The Machine Stops story

shortstory: The Machine Stops (1909) · 1909-11-01 · E. M. Forster

In a distant future people mostly live statically in isolated rooms with every need cared for by an enormous machine that controls nearly all aspects of society. Then the machine starts to break down.

7 total · 5 choice · 2 major

ThemeLevelMotivation
AI risk to civilization choice At the heart of the story is the gradual breakdown of an enormous machine that oversaw nearly every aspect of society. People became helpless to save themselves.
atrophied civilization choice people were bread to be physically weak and mentally complacent
ecological destruction choice the surface of the Earth was apparently all but inhabitable due to human activity
machine regulated society choice At the heart of the story is the gradual breakdown of an enormous machine that oversaw nearly every aspect of society.
society regulating central computer crash choice when the central machine failed, civilization collapsed
global cooling major Most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth because the planet was in the grips of an ice age.
mother and son major Vashti and Kuno