Future No Thanks: An Eco‑Socialist Game Caught in an AI Controversy
Future? No Thanks! is an adventure game by Paolo Pedercini, known as Molleindustria. It follows a grumpy old man trying to finish a bucket list before assisted suicide in a world where climate change is finally addressed, democracy thrives, and technology serves the public good.
The game, released in September, quickly became controversial when it was revealed that it contains AI‑generated content. In a blog post this week (thanks, a blog post), Pedercini confirmed the presence of two text‑to‑speech voices and two music loops created with Suno, despite his earlier claim that “AI is a technofascist, anti‑human and anti‑art project.” He also said a tiny fraction of the code was debugged with ChatGPT and Claude. The revelation was first reported by Rock Paper Shotgun.
On Friday, Pedercini posted another blog post to clarify that, aside from the code, the AI‑generated voices and music have been removed. He defended the use of AI, saying the loops were meant to mock “losers who listen to slop” in early demos and that the voices were “funnier in that context.”
He added that the game is now only 0.001% worse, and he is offering refunds via PayPal and Venmo to anyone who still feels betrayed. Pedercini also announced that his next project will be entirely hand‑coded.
The episode is ironic given Pedercini’s reputation for a varied library of politically charged browser games — ranging from booing the Confederate flag to simulating Soviet workers’ clubs and even running The New York Times to satirize Israel and the wealthy. His expansive library shows a consistent willingness to tackle controversial topics directly. Yet using AI tools to build an ecosocialist vision feels contradictory, especially when satire can be achieved without AI. As It’s Always Sunny did it shows, clever writing can mock the very technologies it employs.
