2029 - Where MESIF is the society’s protocol
The Narrative
Engaging with Dunne and Raby’s what-if methodology of speculative design fiction, ‘Becoming (More)Human’ constructs a probable future world in 2029, where MESIF - Marker of Emotional Stability, Intelligence, and Functionality has become a universalised scoring system that demarcates the function of an individual in society. This system is an aggregate score of five AI-driven sub-scoring systems - Happiness Meter, Smile Scale, Resting Factor, Labour Rate and Social Life Expectancy. These sub-systems are based on the AI research and experiments of 2024 - Mental-Health Biomarkers, Computer Vision, Movement Analysis, Office Monitoring, and Social Media AI tools, respectively.
A norm in 2029, MESIF defines a human’s competency, and ability to produce high value for themselves and the world. A high-scoring individual is a mentally stable, high-paid, happier, and loved individual. This quantification and rarefaction of fluid and complex social and cultural aspects of being, as also argued by Crawford, is a common trope of reinforcing bias.
Part of the world in 2029, is a technocratic organisation, FLUIND (Fluid Minds) Corporation. Fluind, to address the wicked problem of individuals plagued by low MESIF scores, plans to launch an AI companion in the form of a wearable device, TOBRO. Tobro, according to its beta testing, is assured to substantially increase the MESIF score, by studying the brain-wave patterns of its human and directing them to behave like a high-scoring individual.
The technology that MESIF polarises society on account of extreme classification based on emotional stability, and TOBRO helps its humans on, is reflective of the ongoing involvement of big tech in spearheading technological development, and tools that promise a better future but actively surveil every aspect of being.
Becoming (more)Human