Girl, you got rigged?
The buzz of a busy lunch service surrounds their table in the middle of the most popular vertical farm in the centre. Restaurant service bustles, picking food from the walls minutes before it is turned into elaborate creations ready to delight the patrons.
- Do you realise restaurants in vertical farms turned farm-to-table into wall-to-plate?
- Please, I can't stand this small talk any longer.
She clings her glass with her friends.
- Real people waiting tables? Glassware for lunch? What’s the occasion?
Her friend raises her drink beaming with a smile.
- I finally got rigged!
- Girl, you got rigged?
- Yes, all the major content AIs can cast me in linear content from today.
- Congratulations! So you’re officially an actress?
- At least fractionally speaking.
- What do you mean?
- You know all great entertainment happens when the audience is invested in the story emotionally and cares about the characters on the screen. This is what creates stakes in the narrative.
- I see.
- But in a world with global audiences, it’s hard to pick an actor everyone will relate to and root for. Producers and directors fixed that with parametric characters.
- Meaning?
Her visible confusion prompts her friend to explain further.
- Each character is synced to a library of actors flipped in real time based on the preferences of the certain audience, a particular emotional response the director wanted to achieve or both.
- Can’t you just generate everyone?
- You can. But it turned out people prefer watching people they know and care more about characters who have real life outside the screen.
- Hmm.
- It’s like a difference between a perfect screensaver and a masterpiece in a museum. It’s the effort that creates the value you can admire.
- So the whole rigging turns you into a library asset?
- It’s a long and laborious process. You cover a whole set of emotional ranges, physical activities, genre-specific situations and so on.
- I see. What about the voice?
Her friend chuckles at her ignorance.
- That’s another story.
- Really? So there is a chance someone is watching a movie right now where you play one of the main parts but your character speaks in someone else's voice?
- Yes! Voice acting is another level. Especially with translations and multilanguage support.
- So where’s the money for you?
- Anytime the algorithm casts me in something someone is watching, I get a small royalty depending on the size of the watch party.
- And fame?
- When you’re picked very often, algorithms start pitching you to directors as the default actor for characters.
The waiter approaches their table with a traybot balancing at his side, and starts arranging the table.
- Thank you for waiting. Your drift shrimp salad will be ready soon.
She squints trying to focus.
- Sorry, I don’t want to sound creepy, but do I know you? Waaait, you’re one of the guys who set up our legal clusters!
Her friend interrupts.
- Legal clusters?
- It’s like every lawyer at the firm got a full team of paralegals but none of them are human.
She turns back to the waiter who is now arranging some micro greens around an almost transparent aerogel clouds taking the centre place on their plates.
- What are you doing here?
He smiles, expertly juggling plates and produce between the table and the traybot.
- Hi, nice to meet you again. I’m doing the same thing - hands-on testing in a real environment. Only I switched legal AIs for traybots this time. This new system enables a lot more creativity directly at the table. Please don’t blow my cover.
They both chuckle.
- Your secret is safe with us. This looks amazing by the way.
He adds the final touch to the weightless composition where marinated shrimp appear to float suspended on rice aerogel cloud above a composition of micro greens and edible flowers.
- Wait until you see it ready.
The server mists it with ionized essence. A fog swirls around the plate before revealing the dish anew, now shining with bio-luminescent elements in the dressing, giving the whole composition a subtle, otherworldly glow.
They share a gasp of excitement.
- Our signature drift shrimp salad is ready.
Traybot opens hidden doors, revealing a chilled bottle of sparkling zerowine. He picks the bottle and asks.
- Would you like a top up?
- Yes please.
- Enjoy.
- Thank you. Happy testing.
He nods, turns around, and leaves with the traybot loyally rolling at his side. Her friend clears her throat suggestively.
- Ykhym. I wanted to thank you for supporting me all this time. It means a lot to me, and it would never, ever happen without you. Wait, is that a teary eye? That’s so sweet, but save your tears for my award acceptance speeches.
They toast, wiping emotion from their eyes.
- I will. This looks… fabulous. Let’s dig in.
They share satisfied noises immediately after the first bite. The first bite is all they need to start making satisfied noises.
- Mmmm. I’m not sure if my shrimps are synced with a character library, but they are expertly cast for this salad.
Hello Practical Futurists,
Welcome back from the future, where careers are parametrically fractional, restaurant walls bloom with your dinner, and movies pick actors for you.
Hit the "Like" button at the top or bottom of this page to help other change-makers build a future-ready mindset.Great leaders practice experiencing the future, not just thinking about it.
Like athletes visualising their performance, they build vivid mental pictures of tomorrow to make better decisions today.
Our weekly workouts use futures thinking and practical sci-fi to help you create a library of future memories - turning abstract possibilities into reference points that can inform your choices.
To spark your imagination, here's a thought to start with:
Let's make this future personal.
We'll start by connecting this story to your life, transforming abstract possibilities into memories you can use to navigate tomorrow's challenges.
Personal life reflection prompts
1. What value do you place on human service versus automated convenience? When does each of them matter more? 2. Think about your relationship with food production. How would living near a vertical farm change your eating habits? - What would you grow if you had access to vertical farming space? - How would immediate access to fresh produce change your cooking? - What new food traditions might emerge?
3. What aspects of your personality would you want preserved in any parametric representation of yourself? 4. Imagine having your skills available as a library for others to access. What boundaries would you set? - Which skills would you make available? - How would you price different access levels? - What would make you more comfortable parametrising your skills?
5. How would you feel about your likeness being used in entertainment, knowing various audiences might see you differently? What boundaries would you set?Nice work!
Your future memory library now has some valuable personal references. Let's fire up your thinking to add some professional leadership moments.
How will you help others navigate this future? It's time to create those memories.
Professional life reflection prompts
1. How would you allocate your skills if your career could be fractionally distributed across different roles? - What percentage of time would you dedicate to each role? - How would you maintain work-life balance across multiple positions? - What new opportunities would this flexibility create?
2. How would you measure success in a system where every customer might experience your product or service differently?3. What aspects of your industry could benefit from parametric personalisation, and which should remain standardised?4. How would you maintain team cohesion if your colleagues could simultaneously exist in multiple roles or representations?tion, and which should remain standardised?5. Picture your organisation benefiting from employees working fractionally across different roles: - What new efficiencies emerged? - How did you measure split performance? - What management challenges required addressing?
6. What new quality control measures would be needed in a world where every experience can be personalised?You did amazing! Excellent work!
Today's memories are added to your growing library of future experiences.
Thank you for expanding your imagination with us. Leaders with bold ideas move our world forward.
Think bright, and see you soon.
Pawel Halicki
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