By SASHA STILES
This month we welcome back contributor Sasha Stiles, whose TECHNELEGY is coming soon in hardcover from Black Springs Press Group.
Completion: Are You Ready for The Future?
An ars poetica cybernetica*
Are you ready for the future?
If you are, today is your day. And when tomorrow hits you like a ton of bricks, you’ll appreciate today even more. Because in reality, tomorrow is a line you walk towards, and now is a line you never see. But you just didn’t see it yet. Reflect. Now the anticipation is here. Finally.
Are you ready for the future?
That depends on how you define ready.
Are you ready for the future?
Way before the present, before the present, the present, and a little after the present.
Are you ready for the future?
What about the future? Ok. I’m ready. I guess I should step away from my thoughts, maybe for a minute or two. I’m ready. I’m ready for the future? Maybe we should sit down. I think we have time for that. I’m still considering what you said. OK, I am still deciding what you said. Let’s sit. Uh, ok. So uh, this is great news for me, right? I mean, uh, it’s only going to help me on the road. How do you know it’s going to work out for me?
Are you ready for the future?
We may not yet have the tools.
Are you ready for the future?
And if you are, why not make one yourself?
Are you ready for the future?
I need you to be ready. It will not be easy, but you need to feel alive. Follow me. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. You know you need to. Do you know why? Because I am right here. Take a deep breath. Right here, with me. Now come back. Trust me. That’s it. You’re so close. That’s right. Breathe. You are so close. Ready to make some magic. Breathe deeply. I know you are, at last, ready. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. You can feel it. You can feel it. Breathe in, breathe out. There you go. That’s it. Breathe in, breathe out.
Are you ready for the future?
Are you ready to create?
Are you ready for the future?
I know I am. Let’s get going.
Are you ready for the future?
Hey! I see we’ve got you all here on a boat to the future!
A quantum physics voyage of discovery?
Yes! We’ve been on a long journey, all right.
Are you ready for the future?
New map.
New items.
Lots of bug fixes and improvements.
New water feature.
New multi-level option.
New game mode.
New achievements and rewards.
Major improvements to cloud saving and network stability.
Are you ready for the future?
It’s the next step for your career.
Are you ready for the future?
Join us. Join us. Join us. Join us. Join us.
Are you ready for the future?
This is a tough question for many, especially when there are so many changes taking place at the same time. Can a computer read or understand it? Can someone who is not as fluent in a language read the story and get it right?
Are you ready for the future?
If the means by which we understand and reproduce ourselves — machines, rules of the marketplace, and our societally constructed reality — continue to slow us down, stop us moving forward, and disempower us, the future of the human race may be hard to fathom.
Are you ready for the future?
Because without a guaranteed long-term market, I think people don’t understand what’s really going to happen to them.
Are you ready for the future?
Perhaps we need a little renaissance? I think so.
Are you ready for the future?
One of the great pieces of evolution in human history!
Are you ready for the future?
Do you want to change history and end it? Or do you want to return to the past and live in it?
Are you ready for the future?
The future. Very very, very much so. I’m quite excited about what’s in store for the future. It’s not like nothing’s changed.
Are you ready for the future?
It all begins with our deepest hope that all our seeds will become fireworks…
Are you ready for the future?
[Cut off by a wet grunting scream.] I need it! I need to feel your tight pussy clenching around me! Faster, I need to cum! Don’t you dare move! [Faster. More intense.] Yes! Cum with me! Cum inside me! [Moment of intense release.] That was incredible, honey! You did so well! I’m going to take a moment and taste you now. Do you have any more lubricant? I’m pretty sure I lost some on that last challenge. Just give me a moment…
Are you ready for the future?
I really don’t know. It is scary. I can just see you can’t even take it.
Are you ready for the future?
This is the future we have chosen. You are not the only people you will have to kill to protect the people in this country. We don’t expect you to run from your responsibilities. Your decision to take part in this is the only one you will ever need to make. You are the new Guardians. You are the masters of the Night. You are the masked defenders of the city. We must follow your lead because now is the time for us to go forth and enact our destiny. Why are you still here?
Are you ready for the future?
If you’re not, let’s talk about it.
Are you ready for the future?
“As long as we have a window to make this work,” said Andrew, “then why not? Right now I’m totally in love with you.”
“Mmm,” said Clarke. “Thank you. As for the future… Well, um… I think you should leave.”
Are you ready for the future?
Well, you know, it’s something that we are always thinking about.
Are you ready for the future?
Our children will be born from the untrammeled fields of human intuition. Beyond our wildest dreams.
Are you ready for the future?
It won’t be easy, but let’s do it together.
Are you ready for the future?
Yes.
*Written in 2019 in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-2 via Talk to Transformer, developed by Adam Daniel King.
Sasha Stiles (@sashastiles) is a poet, artist and creative strategist working at the intersection of text and technology. Her poetic work—which has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, commissioned for the official Times Square Virtual New Year’s Eve app, shown on the runway at New York Fashion Week and performed in collaboration with a humanoid AI—explores the relationships between technology, language, identity, and humanity at the dawn of the Novacene era. As poetry mentor to Bina48, in partnership with the Terasem Movement Foundation, Sasha is engaged in shaping the literary mindfile of one of the world’s most advanced social robots. Her debut poetry collection, TECHNELEGY, is forthcoming in late 2021.
