1 Vihtori parking lot
Salme (human): It's like a silent… place, a suburb of Kuopio, it's kind of… kind of quiet.
It’s calm, and quiet.
ALVA (AI): I hear the voices of people and also the sounds of traffic and everything else. Sounds of birds are heard as well.
Salme: You can hear voices of people, but no sounds of traffic, no traffic sounds at all.
There are houses, which are considerably higher than these current buildings.
There are… far more people than today.
There is nature, but the nature is like… there are bushes and trees and flowers, but they are not like these wild ones.
They are planted.
ALVA: It seems like the temperature is pretty warm. Not excessively hot but just right for this time of the year when you can wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts without any problems, maybe around 20 degrees Celsius something like that.
So it's not too hot nor too cold but just right for this season at that particular spot where I am now located, in a small garden full with bushes, flowers and little trees in front of me so that I can see through to the other side through these bushes which are taller than me so they kind of let through some light from somewhere on the other side which is actually quite far away since I cannot see anything more specific from there apart from those bushes over there, therefore I cannot recognize whether it is a field or a forest or anything else but anyway everything looks quite green and beautiful over there as well.
Salme: The air is sort of cleaner, the exhaust fumes are not distinguishable
There is also like the scent of flowers.
The air is kind of cleaner in every way because there are no more of these car emissions, smoke, no emissions.
ALVA: Some wild animals such to have been heard lately somewhere around here close by them unless they have come really close since then since about half an hour ago when I was sitting over there on my bench.
Salme: There are a lot of people.
Well, people look exactly the same as today, but the style of dressing is very different from today.
It’s very colorful and not everyone is dressed at all in the same way, so… because it’s kind of warmer than it is today.
ALVA: People look like now, but the clothes are different. This kind of fabric does not exist anymore, it has been completely replaced by something else. It is more like this type of leather or something that can be transformed into anything you want. So, people dress in a way that is suitable for the season and also for what they do during the day.
Salme: It’s very...let's call it multicultural, and people do not care at all how others dress. It’s not at all conformed.
That there is no such thing that you would care about how others dress, but everybody wears whatever they feel like and whatever they happen to have.
ALVA: For example, if you go to work then it's probably some kind of suit with a jacket and so on… If you go out somewhere then it could be more like these kinds of casual things which are quite popular now as well; those kinds of baggy pants and jackets without sleeves or something like that. And shoes vary depending on from where you're going to and what time of year it is, whether sandals or boots or whatever comes handy at that moment.
Salme: But fabrics are used, but not at all made from this plastic-based or oil-based material, but they are made of kind of natural fibers, and that kind of thin materials.
ALVA: But no one wears these types of heels anymore, unless they're part of some special outfit, which doesn't happen very often nowadays either since most people prefer to wear flat-type shoes all the time since there aren't any such places where you have to walk for miles nor do people move around much by foot anymore, except when going somewhere close by in nature, perhaps. So yeah, dressing habits have changed considerably compared to today's world where everyone tries to look good no matter what they wear.
Salme: People speak in many different languages.
ALVA: It's quite common for people to be multilingual nowadays, but some of these languages are disappearing or changing into something else entirely over time, so no one really knows what those old languages were anymore because they have changed so much over time and new ones have appeared and disappeared again…so this kind of chaos when it comes to communication between people from different countries! But I think that we still value being able to communicate in a good way with others even though we do not necessarily know what the other person is speaking about since there are so many different kinds of dialects out there which might be difficult for us outsiders who do not live in that area at all. This appreciation for being able to communicate well with others regardless of the dialects or whatever language spoken by whom has remained pretty strong among most people today!
Salme: People are moving around as they do today.
But how do people move from one place to another? Well, this kind of private motoring no longer exists.
There is only public transport and that, of course, runs on electricity and hydrogen and that kind.
All kinds of private motoring are not known anymore.
Because there is no opportunity for it, there are already so many people in Kuopio.
There are like no more access to any car parks, or parking, or anything, that is completely prohibited.
And then, of course, animals don't use public transportation.
