Harrowing video shows what the future of work might look like

Afraid a machine will take over your job? Ever thought it might take over your boss' job instead, turning you into a servant of an AI whose inner workings you cannot comprehend?

A new video short by designer and film-maker Keiichi Matsuda shows what that might look like -- and how it might end.

In the video, titled "Merger," Matsuda envisions a futuristic work environment that might feel alien to us now, but a lot of it was actually based on today's real life. In an email, Matsuda told me the interface was built around principles he'd developed in his concept UX design work for commercial clients.

"It kind of works," he wrote. "The script for the video was built around real advice I found in productivity blogs."

CARD ID: 413934

The four-minute video asks an important question: When (if) artificial intelligence starts giving us tasks instead of the other way around, will be able to cope with the demands? And, if not, how much will we have to change to keep up?

Matsuda's work went viral in 2016, when he published a video called Hyper-Reality, imagining a near-unbearable, AR/VR-infested future. Even though it's now nearly three years old, that video still looks incredibly fresh and hits home better than any movie I've seen -- and that includes expensive Hollywood productions.

CARD ID: 413935

Check out more of Matsuda's visual work on Instagram and Facebook.