ETEC 540 Task 12: Speculative Futures

"Describe or narrate a scenario about a bottle found a generation into a future in which “progress” has continued. Your description should address issues related to environment and elicit feelings of awkwardness."

Microsoft Copilot generate:

In the year 2125, the word "progress" had taken on new, complex connotations. The world had been reshaped by technological advancements and environmental interventions that promised a brighter future but left shadows of awkward reality in their wake.

On a bleak, fog-filled morning, a group of teenage eco-enthusiasts trudged through a forest in the New Territories of Hong Kong. They were part of a generation dedicated to restoring the planet after centuries of exploitation. Armed with sensors and drones, they scoured the land for traces of human impact, hoping to uncover relics that narrated the tale of their ancestors.

One of the teens, Mei, stumbled upon a half-buried bottle lodged in the soil. Its glass surface, though weathered, bore the remnants of a label from a long-forgotten brand of bottled water. She gingerly picked it up, causing the other teens to gather around.

"Plastic glass?" one of them questioned, eyebrows furrowing. They had read about single-use items in history books, but seeing it in person felt oddly surreal. The item seemed to mock their futuristic gadgets and biodegradable clothing.

As they examined the bottle, their sensors detected the presence of microplastics embedded in the soil around it. It was a stark reminder of the environmental legacy that "progress" had left behind. They knew that this small, seemingly insignificant item represented a larger, more uncomfortable truth—one that spoke of a time when convenience outweighed sustainability.

The teens stood in silence, feeling a mix of embarrassment and responsibility. Their generation had embraced high-tech solutions to combat pollution, yet this relic from the past revealed how deep-rooted and pervasive the problem still was. It was a tangible connection to an era that had once deemed itself progressive, yet had unknowingly set the stage for environmental degradation.

"Let's document it and move on," Mei finally said, her voice tinged with a sense of urgency. The group nodded, taking meticulous notes and capturing images with their drones. They knew that understanding the past was crucial to preventing history from repeating itself. As they continued their expedition, the awkward weight of the bottle lingered in their minds, a reminder of the delicate balance between progress and preservation.

In the end, the bottle became more than just an artifact; it became a symbol of the intertwined legacies of human innovation and environmental impact. It was a cautionary tale, etched in glass and plastic, urging future generations to tread carefully as they navigated the path of progress.

Deepseek generate:

In a future where "progress" has marched relentlessly forward, the world is a gleaming testament to human ingenuity—and its unintended consequences. The skyline is dominated by towering vertical farms, drone highways, and floating cities that hover above the polluted ground. The air is thick with the hum of machines, and the natural world has been reduced to a curated experience, accessible only through virtual reality or behind the glass walls of climate-controlled biospheres.

One day, a young scavenger named Kael is sifting through the ruins of an old landfill, now buried under layers of synthetic waste and forgotten relics. His job is to recover rare materials for recycling, but today, he stumbles upon something unusual: a glass bottle. It’s cracked and weathered, its label long since disintegrated, but it’s unmistakably ancient. Kael picks it up, turning it over in his hands with a mix of curiosity and unease.

He’s heard stories about such objects—artifacts from a time when people drank water from natural sources and carried it in disposable containers. The idea seems absurd to him. In his world, water is a tightly controlled resource, harvested from the atmosphere and distributed in biodegradable pods. The concept of a single-use bottle feels almost barbaric, yet there’s something haunting about its simplicity.

As Kael examines the bottle, he notices something inside: a rolled-up piece of paper. Carefully, he extracts it and unfurls the brittle message. It’s a handwritten note, faded but still legible. The words are a plea from someone long gone, a warning about the dangers of unchecked consumption and environmental neglect. The writer speaks of forests, oceans, and a world teeming with life—a world Kael has only seen in simulations.

He feels a pang of awkwardness, even shame. This bottle, this message, is a relic of a time when people still had a connection to the Earth, when they could see the consequences of their actions and chose to ignore them. Now, in Kael’s time, the consequences are undeniable: the air is toxic, the oceans are barren, and the land is a patchwork of industrial zones. Progress has brought incredible advancements, but at a cost that feels increasingly hollow.

Kael looks around at the desolate landscape, the drones buzzing overhead, the faint glow of holographic advertisements in the distance. He feels a strange sense of responsibility, as if this bottle has been waiting for him, a messenger from the past to a generation that has inherited a broken world. But what can he do? The systems are too vast, the damage too deep. He tucks the note into his pocket and leaves the bottle behind, its silent presence a reminder of the awkward truth: progress, for all its promises, has left them poorer in ways they’re only beginning to understand.

OpenArt AI to generate image:

First I use deepseek to generate a descriptive paragraph:

The image depicts a dystopian future landscape where "progress" has transformed the world into a hyper-industrialized, polluted environment. The sky is a hazy orange, streaked with smog and illuminated by the glow of neon signs and holographic advertisements. In the foreground, a young scavenger kneels on cracked, synthetic ground, holding a dusty, cracked glass bottle in their hands. The bottle is old and weathered, its label barely visible, a relic from a time when such objects were common.

Around the scavenger, the environment is bleak: towering skyscrapers made of sleek, cold materials loom in the background, their surfaces covered in glowing screens advertising the latest technological advancements. The ground is littered with discarded tech waste—broken drones, shattered screens, and fragments of synthetic materials. In the distance, a massive floating city hovers above the ground, connected by glowing bridges and surrounded by a swarm of drones.

The bottle stands out starkly against this futuristic backdrop, a symbol of a simpler, more natural past. Inside the bottle, a rolled-up piece of paper is visible, hinting at a message from a bygone era. The scavenger’s expression is one of awkward realization, as if they’ve stumbled upon something that doesn’t belong in their world—a reminder of the environmental cost of their society’s relentless progress.

To emphasize the environmental issues, the scene could include subtle details like:

• A dead tree in the background, its branches bare and brittle.

• A puddle of contaminated water reflecting the neon lights.

• A faded mural on a crumbling wall, depicting a lush, green Earth that no longer exists.

The overall mood of the image should evoke a sense of unease and irony, highlighting the contrast between the advanced technology of the future and the environmental degradation it has caused. The bottle, a simple object from the past, becomes a poignant symbol of what has been lost.

Finally use Fliki AI to generate video based on descriptive scene

The experiment shows vividly pros and cons to deliver message via different format: text, image and vidoes. For text, it is detailed, formal with easy accessibility and low requirement on network, easy to search based on key words. For image, it is direct, quick visual communication, simplify complex ideas. For videos, it is perfect for storytelling when narratives can vividly express and convey the idea with emotion. The higher level of engagement and emotional connection can have a greater impact on audience and thus more effectively convey the purpose from author. The tones, speed, and emotion embedded in the video make this media the top choice for advertisement or propaganda as it pre-set the basic tone and translate the core idea vs text and image which the audience interpret by themselves the meaning and purpose behind.