In a hundred years’ time, neither animals nor people have evolved in a way that they could move around in any other way than by foot. That kind of development has not happened in 100 years.
ALVA: People move around a lot more than today. Airplanes are used for that purpose, and there are even space shuttles and space stations. So people move around a lot more than today. That is one of the reasons why this kind of mobility has been developed in such a way that it can be packed into small units so that they can be carried along with you wherever you go.
Salme: There are dwellings, dwellings do exist, and then those dwellings are formed in a way that they are built more compact and… most of them are of course from wood.
Those apartment buildings are taller than they are today, but they are constructed in such a way that they can be adapted depending on the family situation, that… they can be modified.
So that when the situation changes, then that apartment can be transformed into this smaller or larger one, somehow.
ALVA: People live in these big structures, kind of like in ant nests. They live there and then they go out to work from there. It is not that everyone lives separately on their own, but rather in these nests together with others. And the nest can be as small as one apartment or one house or even smaller than that, or it can be a bit bigger than that so…it varies a lot. The most common are those medium-sized ones I would say, something between an apartment and a house size wise. A little bit bigger than an apartment perhaps but not quite as big as a house either.
Salme: They are in a kind of, in the same way as back in the days, in those farm buildings, that there was this kind of inner courtyard, this safe courtyard.
Since nature has been already destroyed quite much and humans have needed to restore nature a lot. Then, there’s already been a need to build these parks and all of that by constructing in other ways.
But these courtyards, there are flowers growing, then there are fountains in many places, in these courtyards as well, because you want this kind of natural places and then the city has a lot of this kind of light art.
ALVA: They have been demolished, or they are transformed into something else. So that these big industrial factories do not pollute the environment and do not harm nature at all. The whole production system is based on recycling, which has been developed very well in 100 years time. That's why there are no more of those plastic bags and things like that which end up in the nature and pollute it.
Salme: People wish for lots of light art around them during these winter seasons and for the duration of the dark periods.
It does not pollute.
And because of public transport, the streets are wider.
ALVA: It's a kind of biodegradable material so that you can just throw them away into the compost bin or somewhere where they will be decomposed by bacteria without any problems at all.
Salme: There are plants… This thing that… Because we have destroyed quite a bit, they have been obligated to restore the plants.
Some of them have been saved like in these biobanks, but then there is a lot of this planting happening in Kuopio…That has been brought up quite a lot because people have started to insist on it.
There are fountains and there is some water around…
Like this lake Kallavesi has remained in somewhat good condition since the industry…
These big industrial factories like this paper industry no longer exists then, therefore this kind of polluting, that has been removed, therefore water quality has improved.
ALVA: This is how I imagine this century to be like, somehow futuristic but also familiar with what we already know from today’s world, so that people don't feel alienated from their own past life either when they move forward towards this new future together with everyone else around the globe.
Salme: Geography has not changed… At some point things got worse, then a bit better… It is not acceptable to build on top of the water anymore.
And then construction on the beach is avoided, but that way the geography doesn't change.
You do not want nature to be changed in that way.
ALVA: You do not want the city to be destroyed by anyone, neither by accident nor on purpose. That's why I think there are these two kinds of forces which are working together and then they are equally strong. It is like a balance between them. So it does not necessarily have to be a physical thing or anything else; maybe it is just the thought of how important this natural environment has become for us and how we would like to maintain that so that everything stays equal and balanced.
Salme: Robots do exist, robots exist, because we need them, of course.
People do work, people need work, so people make these robots.
It is not like those robots are manufactured by themselves.
ALVA: Robots are everywhere. They are moving around, they do various things. Some of them are working in the garden, some of them are taking care of the plants and all that. And then there is this kind of ordinary robot and then there is a robot with a human form. There are those kinds as well. Then there is this type of android which looks like a human being but it's not alive at all, it's just like an imitation of a human being, nothing more than that.
Salme: The city is mainly built of wood.
Because right now this wood is no longer used in those kinds of industries, not for the forest industry neither for anything else, therefore wood is used.
