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The human body contains only 1 human cell for every 10 non-human cells [1], i.e. bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms. There are over 1,000 different species in the skin alone [2] … crazy. And though bacteria are much smaller than skin cells [3], what if they began to assume many of the functions skin cells do? What if a future exists where humans evolve beyond the need for their own skin in favor of a tightly knit but barely visible web of symbiotic organisms?

DALLE Prompt: Show me an image of a future human civilization so accustomed to artificial, translucent, microscopic protective symbionts used as protection from the environment that they no longer have skin. The style of the image should be hyperrealistic with an unsettling excess of organic mass and very small multicolored sensors dispersed throughout each body. A single man and woman should be shown side-by-side in a harsh, desolate landscape. The artificial skin should appear as a largely transparent, glassy barrier covering the entirety of each body. Viewers should recoil at the sight of human anatomy in the visible spectrum and in realtime — it is highly unnatural.