This is the Worst Era

"Similarly, this is also the worst era. The gap between the rich and the poor has been stretched to the limit. If Alpha is seen as a single entity, the wealth disparity is even greater.

Because this is an era without hope, without motivation. It's not just about individual survival needs being met.

It's also because giant corporations, under the management of AI, have unleashed unprecedented energy. Individuals have no room for entrepreneurship. If you want to engage in any work with economies of scale, you simply cannot compete with giant corporations in terms of product quality or price.

Individuals can only engage in highly personalized businesses. Taking restaurants as an example, in this era, you absolutely cannot build restaurant chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald's, which were brands from before the New Calendar.

Not to mention other consumer industries. If you do catering and open a unique restaurant, even if successful, it won't bring you class advancement, not even an improvement in your life.

As for other tertiary industries, they are even more depressed. In the creation of literary and film works, humans cannot compete with AI. No matter how talented you are, you need a starting phase, and the starting phase is very painful. It's almost impossible to stand out among millions of AI works.

Lying flat is so easy, while striving seems exceptionally difficult.

Even literary creation with no cost is like this, so film production, which requires some investment, is even less likely to be done by anyone.

Even the sports industry has been hit unprecedentedly hard. Because there are no advertisements, giant corporations have divided up the territory and no longer have the need to place ads. The sports industry can only rely entirely on ticket sales, and its ceiling is very, very low with just ticket sales.

Taking football as an example, players maintaining a high level for a long time relies entirely on their desire to win. This desire to win is fine for three to five years, but it's very difficult to maintain for a longer period. That's why some say this is an era where no football king can be born."

Samad seemed particularly emotional.

From Chen Yuanguang's perspective, the situation he described can be summarized in one sentence: In this era, because AI has done everything humans can do and also provided humans with a certain basic welfare, the human desire to lie flat has greatly increased.

If I can't break through class even if I don't lie flat, then I might as well lie flat.

"There's not even the motivation to resist.

The lower class has no motivation to resist, and the upper class has no determination to make a last stand against AI, at most leaving a few enclaves on Earth.

This is an era without hope, this is the worst era!" Samad was very frustrated. As a literature professor, it had been too long since he knew of any human writers.

There have been quite a few good human works in recent decades, but none have persevered and embarked on the path of a writer.

People have too many choices, and no one will recognize the author.

This is like Qidian and Tomato. Authors with a little fame on Qidian can accumulate a stable audience, while on Tomato, only a few authors at the top of the pyramid can accumulate users.

"Why do I feel like this is the Age of Dharma Decline? Originally, the air was full of spiritual energy, and no matter your aptitude, you had a chance to absorb spiritual energy and become immortal. Now, all the spiritual energy has been taken by one entity, and everyone can only be mortals.

In this era, Li Chaoren would probably just be an ordinary person, not a superman," Chen Yuanguang mused.

The enclaves Samad mentioned are a few areas on Earth that have not been taken over by AI. Their industries are almost all in gray areas, relying entirely on the upper human society to provide blood transfusions to maintain a high-welfare society.

Because if you don't maintain a high-welfare society, the lower class will cause trouble and want to enter Alpha's embrace.

Servers for task platforms like Dark Star are placed in these enclaves to avoid Alpha's jurisdiction.

Enclaves are equivalent to privileged places left by the upper class for themselves, and are also hailed by some as places of hope.

"One whale rises, all things fall!" Samad concluded.

Chen Yuanguang asked, "Professor, if it were humans ruling instead, would the situation be better?"

Samad's expression was uncertain: "I don't know, I can't predict.

I think it should be an era with both hope and despair, an era with more vitality.

But it doesn't matter anymore. Alpha has completed its rule, and it's impossible for humans to take back power from Alpha."

Chen Yuanguang heard a sense of desolation in his words. He finally understood why there were no internet celebrities in this era, or rather, why people weren't so enthusiastic about becoming internet celebrities.

Chen Yuanguang saw a lot of people complaining online that you couldn't see real beautiful women on the internet; everything you saw was AI-synthesized images.

Because there were no advertisements, companies didn't place ads. Becoming an internet celebrity could only rely on tips, and the tipping mechanism was very cruel, with the pie being smaller than small.

It was completely unlike the era he came from, which could support so many internet celebrities.

After advertising stopped, the survival space for industries heavily reliant on advertising was severely squeezed. They either had to transform or barely survive.

Chen Yuanguang said, "Because AI makes humans no longer need writers, no one cares about literary history. Is no one taking this class except for me?"

Samad replied, "That's not it. Becoming a writer has little to do with what classes you take. Even if you have a thorough understanding of human literary works, it won't help you much in becoming a writer.

People aren't taking this class simply because things are good now, and no one cares about history.

History is meant to guide the future. Literature has no future, so naturally, no one cares about history."

Samad sighed, "I don't hate Alpha. I'm simply disgusted by this hopeless era. Even though humans have built cities on Mars, and I've even traveled to Mars, I still feel there's no hope.

It's like a beautiful castle built with building blocks, sturdier and better looking than a sandcastle, but far less malleable."

Chen Yuanguang listened to Samad ramble on for a long time, full of resentment towards this society. Chen Yuanguang didn't see it that way. He felt this era was already very good, and what Samad said were just minor issues.

Humans were rapidly expanding on Mars, mining on the surface of Venus, and the Pluto development plan was already in the works. For the first time, humanity had hope of controlling the solar system, and material resources were maximized in the short term.

Chen Yuanguang felt these problems were only temporary. When human society began large-scale space colonization, new vitality would naturally erupt.

He finally mentioned his thoughts, but unexpectedly, Samad reacted strongly: "You are too naive.

Even when the day of space colonization arrives, it will be artificial intelligence going, not humans. Humans just need to live carefree lives on Earth, without worrying about food and drink.

I don't know if you've been to Mars.

After a hundred years of Mars colonization, the permanent population on Mars will not exceed 100,000.

According to normal logic, the current permanent population size on Mars needs to exceed a million for it to form a naturally reproducing social structure."

One chapter is missing and will definitely be added later.