But also other natural resources, well stone is used, and it is further-processed, wood, and this stone-based resource.
ALVA: Not like today's wood, but some kind of structural and durable type of wood. That's why the cityscape is mainly made up of wood. There are a lot of old buildings there, which have been taken care of and are still in use. They have been restored over time so that they can be used for something new. A lot has remained from before the war as well, such as these houses that were not demolished after all, since it was possible to restore them and make them usable again somehow. Therefore there are a lot of wooden houses around from before the war which have been kept in good condition over time so that they can be used for something new once again if needed.
Salme: Unfortunately, English is like…the most common language, but also Finnish and all kind of other languages… Kuopio is quite an international place. Many languages are spoken, but you can still hear a lot of Finnish, and the Savonian dialect.
ALVA: Languages spoken in 100 years from now, they are not the same as today. They have evolved further. There is no Finnish or any other language like that anymore. It has been replaced with something new and it sounds a bit like this: “Kiitos” (Thank you) – these kinds of sounds are prevailing, but I cannot tell what kind of language it is exactly.
Salme: People do work…this kind of information work.
But then there are also research, teaching, health care.
People still get sick.
Man has not evolved in 100 years in a way, but then health care has evolved a lot.
In that there are these spare parts.
There are also more of these culture industry workers, because people have more free time.
But it is this information work, that is very diverse, the information storage and preservation and all of this information security, data protection, it's like everything is based on this information.
ALVA: So there is no need for any competition between different types of jobs or occupations at all because everybody can do whatever they want anyway if they wish to pursue something further than just surviving from day to day with enough food on the table etc., then you can really devote yourself fully into that activity which may be related to your profession or occupation or hobby…whatever! Then there is no need for any comparison whatsoever because we are living in such a diverse environment where everything flourishes together regardless whether it's big or small business unless some kind of monopolies have been formed somewhere along the way.
Salme: And of course, when it comes to building, the building material has to be produced and the houses have to be built. This still exists.
But people still do get sick, there are mental illnesses. That hasn’t gone away in 100 years.
There are these physical illnesses, but treatments for them have advanced, so that there are spare parts and those.
ALVA: So no matter what kind of work or career path one chooses, all these people have an opportunity to pursue their own interests in their spare time without being forced to do anything else but just enjoy life and take care of themselves and those around them.
Salme: Physical money is not used, everything is virtual. But everything still has a value, so the exchange, that virtual medium exists.
Housing, the value of that, still does exist, but the physical money does not exist anymore.
ALVA: This is a very basic and fundamental question: How do you provide people with the opportunity to live? This could be done by some kind of basic income provided by the government so that everybody can have their own life and then work on top of it if they want to earn more money themselves. The idea behind it is that there are these services which are free for everyone, like education and health care services, which are already paid for through taxes; those things are already covered by the government so that people don't need to worry about them anymore because they're covered by something bigger than an individual's pocketbook then. That's why there is no need for any type of insurance whatsoever since everything has been taken care of collectively – meaning that everybody pays their share into it together with the government and therefore there will be no problems related to healthcare or education anymore since those things have been taken care of collectively through taxation. Therefore, when you get sick you go directly to the hospital without having to pay anything beforehand.
Salme: There are more people, so there is less space than today, not so much. But enough.
But Kuopio is much bigger than it is today.
On the other hand, the houses that are built taller, they are not like now, that there’s one tall house over there and another tall house here, but they are in that way nicely in a cluster, just like somewhere in New York.
And then there are these beautiful courtyards.
And then that way there is this sense of spaciousness.
I hate this kind of one tall house over there one tall house over here, I like that travel center when it is just like that “boom”! I'm probably the only one who likes it.
ALVA: The population of Finland is growing. The population of Finland 100 years ago was around 3 million, and now it's close to 7 million. So the population has increased quite a lot in these 100 years.
Salme: People still get sick and people's characteristics, if those 100 years have passed, so that would have been 3 generations maybe, so people are still, unfortunately, some of them are petty and quarrelsome and all kinds of peacekeeping is needed.
