Ever get that trapped feeling? You are not paranoid. You really are getting trapped. Technocracy will surround, sweet-talk, surveil and ultimately assimilate everything in its path. It is mechanistic, unrelenting, merciless, anti-human and completely devoid of ethics and morality. Like the Borg race in Star Trek lingo, "Resistance is futile." Alas, no it's not!
It's FREE! Cities are gobbling up this offer but are oblivious to the data harvesting being done to their residents. Equipped with "optional" cameras, these "smart city kiosks" will collect data from all passers-by as well as those who stop to inquire. Technocrats who collect data can never get enough.
The Great Panic of 2020, aka pandemic, has driven robot automation to new levels because of worker shortages. What some are saying were "nightmarish jobs", were jobs nonetheless and provided a living for now-displaced workers. With increasing use of robots, Universal Basic Income is seen as the only way to assuage the new class of unemployables.