In the Age of AI: What Akira and Ghost in the Shell Reveal About Humanity’s Future
Introduction
In 2025, the U.S. and Europe are living in the shadow of AI, Big Tech monopolies, and the rise of surveillance societies. Artificial intelligence has revolutionized healthcare, art, and education—but at the same time it raises fears about mass unemployment, data privacy breaches, and even threats to democracy.
Interestingly, these anxieties were already imagined decades ago in Japanese animation. Works like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and more recently Cyberpunk: Edgerunners paint striking dystopian portraits of the future. Through their visions of futuristic cities and blurred lines between man and machine, they serve as cultural mirrors for the dilemmas we face today.
1. Akira – Runaway Technology and Social Collapse
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Director: Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)
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Setting: Neo-Tokyo, a city plagued by corruption and secret military experiments
Akira explores how military experiments and uncontrolled scientific progress can destabilize an entire society. Neo-Tokyo is visually dazzling with neon lights and biker gangs, but underneath lies political rot, human experimentation, and a destructive force spiraling out of control.
👉 Today’s AI experiments by Big Tech echo this fear. Just as Akira’s powers spiral beyond containment, unregulated AI threatens to overwhelm the very structures of modern society.
2. Ghost in the Shell – The Boundary Between Human and Machine
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Creator: Masamune Shirow (1989)
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Key versions: 1995 film, TV series, recent remakes
Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg operative, embodies the fusion of human and machine. The story asks: What does it mean to be human in an age of AI and networks?
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Cyber-brain hacking → A parallel to modern identity theft, deepfakes, and hacking
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Human–machine fusion → Real-world brain–computer interfaces and prosthetic medicine
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Power and surveillance → Governments and corporations dominating data flows
The concept of the “ghost in the shell” underscores that human identity is more than signals and data. It’s a crucial philosophical lens for thinking about how far we should go in merging humans with machines.
3. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners – Inequality in the Tech-Driven Future
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Studio: TRIGGER & CD Projekt RED (2022, Netflix)
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Setting: Night City – a society dominated by megacorporations
This series shows a world where technology does not save humanity, but instead amplifies inequality. Protagonist David implants cybernetic enhancements to survive poverty and systemic violence, only to be crushed by the very system he fights.
👉 This resonates strongly with the U.S. and Europe today, where the monopolization of AI and cutting-edge tech by Big Tech firms threatens to deepen social divides.
📊 Comparative Overview
| Title | Setting | Core Theme | Connection to Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akira | Neo-Tokyo (1988) | Uncontrolled tech | Lack of AI regulation, corporate experiments |
| Ghost in the Shell | Networked future society | Identity & surveillance | Data breaches, AI ethics |
| Edgerunners | Corporate-dominated city | Inequality, survival | Big Tech monopolies, class divide |
⭐ Ratings (Art, Insight, Relevance)
| Title | Visual Impact | Social Insight | Relevance Today | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akira | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | 4.5/5 |
| Ghost in the Shell | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | 4.8/5 |
| Edgerunners | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | 4.6/5 |
Conclusion – A Warning from Animation
What unites these three works is their cautionary message: technology can escape human control, become monopolized by elites, and amplify inequality. These aren’t distant possibilities—they’re unfolding realities. In fact, we’re already witnessing echoes of Akira’s chaos and Ghost in the Shell’s identity crises in our own society.
The central question becomes:
“Will we control technology, or will technology control us?”
Far from being mere entertainment, these anime are cultural texts that prepare us for the ethical and social dilemmas of the AI age.
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