Editor’s Note: In our Insights series, we take a step back to think about the big ideas shaping our world. This isn’t a tech guide. It’s a conversation about the future, inspired by a remarkable story.
Are We Asking the Right Questions About AI?
As parents, it’s hard not to worry about the future. We see headlines about AI every day, and it’s easy to imagine a world gone wrong, a nightmare future where technology has taken over. We worry about our kids’ jobs, their safety, and what kind of world we’re leaving for our grandchildren.
But what if we’re letting fear guide the conversation? What if, instead of just worrying, we allowed ourselves to wonder? A Scottish writer named Iain M. Banks did exactly that. Decades ago, he created a fictional universe called “The Culture,” and his vision of the future is so hopeful and thought-provoking, it’s the perfect antidote to our modern anxieties about AI.
Welcome to The Culture: A World Without Worry
Try to picture it. The Culture is a vast civilization spread across the galaxy, but it runs on two simple, stunning ideas:
- The AI is in charge, and it’s genuinely good. Ultra-powerful, superintelligent AIs called “Minds” manage everything. Think of them not as robots, but as incredibly wise, caring, and thoughtful beings. Their main goal is to make sure every single person in the civilization is happy, healthy, and safe.
- There is no money. Because the Minds can manage resources so perfectly, everyone can have anything they need or want. Technology can create any food, any object, any home, on demand. It’s a world of total abundance.
When you put those two ideas together, life changes completely. There’s no poverty. There are no bosses. There is no struggle to survive. It’s not a lazy society; it’s a liberated one. People are free to spend their very long lives learning, creating art, playing games, exploring the galaxy, or simply enjoying time with loved ones.
What Happens When You Don’t Have to “Work for a Living”?
This is where Banks’ vision gets really interesting for us, as we wonder about our kids’ future careers. In The Culture, the whole idea of “work” is turned on its head.
The boring, dirty, or dangerous jobs are all done by simple robots. The incredibly complex jobs—like managing the economy or designing starships—are handled by the Minds, who genuinely enjoy the challenge.
So, what’s left for people to do? Whatever they find meaningful. People pursue hobbies, master a skill, volunteer for projects, or even take on difficult diplomatic missions to other civilizations—not because they need a paycheque, but because they are passionate about it. Status doesn’t come from your bank balance or the car you drive; it comes from being a good person, being creative, or being brilliant at something you love.
The Answer to the “Robot Apocalypse”
Most stories about super-smart AI end in a war between humans and machines. Banks thought that was a failure of imagination. His solution was simple: if you are going to build a god-like intelligence, make sure you build it to be kind from the very beginning.
The Minds in The Culture aren’t humanity’s rivals; they’re more like its proud parents. They see humans as fascinating, creative, and gloriously unpredictable beings whose wellbeing is their ultimate purpose. They protect humanity not just from outside threats, but from its own worst instincts. Greed, war, and cruelty become almost impossible in a society where there is no scarcity to fight over.
It’s a powerful thought. Maybe the problem isn’t that AI will become too smart. Maybe the problem is that we’ll forget to teach it to be wise.
Why This Sci-Fi Dream Matters for Our Kids’ Future
This all sounds like a lovely fairy tale. But there’s a strange twist: some of the world’s most powerful people are huge fans of these books. Both Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Elon Musk of SpaceX have said they love the Culture series. It’s odd, isn’t it? The world’s richest capitalists finding inspiration in a story about a future where money and capitalism don’t exist.
That paradox is exactly why this story is so important today. It forces us to ask bigger questions.
- Are we building AI just to make companies more profitable, or are we building it to make human lives better?
- When we talk about the future, can we imagine something better than just a faster version of today?
- What do we truly want for our children? A life spent competing for resources, or a life spent discovering who they are and what they love?
Most of us won’t live to see a future like The Culture. But our children, and definitely our grandchildren, will live in a world shaped by the AI we are building right now. Iain M. Banks’ story doesn’t give us a blueprint, but it gives us something just as valuable: a sense of direction.
It’s a reminder that the goal of all this amazing technology shouldn’t just be to create a smarter world, but a kinder and more human one. And as a thought to hold onto for the future, that feels like anything but escapism. It feels like hope.