A Matrix moment: appreciating and changing mountains
Did you ever have a 'Matrix moment' in your life? A bugging thought at the back of your mind that you live in a simulacrum, and what one perceives to be a reality, is how our brain is fooled by... Well, fill the blanks depending on the technology utopia you are into.
Exactly that happened to me this weekend. Exploring new running routes in Dublin, I was ingesting podcasts. Then, realized that the same expression was used in three different episodes by three different podcasters, in a slightly, but not very distant context. It felt nearly as somebody - or something - weaved the intellectual fabric I am exposed to, to reinforce my beliefs, attach me to my interests even more, and not the least - keep me looking for more.
'Pull the rug from under one's feet' was the expression. This was somewhat how I felt!
THINK. Human brain is a thing of beauty. Metaphorically speaking, of course. The sheer number of thoughts and ideas that one can have, all succeeding in a lightning speed, is scary. It so reminds me a tour into an amusement park; there are so many rides, shops and attractions that we struggle to choose. Instead, we simply let the experiences overflow, hoping we would distill the essence when it's finished.
I am taking such ride into the podcasting world every now and then. Many things on my mind, but last week it has been difficult to ignore the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that released a 'ChatGPT-like' service at allegedly fraction of a cost to train and operate these Large Language Models. As the world economy is transforming at pace to increasingly fueled by algorithmic productivity, key actors in that field are likely to shape world's politics, define the future of work and, ultimately, the values that we would be living by. Many refer to it as a current race to the moon, between Silicon Valley and Chinese tech ecosystem. The race is on steroids, though, and the moon sits in our pockets and at our desks.
It is so much easier to focus on concerns and challenges, as they are right in front of our eyes. So much harder to balance with possibilities as those are vague, unquantified, hard to even verbalize. I am both fascinated and scared with the idea of algorithmic agents and agentic economy. On one hand, removing loads of mundane activity humans do, on the other - imagining how they swarm cyber defense mechanisms or alter perception of real events through social media.
Also, what role will we be playing when most of white-collar activity could be delivered at fraction of cost and in no time? How do we strike the balance between utopia and its opposite?
FEEL. Being a parent, I inevitably feel anxious. Part of human condition, we care about the future of our offspring. In a relatively stable environment, we tend to think our children need some incremental tweaks to how our lives have unfolded, to become a better versions of ourselves. But what if a quantum leap ahead would teleport them to a completely different universe? Where our guiding posts no longer describe the landscape?
Looking back at my choices, I can notice the role of fear. A fear of failure and a fear of financial insecurity. I had a moment of absolute clarity while tuning into a the conversation between Steven Bartlett and Daniel Priestly: while I utterly appreciate the mountain I am on, I feel it is time to change the mountain. It is never too late to rethink the value we can supply.
I am planning to travel more with my family this year. The nearest is just a few days away. I deeply believe that the diversity of experiences, random exploration and facing novelty are helping us understand what place in the world are we looking for. I feel so blessed to be able to provide it to my kids. And you can't go wrong combining Sherlock Holmes, West End musicals and search for Pokemons!
DO. My January has been dry without any particular commitment, so February will be... AI. I have fallen into the trap of talking about non-human intelligence without really trying and testing. Beyond occasional use of Copilot or ChatGPT as an enhanced search engine, and some image generation, I have tested little use cases.
So throughout this month, I will be exploring different applications and tools. I pride myself for writing every single sentence of my journals on my own. Inevitably, I wanted to test how good technology has become to produce writing drafts. Spoiler alert: it is already pretty good! Read more on Instagram or CaringGeek.com.
