For most people, cyberpunk is defined by megacorporations, mass surveillance, behavioural control, decaying social structures, and technology that quietly reshapes everyday life.
But today, is it still just a subgenre of science fiction? Or has it become our reality?
If you've ever wondered whether your phone, home assistant, or smart device is listening to your conversations, you're definitely not alone. Whether that's technically true or not, I don't think it's the most interesting question anymore.
Today, the Internet consumes our name, phone number, face, voice, employment history, shopping habits, and more, until every aspect of our lives is itemized, categorized, and sorted into a data point.
As Byung-Chul Han puts it, we've built a kind of digital panopticon: a state of constant, invisible surveillance of the people by the people, to the point that surveillance has become deeply woven into convenience.
Maybe that's the most cyberpunk part of all.
I ended up writing a much longer piece on surveillance capitalism, why the "our phones are listening" conspiracy refuses to die, and whether it's even possible to imagine an Internet that complements our lives instead of consuming them.
I'd love to hear what you guys think.
Here's the link to the full article: https://yourweeklybrainunrot.substack.com/p/is-your-phone-listening-to-you