Flat Eye presents a possible future which may be neither desirable nor avoidable.

To create this world and make it credible, MONKEY MOON took inspiration from the present. There is no lack of sources: online articles, social media videos, scientific journals and more. On the team's private chat, one observation came up again and again: ""when reality goes beyond fiction."" Things that may seem a long way off or even impossible in the game may in fact have already happened, and some of the game's narrative threads were directly inspired by these true stories.
As archivist for the project, my mission, toward the end of the development process, was to gather all of these articles to create this coherent bibliography. It provides a closer look at what inspired Flat Eye, of course, but also at our present--a time of such rapid, constant change that we don't even realize it's happening anymore.
The goal of this snapshot of the world is to place Flat Eye's major themes (artificial intelligence, the future of work, social change, etc.) in their context. The bibliography sorts articles into several different categories (with frequent overlaps) and provides a summary for each. If you're only after the links and references, you'll find it all at the bottom of the page.

September 2022. The archivist.

Deliveroo is using an algorithm called 'Frank' to cut food delivery times by 20%

Published on July 26 2017

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 23 2019

{Content in English}

To optimize delivery routes, Deliveroo developed an algorithm that monitors its 10,000 restaurants and 15,000 delivery people in the UK and suggests ways to allocate them more efficiently without any human input. For unspecified reasons, the program that oversees all these humans is named Frank.

https://www.insider.com/deliveroo-uses-frank-algorithm-to-cut-delivery-times-by-20-2017-7

[WOR-0] See reference details

There’s now an app that lets you pick stocks based on your astrological sign

Published on October 22 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

Art collective MSCHF, which aims to shock consumers by making fun of both products and customers, has launched Bull and Moon, a mobile app that applies the aesthetics of astrology to stock market investing. "We used the stars to outperform the market!" claims the astrological investment app.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/22/20927640/mschf-stocks-astrology-zardulu-prank-jesus-shoes-netflix

[WT-0] See reference details

DeepSense, a company based in San Francisco and New Delhi, uses artificial intelligence to assess job candidates’ personalities based on their social media accounts.

Published on October 26 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

Start-up DeepSense uses machine learning and psycholinguistic concepts to determine a person's personality from their public social network profiles. The tool is aimed at recruiters, who could use it to quickly filter candidates and exclude incompatible profiles. When interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, DeepSense's founder got defensive but admitted he estimates the tool's accuracy at around 75%.

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1187866426910167046

[SOL-0] See reference details

Dammit Gwyneth! (HR software that screens applicants)

Published on November 14 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

A Twitter thread all about a recruitment process based on a personality test. The mandatory test rejected canddiates according to opaque criteria. The department head who was looking to hire a new employee took the test himself and got the lowest possible score. The HR department failed to see the problem.

https://imgur.com/gallery/OLOa7su

[SOL-2] See reference details

Nothing Lasts Forever. Not even on the internet

Published on November 30 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

A Letter to the Editor that contemplates the future of the Internet. The author's main concern is the privitization of open public spaces and the design of these spaces, which fosters aggressive behavior and identity theft.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/30/opinion/social-media-future.html

[WT-2] See reference details

Artificial intelligence in retail business

Published on December 02 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

Short video which shows through examples how videosurveillance and machine learning can be combined to analyze customer behavior in a store: picking up or putting back an object, opening it, scratching your head, etc.

https://imgur.com/gallery/ySdYHqo

[SUR-0] See reference details

The biggest lie tech people tell themselves — and the rest of us

Published on October 08 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

A critique of the tech industry's claim that the evolution of technology is inevitable, even when it doesn't serve the public good.

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/1/20887003/tech-technology-evolution-natural-inevitable-ethics

[SOL-3] See reference details

This charity wants to turn homeless people into WiFi hotspots

Published on November 13 2015

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

Prague-based charity WiFi 4 Life attempted to equip the city's homeless with portable WiFi routers to turn them into hotspots for passers-by and tourists. The charity indicated that homeless people would be compensated for their participation. WiFi 4 Life tried to get the necessary funding for the project via crowdfunding website Indiegogo, but it only received 37 euros. "The worst option would be not to try it," explained chairman Luboš Boleček.

https://www.businessinsider.com/wifi-4-life-turns-homeless-people-into-internet-hotspots-2015-11?r=US&IR=T

Note from the archivist: They gave up on the project. Luboš Boleček has since gone on to found the conservative Czech political party known as the Tea Party.

[SOL-4] See reference details

L'expérience inattendue "Ganesh Yourself" ou comment simuler un Dieu

Published on March 04 2017

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in French}

This blog post by anthropologist Emmanuel Grimaud tells the story of the "Ganesh Yourself" experiment. In India, a robot (named Bappa) which looks like the Hindu god Ganesh, answers questions from the faithful. Thanks to a dedicated interface, anyone can control Bappa, who takes on the features of his operator. The experiment explores concepts of belief and divinity.

https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/emmanuel-grimaud/experience-inattendue-ganesh-yourself-comment-simuler-un-dieu_a_21872854/

Note from the archivist: Though Emmanuel Grimaud doesn't say as much here, he was behind the "Ganesh Yourself" experiment, which he turned into a 2016 documentary film.

[WT-3] See reference details

Drones could help us Plant more Trees to help reduce Carbon Emissions

Published on December 18 2019

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 24 2019

{Content in English}

Video about start-up Dendra Systems, which makes drones that shoot beads full of seeds at the ground. These "sky tractors" aim to optimize planting.

https://imgur.com/gallery/jnO6Byc

[SOL-5] See reference details

References