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.

Artificial intelligence, or rather machine learning (because that's what we're really talking about: programs that digest huge amounts of data--texts, images, audio and video--qualified in turn by metadata, to establish logical ties between them) is nothing new. It's an old concept. What has changed over the course of Flat Eye's development is the democratization of its use. The tools have been made public, and are increasingly being used in real-life conditions, but users don't always consider the innate limits of AI beforehand.

Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge

Published on January 22 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 27 2022

{Content in English}

A vaccuum robot managed to escape from a Cambridge hotel in early 2022. Hotel staff realized it was gone too late, so they asked on social media for anyone who found it to bring it back. People replied that vaccuum robots have no natural predators in the wild. Unfortunately for the bot, it was found at the foot of a hedge, which put an end to its wild attempt at freedom.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-60084347

[AI-16] See reference details

Facebook's AI Chatbot: ‘Since Deleting Facebook My Life Has Been Much Better’

Published on August 08 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on August 10 2022

{Content in English}

When Facebook tested a prototype Chatbot, it didn't get the results it had hoped for. The AI bot, which took its replies from the Internet, was particularly critical of Facebook and also repeated misinformation, failing to filter out fake news.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkkgm/facebooks-ai-chatbot-since-deleting-facebook-my-life-has-been-much-better

[AI-19] See reference details

This startup is setting a Dall-2-like Ai free, consequences be damned

Published on August 12 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on August 15 2022

{Content in English}

While most AI-based image generator tools include content filters to prevent the creation of deepfakes or images that could incite hatred, not so for Stable Diffusion. Created by Stability AI, the open-source tool is widely available. The article notes that users have created fake images of the war in Ukraine or of China invading Taiwan.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/12/a-startup-wants-to-democratize-the-tech-behind-dall-e-2-consequences-be-damned/?guccounter=1

Note from the archivist: During the final months of Flat Eye's development, quite a few image generator tools based on machine learning have gone public: Dall-E 2, Craiyon, MidJourney and Stable Diffusion to name a few. Their abilities and use by a larger audience have forced several sectors to take them into account. For example, the pay-to-use Getty Images database has forbidden their use to prevent copyright issues, since these tools use a body of existing images to create their own. Video game creators have started to use AI during prototyping, to generate temporary decors or audio. Independent teams have even started using it for finalized graphics, using the novelty of the process as the core of their marketing strategy.

[AI-21] See reference details

Think Your Street Needs a Redesign? Ask an AI

Published on July 30 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on September 06 2022

{Content in English}

New York artist Zach Katz used the Dall-E 2 image generator tool to reimagine busy, car-filled American city streets to be pedestrian-friendly. He suggests that tool could be useful to help city planners create previsualizations quickly and on a budget.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-07-30/how-ai-is-giving-real-world-streets-a-virtual-makeover

[AI-18] See reference details

NetDragon Appoints its First Virtual CEO

Published on August 26 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on September 17 2022

{Content in English}

In a press release, Chinese company NetDragon Websoft announced that Mrs. Tang Yu, a humanoid robot run by artificial intelligence, had been named "Rotating CEO" of its Fujian NetDragon Websoft subsidiary. The company wants to prove that it's ready for the metaverse and argues that AI is "the future of corporate management".

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netdragon-appoints-its-first-virtual-ceo-301613062.html

Note from the archivist: For my own piece of mind, I did a little research on NetDragon Websoft. The company was founded in 1999, so this can't be a publicity stunt developed for the launch of Flat Eye just a few weeks later. It's almost a shame.

[AI-20] See reference details

Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights

Published on October 04 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on October 06 2022

{Content in English}

The White House has published a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which outlines five major principles that aim to protect U.S. citizens in their interactions with automated systems: safe and effective systems, algorithmic discrimination protections, data privacy, notice and explanation, and human alternatives, consideration and fallback.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/

[AI-22] See reference details

References