The Ballad of the Barren Fields: What happens when AI promises prosperity — but delivers virality instead?
A new comic from our Human in the Loop series
As Generative AI reshapes the world at breakneck speed, some see it as a catalyst for innovation and growth, while others warn of economic disruption and deepening social inequalities.
As we parse through the discourse, we have wondered: how will communities in India experience the harms and unintended consequences of Generative AI?
Human in the Loop aims to offer near-future imaginaries to this question. Through participatory foresight methods and illustrative storytelling, Human in the Loop imagines a near-future India shaped by GenAI — examining what happens when automative, agentic and generative technologies meet everyday people, imperfect systems and systemic inequity.
The stories in Human in the Loop are not just speculative fiction; they are invitations to time-travel to the worlds we might be living in very soon. In an age where technology is evolving faster than our ethical, social, and ecological frameworks can keep pace, these narratives serve as guideposts of what could become of us. We hope that these stories cultivate a longing for futures that centre human dignity, planetary care, and equitable technological progress. Without such glimpses, we risk hurtling toward futures that do not serve us — futures more extractive, isolating, and unjust than the present.
We hope that these stories cultivate a longing for futures that centre human dignity, planetary care, and equitable technological progress. Without such glimpses, we risk hurtling toward futures that do not serve us — futures more extractive, isolating, and unjust than the present.
Over the next few weeks, we will bring you in-depth dispatches on each of our seven comics and the worlds in which they anticipate the near-future risks of GenAI integration. Each one imagines a different facet of GenAI’s unintended impact, grounded in real data, current policy directions, and community foresight.
🌾 In our first release, The Ballad of the Barren Fields, a new GenAI tool promises personalised agricultural support to struggling farmers. The innovation? XR-GenAI glasses that visualise abundance and prosperity, provide real-time recommendations, and offer multilingual guidance.
At first, it works.
But when financial pressures mount for them, the startup behind the tool pivots and the AI glasses start pushing ads, harvesting farmer data, and nudging farmers towards decisions that serve the agritech industry and profit, not people.
The results: barren fields, broken trust — and viral dance videos?
Why this story now?
Because it’s not fiction by far.
Climate change, market volatility, and underfunded support systems have pushed India’s farmers to the brink. GenAI tools promise efficiency, access, and climate resilience. But how they’re designed — and who profits — will shape whether they uplift or exploit.
Over the past few years, Indian farmers have faced a convergence of challenges: extreme weather events, unstable markets, poor infrastructure, and weak institutional support, all threatening their livelihoods and the country's food security. Despite promises of reform, small and marginal farmers remain in precarious conditions, navigating broken systems on their own. Collectively, these factors necessitate comprehensive and sustained interventions to address the challenges.
In theory, GenAI tools could offer much-needed support for the agricultural sector – multilingual, real-time, localised information on crop health, pests, and weather. These tools could strengthen farmers' negotiating positions and stabilise incomes over the long term.
But, it's rarely that simple.
Even thoughtfully built technologies, rooted in expansive and accurate knowledge bases, do not guarantee effectiveness. Farmers may choose not to adopt them, or find that, once adopted, the tools fail to serve their needs. Much depends on how these tools are designed and deployed.
- drawn from the essay accompanying the comic, The Ballad of the Barren Fields
This is the cautionary tale that The Ballad of Barren Fields lays out where in a speculative future, AI-powered XR glasses meant to help boost a farmer’s yield works until the startup behind the glasses chooses to prioritise profits over the intended impact.
The tool eventually becomes a site of targeted advertisement and data extraction, leaving the protagonist farmer with withering produce and a son with viral fame as he dances in the foreground of a barren field.
Through this story, we explore the risks of tech-driven solutions replacing meaningful structural reform.
The Ballad of the Barren Fields asks: Can GenAI truly support Indian farmers if its incentives aren’t aligned with their wellbeing?
Thank you for reading the comic! This is the first of seven in the Human in the Loop series.
🔁 More coming soon — stay with us as we map futures from the ground up.
📩 We’d love your thoughts! — reply to this email, write to Sasha at sasha@digitalfutureslab.in, or tag @DigitalFuturesLab on social media.
🤝🏽 See a potential in this comic to collaborate with us? Reach out to Shivranjana at shivranjana@digitalfutureslab.in
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