Imagine a world so reliant on technology that a single glitch threatens to crash banking systems, trigger nuclear meltdowns, and cause mass global hysteria.
No, it’s not an AI doomsday scenario. It was a real problem at the onset of the new millennium, captured in HBO’s latest documentary, Time Bomb Y2K.
The film, directed by Brian Becker and Marley McDonald, documents the events leading up to the year 2000 when then entire world scrambled to update its computer systems or risk global catastrophe. The problem? Computers were formatted using two digits to indicate the year rather than four. That meant computers might misinterpret the year 2000 for 1900, potentially causing computers to crash.
While catastrophe was avoided due to unprecedented global cooperation, it spawned panic worldwide leading people to buy guns, stock up on supplies, and generally prepare for a looming apocalypse.
The Time Bomb Y2K trailer, which you can watch exclusively on Mashable, provides a glimpse of how the world reacted in the moments leading up to the new year. Spoiler alert: People did not remain calm. The documentary, which is crafted entirely through archival footage, captures survivalists, militia groups, conservative religious groups, and others preparing for the worst, while world leaders and computer experts urge people not to panic.
Even at the time, the Y2K doomers were considered the extreme not the norm. And the trailer certainly portrays them as such. However, as hypothetical fears over AI and AGI grip society today, it’s hard not to see the parallels of how a technology-dependent society grapples with uncertainty.
Time Bomb Y2K premieres on Dec. 30 at 10 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on Max.
