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If These Days Feel Weirdly Normal, Here Are 102 Posts To Prove That We Live In An Actual Dystopia
Back in 1949, when George Orwell’s 1984 was published, the novel was deemed a depressing masterpiece and prophetic warning. Readers were horrified by the idea that the future might eventually reflect the themes in the book. Nowadays, however, we know all too well how accurate the story has become.
It seems like every single week, news headlines are more and more dystopian. Artificial intelligence becomes increasingly pervasive by the day, and governments around the world appear to be taking steps to remove individual freedoms, rather than expand them. And if you’re interested in seeing some harrowing examples of what’s happening to society, you’ve come to the right place. We visited the "That’s Dystopian" Facebook group and gathered some of their most unsettling posts below. From employees working past the age of 100 to citizens being encouraged to snitch on shoplifters, our lives are starting to feel like we're living in a Black Mirror episode.
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#1
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 minutes ago
But do the actually shun it? I think it's normally just withheld.
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#2
Spencer's slave no longer 1 hour ago
Dirty nappies and cat litter spring to mind on this, veggies are too expensive in the Disunited States.
For the most part, technological advancements are a positive thing. It’s amazing that we can use our phones to give us directions while driving, play music whenever we want, provide us with access to all the knowledge in the world, and allow us to keep in touch with people all over the planet. Meanwhile, we need scientists to continue finding cures for diseases and creating new vaccines to keep us safe. But there are certain aspects of technology that feel just a bit dystopian.
According to a report from October 2025, more than a billion people across the globe say that they now use AI at least once a month. But many are using it every single day, whether that’s to help them write an email at work or to provide advice on how to handle issues in their relationship. People are starting to turn to computers to solve every single problem they have, and life is beginning to feel like a sci-fi novel.
#4
Multa Nocte 59 minutes ago
Gosh, I would have to concur with that 100%! It might not even be that bad if they then increased you wages, but it very rarely works like that.
#5
While AI can be a helpful tool, IBM warns that there are some potential risks associated with these technologies. First, they note that humans are innately biased, and humans created artificial intelligence. Sometimes, these biases and prejudices are reflected in the technology, so it's important that we don't take everything an AI model spits out as gospel.
At the same time, AI is sometimes used to launch cyberattacks. Voices can be cloned, and identities can be faked to scam people out of money. AI tools can also be used to create convincing phishing schemes to compromise an individual's or an organization’s privacy and security. It’s becoming increasingly challenging to determine what was crafted by AI and what was created by a real person.
#8
Multa Nocte 1 hour ago
Anyone who buys a toothbrush with sort of technology deserves whatever consequences they get.
#9
Spencer's slave no longer 1 hour ago
So, McDonalds now have indentured servants, not employees.
Another major concern that critics of AI cite is the environmental issues. The data centers that AI technologies run on use an incredible amount of water to keep their servers cool. In fact, one study found that just one language processing model emits over 600,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is almost 5 times the amount of emissions a car will produce in its lifetime.
It feels a bit dystopian to know that we’re wasting water and polluting the planet, so people can talk to ChatGPT. Meanwhile, a quarter of the world’s population still doesn't have access to clean water.
#10
Multa Nocte 1 hour ago
These make me ill. And BP, you ought to back off your crappy AI pix as well. Also your shoddy AI entries on articles.
In 2024, Newsweek reported that a survey of 1,000 Americans found that 26% of men and 14% of women believed they were living in a dystopian society. In fact, one-fifth of Americans said they were living in an even more dystopian society than the one described in Orwell’s 1984. Reasons cited for this were the overturning of Roe v. Wade, shifting gender norms, cancel culture, and more. But today, people might have even more reasons to believe that they're living in a sci-fi story.
#13
Multa Nocte 1 hour ago
This reminds me of the movie where Loki used the retina extractor to remove the scientist's eye so he could circumvent the security system and steal iridium.
Unfortunately, there’s more than one dystopian piece of literature or film that has come eerily close to predicting the future. The Guardian published a piece earlier this month discussing pieces of media that seem to have predicted the future. Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash, for example, has an immersive virtual reality called the “metaverse,” which requires a headset to access. And we all know that Mark Zuckerberg renamed his company Meta and announced a plan to develop his own “metaverse”.
