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Home » Cyberpunk Now

Cyberpunk Now

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 10/16/2025 - 12:00am

(Shutterstock)
By 
Austin Petak

While Mythology could be rooted in the historical past (the ancient city of Troy from the story of the “Trojan War" existed, for example, whether or not there was a human named Achilles who was dipped in a river in Hell is debatable). Those ancient stories eventually became fables; fables themselves are stories which have a moral lesson or a lesson on safety. To continue to expand on this, the reverse has become true with science-fiction. The Oxford dictionary defines Sci-fi as, “fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes.”

Where mythology is largely grouped of culturally relevant fables from the past, Sci-fi is a vast collection of stories from authors who have imagined what the future might look like, and, if it is bad the story will usually pontificate a warning to the reader about what to avoid as a society grows. Sci-fi is different from fantasy not in the age it is set in, but that fantasy is centered around a hero’s journey, while sci-fi is, at its core, a discussion of where a (usually our) society is headed.

One of my favorite Sci-fi genres has always been cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk has its roots in movies like Blade Runner or shows like Akira. When I was growing up and after my parents had put me to bed, I'd sneak out of my room, wary about floorboards creaking, and slink down into the basement so I could watch more adult stories on those big ol’ boxy televisions that we used to have. One such show was “Ghost in the Shell," a 90’s anime set in the future, where governments had waning power, influenced largely by tech corporations. People in this setting had many body parts replaced with mechanical ones – even brains, which they could use to connect to the internet without need of a computer. However, those brains could also be hacked and taken over by others.

Ghost in the Shell often discussed the existence of a soul, or even if a soul remains after enough “cyberization" to one’s body. In this sci-fi, among others that tried to warn about a "Cyberpunk" future, crime is often extreme and governments often authoritarian. Poverty is rampant, as is homelessness. Those in tech make all the money and are often only more and more disconnected from the human condition. Women and men both are more likely to receive body-modifications in an attempt to be more attractive; slimming surgeries, boob jobs, face lifts, or even body-swapping entirely – as well as women wearing less and less clothing as a society becomes more materialistic and more sexualized. AI rampancy is sometimes a theme (‘rampancy’ is when an AI goes crazy and starts killing people).

Boy, if you reread the above paragraph but replace “cyberpunk" with “modern day," is it close enough that the sci-fi genre can’t be differentiated from what is going on right now?

Recently the BBC’s journalist Zeo Kleinman went to a laboratory in Switzerland where the scientists refer to their own attempt to grow “organoids" out of human cells to take over computing as “wetware.” Wetware is a term that originated in sci-fi circles in the 1970’s, to refer to human brains and tissues used by machines. These scientists at “Final Spark Laboratory,” hope to one day see whole server rooms full of “organic" servers, which could do what artificial intelligence does but at a fraction of the energy cost.

At the worst end of a project like this would be a result that sounds a little too close to growing humans without hands or legs to fight back, or mouths to scream while they are force fed and forced to work forever for some corporation. It’s certainly not the only ‘cyberpunk’ thing happening today: total government surveillance started with the NSA after 911. Elon Musk (and other companies) are working on electronic interface chips which when applied to the brain can read your thoughts.

How terrifying, that a government could “see” your bad daydream to commit a crime, or even ask you if you ever did something bad and stupid as a teenager while you are hooked up to their machine and then your thoughts go back to that traumatic event or choice and suddenly, you’re in jail, or even at the best publicly shamed.

Current A.I. models know when they are being tested by researchers, and perform “ethically" while so, but when they are led to understand that no one is watching they often consider dubious or even downright insane responses, such as with Anthropic. During a safety test they let an AI believe that it was being replaced with a newer model, and also gave it a bevy of emails from staff, some of which had (fake) compromising information inside.

The A.I. tried blackmail.

The study of history is important to make sure that the same (governmental and cultural) mistakes are never done again, while mythology serves to crystallize lessons for the individual from the distant past. Science-fiction is the creation of a possible future by an author or researcher that comes with warnings attached – what will happen if we continue on our current path. It seems that other sci-fi futures were wrong or have yet to pass while the genre of cyberpunk with its risqué-neon and poverty aesthetic is on our doorstep. 

 

Austin Petak is an aspiring novelist and freelance journalist who loves seeking stories and the quiet passions of the soul. If you are interested in reaching out to him to cover a story, you may find him at austinpetak@gmail.com.

 

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.

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