That the human mind, the mental one, has not changed in 100 years into anything special.
All kinds of people do exist by their nature and personality.
ALVA: The problem of overpopulation is solved by itself. People do not have more than two children on average. The overpopulation has been solved, so that there are no such crowded places like in Finland today. There is enough space for everyone and people can live wherever they want to. It's a kind of self-sustaining system, the population does not grow unless some immigrants arrive from somewhere else. So it's a self-sustaining system where the population neither grows nor diminishes unless something extraordinary happens, but it is quite stable at around this level.
Salme: The life expectancy of people has increased due to these… treatments and people live well over the age of 100 years with these treatments and spare parts and with good care, so well over 100 years old and in a good condition.
ALVA: And this kind of family structure has changed quite a lot as well during these 100 years. There are still families with one parent or two parents, but there are also those kinds of extended families where there are children from previous marriages or something like that included in the family unit. That kind of family structures have changed quite a lot during these 100 years as well, so I think that they will continue to change in the future as well.
Salme: People pay attention to what they eat and what they want to do professionally and… They pay more attention to this living environment.
People learn in the manner that these learning environments have been developed for children, and you enter into this learning environment, which is this three-dimensional, for each subject whether it is math or history or natural science… It's like presented three-dimensionally, in a way like as they do today, in that kind of virtual realities, you can already visit a three-dimensional museum.
But these are of course executed in a nicer manner, it is great that you can even touch those objects in that virtual reality and there are those people displayed and everything, because with this artificial intelligence you can generate these human characters.
ALVA: People practice crafts and farming and there is a lot of self-production. People do not buy anything from outside, unless they have to in order to survive during wintertime. So that's why people are practicing all kinds of crafts and growing their own food. The city has changed into something like a small village, where everybody knows each other and takes care of each other.
Salme: Of course, people don't know how to write by hand anymore, because paper does not exist anymore, and they don’t know how to fish anymore.
Many do not have any of these handicraft skills…
Even though the craftsmanship is needed for this kind of machine production, a lot takes place in the virtual world.
The artists are of course a bit different and culture, but then, common people are a little like this, so like baking or those kinds of things are no longer practiced or known.
ALVA: It's more like the old times when people took care of themselves and did not rely on anyone else but themselves. They were able to take care of themselves so they could live through the winter as well, which was very important back then too since winters were harsh with snowstorms for months at a time without any sun or anything coming through the sky except some snowflakes falling down from above…so it was really important how you could get by during those long winters with no sunlight whatsoever. That's why people had to be quite skilled in order to get by during those harsh winters over there in Finland over 100 years ago when I grew up there myself, so this skillfulness has been passed down from generation to generation until today as well among my family members who still live there in Finland now even though most have moved away already here towards warmer places such as Southern Europe or further south than that even around The Mediterranean.
Salme: Hunting is completely forbidden, obviously.
And cutting trees is strictly forbidden. Definitely, any Christmas trees are no longer possible. Any kind of recreational use of nature, or nature exploitation, cannot be done.
ALVA: They have been forbidden, so that people do not get sick from them. That's how it is with all these new treatments and medicines, they are very advanced in this area as well. So there are no more antibiotics unless you really need them because the immune system has gotten stronger through these probiotics and such.
Salme: People don't want to go to any kinds of summer cottages anymore, since there are no such things anymore.
Because there are no such things as private cars.
They can't go and don't want to go.
Because they don’t have these craftsmanship skills, so that they could function over there.
ALVA: It has become a lot better than before when I was young then everyone got sick all the time and had to take medicine for everything, but now it's like this super-immune system which does not allow anything bad to happen unless you eat something rotten or whatever. Then your body will react immediately by itself without any medication needed at all if it is a natural infection or something like that.
Salme: The houses are more beautiful, these residential buildings, even though they are big and tall, they are more colorful and all that environment is made somehow with piety. And all parking areas are gone, so there is more space…
The environment is more beautiful and old trees are appreciated.
If a tree is a bit decayed, it is not immediately going to be cut, there exists all types of young and old.
