The Effects of Technology: Analysis of Horizon Zero Dawn

The Effects of Technology

What is changeable of Technology? How are humans wired and how do they respond towards unsafe measures? On the assumption that it can fall into the wrong hands, and those people can then use it for destructive purposes, in addition to personal use that only satisfy themselves. In the world of “Horizon Zero Dawn,” hundreds of years have passed, and the world is no longer identifiable as the world we live in today. Nature has flourished among the land, with plants growing over the now ruined cities, and environments being overturned by corrode while shifting their appearance making them no longer appealing. Humanity were pushed into caves, and mountains and regulating their own tribes. Wildlife appears all around the lands. Moreover, robots that appear as mechanical animals. They were designed by a hyper-powerful AI known as Gaia to combat a Plague that caused humanity extinction by developing its own robots to reclaim life on earth by recreating the biosphere. They resemble similarly to that of animals and dinosaurs. They roam the earth living as if they were real animals. Before the extinction of humanity, Project Zero Dawn was designed as a safety percussion created by Elisabet Sobeck back in the year of 2064 before the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. The purpose of the project was to disable and shutdown the robots and return the world back to the humans. These robotics killer machines were known as the “Faro Plague.” Which was the name given of a mass army of chariot war machines that was the cause of extinction of all life on Earth. The Faro Plague (created by uncontrolling people) destroyed life on Earth by absorbing all organic matter and destroying all living things. Such manipulation was created on specific robot models known as scarab and khopesh that could enslave Gaia’s creation to their own neural network making them a true apex predator of digital force application. Technology that turned against their former masters through self-replication through a high-speed machine learning network that understood the structure of itself and its counterparts capable of rebuilding from memory. The director is trying to suggest that humans can abuse the use of technology to gain personal favors that can alter the world we live in in an unreliable way.

In the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, Mathilis de Jonge introduces a world were humans and robots coexist with one another where the humans are group among tribes while the machines roam around the land for the purpose of restoring life on earth that ceased to exist. It begins with Theodore Ferro who formed a company that is known as Pharaoh automated solutions, the next era of FAS would prove to be a divisive one. In the year of 2048, Ferro moved his company’s focus away from green robotics and towards automated military technologies. Moreover, by the year of 2045 the US military was already moving drastically towards automated fighting forces over human combatants. This was a way Ted Ferro knew could elevate his company to even greater heights. Eventually, Ted Ferro began cementing Farrow automated solutions as the wealthiest corporation in the world. The leap in technology that FAS would take would be the most advanced peacekeeping robots the world had ever seen were made available to the highest bidders the brainchild Ted Faro he created an unstoppable fighting force that could not only learn and adapt after each engagement, but had the capability to repair self-replicating the field when deemed necessary equipped with ability to consume and transform any organic material in biofuel. These robots had unhackable software that made them impossible. These delusions of choices were the ultimate control and dominance that would ultimately lead to a G beyond any human race had ever endured. Ted Faro reached out to his former chief scientist to discuss a glitch that had occurred within a portion of the command lines that stop responding to commands and had begun attacking personnel. However, upon trying to patch the problem, Ferro was reminded that he instructed the engineers that it needed to be impossible to hack. Taking decades to unlock. What Ted Faro created was the incomprehensible damage that his choices were about to bring upon the people of the world. It is stated, “In order to avoid bad decisions, relying on logic and thoughtful examination of the options can sometimes be more important than relying on your immediate gut reaction.” (“Reasons Why You Make Bad Decisions”). Perhaps this was Ferro choice. He didn’t rely on such logic and planning, instead, he went towards his “gut reaction” which was to become more than what he already was. His inner greed led him on a rampage to destruction instead. It is to be seen that the robots had prioritized their bio matter conversion protocols making all organic matter the main target for the robotic plague to come.

A female scientist by the name of Elisabet Sobeck became Ted Ferro’s chef scientist at 22 years old at only two years at the FAS company. She was a talented and brilliant person who protested the idea of Ferro using the future of his company for shifting made robots for military use. This was before the inevitable occurred. Elisabet knew this and instead tried to preserve the present, she turned her focus to ensure that life had a future. This led to a plan that she introduced a fully automated terraforming system that would eventually break its way to deactivating the codes to allow life a second chance. Yet, Ferro was against the idea because he thought there was no hope in restoring life on earth. However, when Elisabeth threated to leak the truth concerning his robotics, Ted Ferro complied to her idea. This was the start of Project Zero Dawn. The project led to the creation of a super-intelligent artificial intelligence entity known as GAIA. A terraforming system that Dr. Elisabet Sobeck created for the purpose of restoring life on earth. Humans like Sobeck saw how hazardous it was to not do anything to save the earth from extinction. Such lengths were important to manipulate technology for its full potential, and we see such action taken by Sobeck. That is how humans are wired. It is written, “humans are exquisitely adapted to respond to immediate problems such as terrorism, but not so good at more probable, but distant dangers” (“Humans wired to Respond”). This can be seen by the state of what Horizon Zero Dawn became to be known. Ted Ferro lacked the ability to seek for the future about the consequences his actions were about to cause. Likewise, Sobeck saw it through and urged Ferro to stop all processing that will only bring unnatural harm to the people of the earth. We see two distinct people who manipulate technology in a certain way. First, Ted Ferro wanted to gain a chance to be more recognizable and to become the first ever trillionaire. He became obsessed with the coming new world. His actions brought drastic measures to himself and the fate of the company. He did everything he can by being a regular businessman, to mass producing robotics for the military, making them unhackable. Elisabet Sobeck on the other hand, saw the problem with his approach. When Ted Ferro shifted his way away from green robotics and towards automated military technologies, Dr. Sobeck resigned her position with Ferro and follow her own path to continue her work in order to heal the world. Her thoughts were opposite to that of Ferro. She began her plan of Project Zero Dawn to combat the Ferro plague that was about to enslave the world from life. She enlisted a select group of people known as The Alphas who worked tirelessly in order to culminate to complete the project known as Project Zero Dawn. For this reason, it’s a fight that brings two different viewpoints against one another in the use of technology which gets manipulated for their own purpose.

For these reasons, humankind can make impactful decisions that can shape how we live for the good or the bad with the manipulation of technologies. Perhaps if Ted Ferro thought about the issues on hand beyond the present time of his working, life wouldn’t have taken a turn for the worst. Technology is a powerful weapon. Powerful enough to cause great shifts in a way we live, and it can easily fall into the wrong hands and abused. With such significant contribution to the world of what technology can do for us like monitor a child’s internet activities, Cell Phones allow us to organize meetings and text updates with family and friends, technology has open doors for cures for diseases that we never thought possible. It is a shame that humans are contributing to means of personal greed’s in which they go full extent in abusing technology tools without realizing the negative impact it can make for the world. It is also a shame that Ted Ferro neglected Sobeck’s proposal in helping restore the future of the planet. Perhaps life would have blossomed a new way of living.

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