#18
Meanwhile, Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 Parable of the Sower and 1998 Parable of the Talents have unsettling similarities to our current age. The stories, which are set in a post-apocalyptic California, describe a wealthy community that has sequestered itself away from the dangers of the world. At the same time, the climate has been destroyed, and the president claims that he will “Make America Great Again”. Sound familiar?
#21
Spencer's slave no longer 1 hour ago
Maybe I should start charging rent to the illegal tenants in my shed but she's pregnant and he eats cockroaches. I think they sub let to a family with more than 6 kids so can I charge them rent too?
Everyone knows that it’s impossible to predict the future. But in many regards, at the moment, it does look bleak. Climate change is undeniable, and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid using AI, and it’s widely understood that the government is watching and listening to pretty much everything its citizens do. We know that the world can be a scary place nowadays, but if it brings you some comfort to call out just how dystopian it has become, we highly recommend that you do so! You might even want to share your findings with That’s Dystopian on Facebook.
Are you feeling unsettled after scrolling through these photos, pandas? Keep upvoting the ones that you find particularly eerie, and let us know in the comments below what the most dystopian thing you’ve witnessed recently was. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing similar societal issues, look no further than right here!
#25
Multa Nocte 40 minutes ago (edited)
Hopefully someday someone will enact some legislation to prevent this exploitation and emotional abuse of children. This mom will be pikachu shocked if her kid ever decides this was too much and goes no contact.
#26
Dan Holden 1 hour ago
Westjet, a Canadian airline, recently reversed their decision to add one more row to their aircraft (by taking away more leg room from an already cramped cabin), because of fierce pushback from the public. It's a small victory, but maybe we if everyone started pushing back more, these companies wouldn't be so quick to take advantage of their customers.
#30
Dan Holden 1 hour ago
How about just having more trees. They have more benefits than just creating oxygen. Shade for one.
#38
Multa Nocte 36 minutes ago
Not a krona? Do they have to pay to travel to Great Britain if they collect some of these so that they can spend them?
#42
Multa Nocte 29 minutes ago
"FDA approval for this treatment is still far down the road, but the study points toward new paths for treating severe depression. Krystal said that understanding the brain circuits underlying depression is likely to guide future non-invasive treatments that can modulate those circuits."
#43
Booker 45 minutes ago (edited)
I can't think of a better way to let others know you don't have a healthy set of boundaries. Even if you had the best of intentions, you'd be enabling others down paths of entitlement, power trips, etc. If you did it long enough, coworkers would label you as a kiss-a-, over-achiever, non-player, ..., and they would target you every chance they got. From an ethical standpoint, the issues are even worse. Administrators would have a whole new way to avoid being held accountable for what they were being paid to manage, initial praise for unpaid overtime would likely turn into unfair expectations, etc. The one good thing about a sign like this is that, without a doubt, it would identify that this was an extremely toxic work environment.
#45
Multa Nocte 24 minutes ago (edited)
And then is carted off to a psychiatric ward due to the psychosis she created by not sleeping. Or perhaps to jail after she killed other people with her sleep-deprived driving.
#46
Multa Nocte 23 minutes ago
Who wouldn't prefer pictures of trees instead of the real thing? You also need to generate pictures of birds and squirrels, and perhaps photos of the oxygen the trees would have produced.
#64
Multa Nocte 33 minutes ago
It's all going to depend on the name of the restaurant. If you buy a silicone keyboard cover at Bob's Burger and Grill, there is still going to be some explaining to do.
#65
Multa Nocte 51 minutes ago
I disagree with this. If I had never had to read a book outside a class, many of which I had never heard or or weren't the sort of books I would have personally chosen, there is no way I would have had exposure to the books that shaped my life. As well, the amount of learning about Greek and Roman philosophy and mythology might not have come my way, and definitely the math that they taught in grades 7 to 12 needed time outside class to be worked on, mastered, and used. I very definitely believe in homework and believe it is important.
#67
Multa Nocte 32 minutes ago
Yep, there is some real side-slapping humour involved in that silly-billy global warming.
#79
#84
#85
Multa Nocte 5 minutes ago
Truly honouring Christ would mean you would unfollow those shallow posters who claim they know what he would have wanted.
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