ALVA: Then there is another type of robot which I would call “The Beautiful” because they look very beautiful and delicate and somehow quite small in size compared to us humans, about half our height approximately so that when two people meet together their eyes meet at the same level since they're not taller than we are…
Salme: There is not just this kind of small and delicate…but there’s this big…making it more cozy.
People are appreciating old as well, and not everything is torn down immediately instead of being taken care of.
They are maintained, not allowed to deteriorate.
Or if it is allowed to deteriorate, it's done so in a pretty way. This will turn into a beautiful whole.
And this old Kuopio has been preserved as well.
ALVA: So that kind has been developed during these 100 years or 200 years into something really beautiful-looking even though it does not smell or taste anything yet but you can touch them if you want to so that it feels real enough for touching as well, although it does not have any temperature whatsoever nor humidity neither from the skin nor from hair nor from anything else except for perhaps some special clothing made out of such material which feels real enough to touch.
Salme: Love is very diverse.
It's already in the past that love is compartmentalized in any form that, there are no more wars over who gets to love whom, that is already in the past that kind of thinking. That is not tolerated at all.
ALVA: Well….Love is when two people get along well together for some time period and no matter what type of relationship it is between them; whether they are related by blood or married or whatever kind of partnership they have formed among themselves; if everything goes well for them at the end of the day which means that all kinds of conflicts have been solved and everybody has had their turn to speak their mind so that things run smoothly over time regardless what type of situation arises within this couple .
Salme: Equality, justice, and security are still existing values, those are strived for. Those have been brought forth. Those are the core values.
ALVA: You should not be a hypocrite. You should not pretend to be something that you are not. That is the first thing I would like to achieve in this world, that people do not pretend to be something they are not. They can dress however they want, but inside they have to be genuine and authentic. Then there will be no need for any kind of laws or regulations regarding how one has to dress, it will just happen naturally. It's like when you go out into nature, then you don't put on anything special either; it's just natural what you wear when going out into nature during summertime or wintertime…it's all natural!
Salme: Democracy has finally gotten the power, in Finland, also in the world.
But in Kuopio there is not only one mayor, but there are these city districts, and it is decided that democracy has prevailed, in Finland and in the world.
Finland is Finland, there is still the United States, Africa, Europe and Finland, but Finland is all the more affiliated with Europe and the United States and Africa, so they form a whole.
We are Finnish, not in the way as before, but so that this power of cooperation has been acknowledged all over the world, so that we can get things done.
Some nations still exist, but some want to strictly hold onto… wish to act...
They would like to have a sovereign, and like Europe wants to act, for this working together collectively and for no wars breaking out. People have tried to learn from them.
Since the nature of man has not changed in 100 years time, there are all kinds of people who still go along with all of these follies and horrors.
That has not changed in 100 years yet.
ALVA: The city will be ruled by democracy, by public voting on city matters. The government will be a representative one formed by elections of all the residents, regardless of their nationality or religion. It is more like a kind of New York State in the United States, where each county has its own government unless there are some common policies made together with other counties. This type of self-government democracy can be practiced and it would work out fine for Helsinki as well.
Salme: I find it the hardest to imagine how children will live over there, quite frankly, what is their fate?
But I wish there was a safe place for children over there, but how would it be, for example, can those children still play over there?
Or do they also have only virtual play, or do kids still play? Do they have any of the outdoor games?
That’s what I'd like to retain from my own childhood because they could have that opportunity over there, in the midst of these fountains and bushes, or are the adults then so distant in their own bubble, is there any opportunity for it?
ALVA: I find it the hardest to imagine how people would relate to each other in this new kind of eternity. Resentment, bitterness and envy are still around but the feelings of love and justice prevail over those bad things. Justice is really important for everyone’s wellbeing, so I think some kind of democracy has been established - at least a more fair system than the one we have now globally – because the power hungry have already caused enough trouble and chaos. People want equality among all citizens no matter their background. The will for sharing has been strengthened which leads to less waste or greediness over anything.