Humanity, in Player Piano, constructs for itself a socioeconomic system so precise, so unmoved by emotion, that humanity has, in essence, written itself out of the action of the country. It’s important to note that humans created the machines, which take over almost every aspect of life because the end of the novel suggests that perhaps humans are fated to wipe themselves out this way. In the wave of such automation, there exists nothing for humanity to do anymore, so they’re given meaningless jobs to pass their time while they collect pensions. The ones lucky enough or bright enough to be engineers or managers seem to also be on the way out, as machines are finding ways to replace almost every human point-of-contact in all industries—even the writing of literature.

While the novel is set in the future, the commentary it allows is about the present—or, more precisely, the mid-to-late 20th century. Many of the industrial changes and shifts that seem so apocalyptic are simply extensions of what Vonnegut saw happening in the United States during that time. The novel then suggests that we are in this industrial dystopia already, and that maybe there’s no way to escape it.