Berkya
Berkya was a small town located by the shore seven decades ago. People lived off its agriculture and fishing advantages. The government made the decision to make it an experimental city and everything was changed. Now, it is one of the most developed cities in the world. It’s a city that never ceases. Since the 2010s, the government of Berkya has been investing heavily into the city’s technological industry, contributing to its excellence. An enormous amount of citizens outside of Berkya, as well as foreign immigrants, were attracted and have moved to the city in the past decades. Therefore, the population capacity peaked shortly after the craze, and few are being accepted nowadays, besides the elites of the technology field.
Cocoon
A surveillance system run by humans, backed with supercomputer technology, named "cocoon", which means to cultivate hope. By distinguishing body language and microexpressions, It has increased the ability to identify human facial features significantly. Therefore, to recognize emotions and tendencies of damaging/ antisocial behaviors and interfere (manage) in advance. “Cocoon” has the power to plan out one’s life. It can suggest career paths, potential spouses, and more. In the case of social security, “Cocoon” obtains a wide range of features related to facial identifying features. Potential criminal offenses can be pinpointed through face-scanning, which collects data and translates them into corresponding emotions.
2050.11.17
The technology has made a significant contribution in aiding the police department in apprehending criminals. By the end of 2050, the efficiency of capturing criminals has improved by 30%. Practicing law enforcement has become tremendously easier since the implementation of “Cocoon”.
2052.12.10
The "cocoon" that appeared in front of the world a few years ago actually exploded. After research, it was found that the accessories of the machine malfunctioned, which caused the machine to fail to operate normally and then exploded. People began to develop an aversion to cocoons.
2050.9.1
“Cocoon” went through its testing phase and was ready for its initial launching. It was officially launched and implemented in the city of Berkya in 2050.
2051.12.01
The city representatives show overwhelmingly high satisfaction towards this technology. Cocoon identifies potential harmful behaviors by capturing microexpressions of the citizen, its highly-advanced system automatically pulls an alarm for the local police station, therefore, the police are notified right off the bat, and are ready to take down the criminal at any moment. This is very intimidating for law offenders, as a result, a sharp decrease of 60% in cases was seen just 3 years after the application of Cocoon. They say the citizens are elated to see how well the technology turned out and adapted to a real-world scenario. A lot of deep-rooted social problems seem to be solved shortly after the implementation. In 2051, Berkya officially applied the system of Cocoon for one year to its general population. It’s a meaningful milestone for the city, not only because it passed the initial stage of implementation without major issues. According to the survey, 70% of the citizens are very satisfied with the technology. 10% are unsatisfied. 6% of the citizens feel neutral and the other 4% did not participate in the survey. The mayor shared the statistics shortly after its release, in a national level speech.
2053.01.09
On the other hand, there are citizens who have expressed their dissatisfaction towards the system, with most cases reporting its faulty career planning features.
2056.1.24
A major protest against the technology erupted shortly after an “allegedly accidental” attack in 2056.
A large-scale protest was triggered due to a case of a technology misperformance in 2056. The system wrongfully identified the facial features, mixed up the kidnapper and the hostage in this case, the alarm was pulled on the hostage, and the police fired on him during the task, causing his death directly. Although the central government made an effort to cover this up, the incident worried and infuriated the entire population of Berkya. A city-wide protest involving 30,000 people went on shortly after media exposure.
Story
I am a journalist working on a documentary about the grand city project of Berkya, Cocoon. My team and I have been doing ongoing documentation for over 5 years now. Over these years, we have been to every corner of this city, interviewed so many people we have come across. We aim to offer you the most realistic vision possible.
At the beginning of this grand research, we visited BenefitHumankind, large technological cooperation that developed Cocoon. The creative team came up with the hypothesis when going through a study of facial feature identifying systems. The realization of this project would require a large amount of expense, in order to tackle that, the company showcased their idea to the government and it was very appreciated due to its large potential, then they funded the program completely. The government had high expectations, hoping the technology can meet the criteria of manage-in-advance.
As the development was finalized, it was officially given the name of “Cocoon”. Indicating the hope it fosters, the hope for a city everyone feels safe in, and belongs to. The program aims to elevate the quality of living, make citizens happier; and bring hope for the future.
So I started to wonder, why Berkya? It turned out to be, according to the staff of BenefitHumankind, Berkya was established as a city only six decades ago purely relying on government funding. As a result, few clashes have ever occurred between the citizens and the government, the city seems to be more “obedient” to the decisions made.
We came to the city, overwhelmed by our curiosities and how advanced Berkya seemed. I was dying to know how far this technology could possibly take us. To our surprise, few dissented this new application. Most were optimistic and looking forward to the changes it will bring. It truly seems like the people of Berkya respect its government.
As time went by, I really started to get the taste of this technology, especially its versatility. From every detail of my life. Once our team had a really difficult day filming, I returned home upset and exhausted. And my favorite dinner was right there on the table waiting for my arrival. It was truly a surreal experience. The incident that happened in November 2050 might never be forgotten by the citizens of Berkya. A suspicious individual was notified by Cocoon, it was immediately sent to the police, due to the nuances in his microexpressions that indicated potential murder. He was captured right after, and it turned out Cocoon was right. He was planning on a murder.
One year after the implication of Cocoon, a survey was put out by the government, investigating the level of satisfaction for this technology. It seems to be the most flawless thing ever. Cocoon brought the city miracle. Is it truly perfect as it seems? What could go wrong?
Perhaps there’s no absolute perfection in this world. As the second year of application progresses, there are more dissenting voices. We interviewed an athlete, upset with the career decision Cocoon made, but nothing could be done due to how powerful the system is. He learned to dance all his life, however, the technology suggested he participate in competitive sports. He thought this was wrong, but eventually, he couldn’t take the peer pressure from everyone around him praising Cocoon constantly and gave in to a career he has no interest in.
What was expected to happen finally happened? A hostage was wrongfully killed due to the error Cocoon made. People were furious, protesting to the government that humans cannot be simply defined by a machine. This is the biggest protest ever in Berkya since its establishment. According to my understanding, people who participate in this protest are trying to raise this question: As we get more reliant on machinery, we gradually lose our own judgment. Are the machines always right?
Will Cocoon give us the perfect life? Or will it lead us to destruction? How will technology and humans coexist and co-depend in an ideal way? This is yet to be solved in the city of Berkya, and it’s desperate for a quick solution. I have applied to prolong my stay in Berkya, to further document the change it will bring.
Reference
Picture:
CyberPunkGame, director. Cyberpunk 2077 - Official E3 2018 Trailer. YouTube, YouTube, 10 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2kIfS6fb8.
PlayStation, director. Detroit: Become Human - Teaser | Exclusive to PS4. YouTube, YouTube, 27 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pelrr__9qx8.