Electric Sheep, Mercer, and Artificial Intelligences: The Future Is Already Here
If you want to understand what is happening around us, go read a book written in 1968 that now feels more relevant than many articles published last week. It is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. It inspired the movie Blade Runner, but my advice is simple: read the book, not the film. The novel goes deeper. It is philosophical, disturbing, and strangely prophetic.
Dick imagined a future where humanoid robots are almost indistinguishable from real people. They are intelligent, efficient, and even seem to show empathy. But their emotions are fake. They imitate care and compassion without truly feeling them. Sounds familiar?
Today we have AI systems that talk, draw, comfort, give advice, even become virtual companions. They say “I’m here for you,” but they are not. And still, we believe them. Some people even grow attached to them. Because deep down, we are human, and humans seek connection. That is the key: humanity.
In the book, one of the strongest symbols is the electric sheep. Real animals are rare and expensive, so people buy robotic ones. They feed them, clean them, and pretend they are real. But everyone secretly dreams of a real dog or a real sheep. Because genuine affection cannot be faked.
Another powerful idea in the book is Mercerism, a global religion where people use an Empathy Box to connect with a man called Wilbur Mercer. Through the machine, they share his pain as he climbs a rocky hill while being hit by stones. It may all be fake, just an illusion. But the emotional effect is real. People feel less alone. They feel united.
The truth does not matter as much as the feeling. Faith still works, even if its source is artificial. Because what really counts is the need for meaning, for connection, for something greater than ourselves. This is not a criticism of religion. On the contrary. Across cultures, people believe different things. But the need for something spiritual is universal. It is part of being human. And today, even that is being touched by machines.
We are living in a time where empathy can be programmed, relationships can be simulated, and even spirituality can be generated. Philip K. Dick saw it coming. We are not moving toward his world. We are already in it.
There is still time to ask the only question that matters:
What makes us truly human?
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Marco Camisani Calzolari
marcocamisanicalzolari.com/biography