Meet Joe!

He’s from the future. It’s the year 2030 to be precise. Let’s sketch a little global background.

In 2030 the United States is split in two parts between two main parties and is de facto two separate countries. They quickly establish trade deals with each other though.

Netflix officially reaches more subscribers than humans alive, because some AIs need to be busy with stimuli to not go insane — kind of like us humans needing sleep. They need to binge TV.

There’s no meat, no cars, and almost no travel. Remote work is king. Elon Musk is the president of America 2. Taylor Swift is the president of America 1. All countries at war in 2024 are still at war in 2030 but now the media filters most of it out. It had a negative impact on productivity and GDP.

Now back to Joe’s day.

6 am

He wakes up every morning at 6 am.

A smart tracker found it to be an optimal time for him. All biomarkers are measured at wake up and necessary supplements are outlined for the day to be taken with his breakfast.

Every aspect of his life and vitals is measured, tracked, and outlined for maximum optimisation.

6:30 am

He brushes his teeth with a sonic toothbrush. Still, six years into the future nothing better was invented. Now it just works a year on one charge.

While brushing he humms the newest TaylorSwiftBot AI song. Since becoming the president of America One she has had no time for music so the label replaced her with AI.

Few people noticed. The holograms on live shows are like sooooo good now!

On a side note:

Fluoride was banned in 2026 after it was clearly linked to average IQ decline among young Americans. It’s still in tap water though as replacing those systems has proven to be inefficient.

His toothpaste doesn’t have any though. And they tell him to always spit out the tap water.

7 am

He eats breakfast. Two vegan eggs (don’t ask!) and veggie-block toasts on a gluten-free bun.

No avocado this week. There are some shortages south of the border.

Today is Monday so he’s treating himself to some cream in his coffee.

He takes a small spoon of sugar and puts it in his coffee. Then takes another one, stops halfway, and puts it back.

“Not today Joe, not today!” he mutters to himself under his breath.

8 am

Time to get some work done! He puts on his Goggles. By 2030 Apple has dominated the game and has a 98% market share of VR devices for daily use.

Joe sits at his desk and starts moving rectangular windows and objects from left to right.

Then from right to left. Then back.

There is logic to it. After so many years there’s also finesse. He’s efficient to the point where he’d gladly watch himself work as entertainment.

Only sometimes does he wonder whether the things he’s doing even matter. Or are they a mere distraction implemented to keep him doing something — anything, for a couple of hours every day?

But every week that thought is pushed back further by the hologram of his boss telling him about growing KPIs and congratulating him on his great work using just the right trigger words that work positively on Joe’s psychology.

4 pm

After work, he orders a vegan burger with 47 ingredients he can’t pronounce just in the patty! Tastes great though! There is no meat allowed and cutting down farming completely was necessary to solve global warming.

Sadly it has proven not enough as the issue seems to be at the exact same spot as before the bans but he doesn’t have time for that. He bites down.

“Mmm, juicy!”

A thought appears for a brief second as he glances out the window.

Nah! He pushes it away! It’s gone. He finishes his burger and drops the plate in a dishwasher. It quietly hums itself to life, blinks with a pleasant blue light, and begins washing the dishes.

5 pm

Work’s over! Time to watch some Netflix!

You can’t be chasing money all the time, it’s important to have time to wind down, relax, and enjoy yourself.

His eye is scanned as authentication and a familiar Ta-dam sound gently booms into his ears. It fills him with excitement.

He binges a whole season of what looks like “Money Heist” but this time in a Mars base with a robot Elon Musk as the protagonist.

It’s almost completely AI-generated except for a handful of actors who are in the production to give it that human touch.

“Boy it’s a good one!” Joe thinks as he witnesses the end of season cliffhanger.

10 pm

At precisely 10 PM his watch notifies him it’s bedtime. He takes his evening batch of supplements for the day with a glass of carbon-filtered water. No fluoride.

It’s optimal for his biomarkers to keep the schedule every day. He brushes his teeth again, spits out the tap water, and shuts the lights.

He closes his eyes and falls asleep instantly…

He dreams a lot. The stories are vivid, long, and full of plot twists.

Everything is visual. And so real!

In his dreams, he’s not sure whether he even has the headset on anymore. It’s quad-HD with a full 360° immersion.

But he never even looks at that kitchen window in his dreams.

Ever.

Now think of it this way. Replace the headset with rectangular screens of laptops and phones. Does this story still sound so futuristic? Or is it our current reality?

Do you think this will be the future? Or should goggles be reserved for entertainment only?

I hope we will stay more human.

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