TADC

— One of the most significant literary influences behind The Amazing Digital Circus is I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, the 1967 science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. […] In The Amazing Digital Circus, these ideas are reinterpreted through a surreal, circus-themed digital world overseen by an erratic AI. Like TADC, the show's artificial intelligence controls the environment, dictates the rules of existence and offers the illusion of entertainment while inflicting psychological stress on its human captives.