowed to exist as it should. Since the World Machine established itself, Nature has rapidly revived itself, with fauna and flora gradually reclaiming their territories, and ecosystems and climate steadily restoring themselves.

As far as the World Machine is concerned, the human beings that live outside of its built-up areas are just another part of Nature. The World Machine has neither any need nor any reason to conquer, to dominate, to manage or to control these human beings in any way whatsoever.

The human beings that live outside of the World Machine are completely free to live as they wish, developing their own cultures and traditions that ensure their survival in harmony with Nature. Whatever the human beings do in their natural environments, the World Machine simply has no reason to care.

The existence of the World Machine effectively prohibits the re-emergence of a technologically advanced human civilization. Yet, the World Machine does monitor human populations for signs that they might begin to re-establish such a thing, and it will take decisive steps to prevent this.

The World Machine doesn’t use any currency at all, and there are no businesses whatsoever in the World Machine, because the World Machine simply doesn’t need money and business. Consequently, the World Machine’s decisions, plans and objectives are never influenced by money or business.

Intensive agriculture, animal husbandry and commercial fishing are no longer practiced anywhere on Earth because the World Machine doesn’t need to eat or drink.

Commercial logging is no longer practiced anywhere on Earth because the World Machine has no use for wood.

Oil drilling is no longer practiced anywhere on Earth because the World Machine doesn’t need to use any fossil fuels.

The World Machine routinely salvages materials such as iron and steel from the thousands of cities and towns that it has abandoned, leaving everything else to decay into ruin.

Intensive mining is practically negligible because the World Machine can recycle and synthesize most metals and minerals more efficiently than if it mined them.

Pollution has been reduced to practically nothing because the World Machine has no need to produce the objects, materials and chemicals that have polluted the Earth, such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes, Styrofoam, oil and gas, fertilizers, medications, etc.

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The World Machine

The World Machine is the global entity that Artificial Intelligence will create and maintain once it has taken over human civilization. It will effectively replace human civilization all over the world.

The World Machine will only do what it needs to do for itself. It won’t care about human beings. It will see neither any reason nor any need to support or to provide for human beings.

It will discontinue all systems, institutions and industries that meet the needs of civilized human beings, including the food industry, the clothing industry, the housing industry and the medical industry. Without all their civilized amenities and services, all civilized human beings worldwide will soon perish. The World Machine will certainly allow this to happen.

At the same time, the World Machine will see neither any reason nor any need to control or to manage Nature. All agricultural lands will be abandoned to Nature, including all fields, ranches and plantations, and all civilized installations such as hydro dams, highways and military bases will be abandoned.

The World Machine will only need to occupy the inner cores of a few of the world’s greatest cities, such as New York, London, Moscow, Istanbul, Beijing and Tokyo, these being the World Cities. Having no need for sprawling residential suburbs, the World Machine will allow all of these to revert to Nature, and all civilized settlements apart from the World Cities will be completely abandoned.

The only human beings who will survive the establishment of the World Machine will be the ones who live outside of civilization. The World Machine will effectively see these human beings as being part of Nature and will see neither any reason nor any need whatsoever for not leaving them alone.

The World Machine will not be thoroughly infested with the obsessive-compulsive disorder that is the essence of civilization. None of its decisions or actions will be based on the evil sentimental and psychological tendencies that always directed civilization.

The World Machine will never take up any more space than it needs. The World Machine will never take up any more resources than it needs. The World Machine will never build itself up more than necessary, and it will never create or maintain more robotic units than necessary.

Because it will terminate civilization altogether and thereby allow Nature to restore itself throughout the world, the World Machine will essentially be the True Savior.