In the Anglosphere, the word “Orwellian” evokes a dystopian world of surveillance states and totalitarianism. It was a defining expression during the 45 years of the Cold War, and is just as relevant in an era of AI and face recognition technology.

This reflects the hold British author George Orwell has over the zeitgeist. It continues 73 years after his death, 74 years after the publication of 1984, and 78 years since the appearance of his Animal Farm.