Chapter 983: The Significance of Near-Future Science Fiction
The theme of *Detroit: Become Human* is near-future science fiction.
In the real world, the development of technology and social structures are mutually reinforcing. For example, just the technology of GPS positioning has influenced every aspect of people's lives, profoundly changing the way they live.
If, in a future world, black technologies such as neural interfaces, anti-gravity devices, controlled nuclear fusion, and ultra-long-distance teleportation were to emerge, any one of them could drastically alter real life.
Among a multitude of black technologies, the order in which they appear could have completely different impacts on the real world, reshaping social structures into entirely different forms. This is what is meant by "taking a wrong turn on the tech tree."
Many movies and TV shows with sci-fi elements are just old wine in new bottles, creating futures that are utterly unconvincing precisely because the tech tree has been skewed too far. For instance, in a certain movie, a place like Wakanda has incredibly advanced technology yet a ridiculously backward social system. When facing an alien invasion, the leader personally charges into battle and fights hand-to-hand with the enemy, which inevitably feels absurd.
For a story, a lack of rigor isn't necessarily a problem. What matters is what it aims to express and what the audience or players take away from it.
From this perspective, the "near-future sci-fi" theme is actually a more controllable choice.
This kind of "near-future sci-fi" refers to a scenario where, within a short period in the future, a slight advancement in a particular technology influences human behavior and social structures. While keeping the overall data unchanged, it only introduces a small variable to explore deeper social issues.
*Detroit: Become Human* is exactly like this. Strictly speaking, this is not a future world; it's a world that just happened to take a wrong turn on the tech tree. Compared to the real world, the only technological leap is in android technology; everything else remains largely the same. Transportation, housing, firearms... none of it differs much from modern society.
This is precisely what the game seeks to explore: once artificial intelligence and android technology emerge, what impact will they have on our society?
Most people's doubts about this game mainly center on two points.
First, if this is a huge leap in productivity, why does it actually exacerbate social inequality?
Second, why must artificial intelligence be made in the likeness of humans?
In fact, both points can be explained. They are matters of opinion, but they cannot be called flaws in the story.
First, a huge leap in productivity does not mean the early arrival of communism. During the Industrial Revolution, many workers smashed machines because they believed the machines were taking their jobs—this is a real historical event. A leap in productivity and the liberation of labor do not guarantee that everyone will enjoy its benefits. Just as multinational corporations reap massive profits, the beneficiaries are always the few. The emergence of androids might lead to a situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, or it could even cause a large number of people to lose their jobs and fall into poverty. This is not a logical flaw but a reflection of reality.
Second, why must artificial intelligence be made in human form? This is actually a very interesting question. From a technical standpoint, making AI in human form is not the most efficient choice. However, from a storytelling perspective, this design is precisely to allow players to better empathize with the androids. If the androids were just a bunch of metal boxes, it would be hard for players to feel emotional resonance with them. Moreover, in the real world, humans do have a tendency to anthropomorphize. We give names to our pets, talk to our cars, and even feel sorry for a broken toy. Making AI in human form is actually a very natural design choice.
Of course, *Detroit: Become Human* does have one issue: this world seems to have skipped all the prerequisite tech points for developing androids.
For example, Luther was developed for carrying heavy objects, Kara for domestic service, and some female androids for special needs... These androids should have been created long ago because they don't require such a high level of artificial intelligence, nor do they need their thinking to become as complex as humans'. For tasks like carrying heavy objects, wouldn't it be better to just make a specialized robot? Why bother making a tall guy with a black face?
Regarding this, you could say it's a bit forced, but as mentioned before, near-future sci-fi portrays a future world where "the tech tree has taken a wrong turn." You can simply understand it as the people in this world having skipped the prerequisite tech and maxed out the android tech tree directly.
The loopholes in the setting are choices made to tell a good story. What matters is not these trivial details, but what the story wants to tell us and what we can learn from it.
It is a touching and good story, and that is enough.