“As Andrej Karpathy just wrote, humanity is having first contact with a type of intelligence that does not come from biology, evolution, fear, hunger, status, or shame. For the first time in history, we are dealing with a mind that isn’t an animal. We just haven’t adjusted our thinking to match. Human intelligence isn’t the default – it’s a local anomaly. For our entire existence, we’ve assumed that our way of thinking is the template for intelligence itself. It isn’t. It’s just the only version we’ve ever met…. Organisations often do things that make no commercial sense: [1] meetings with fifteen people because exclusion feels threatening, [2] decisions delayed because no-one wants to be wrong first, [3] brilliant ideas softened into mediocrity so no-one gets upset, [4] and vanity projects that limp on long after the data has declared them dead…. AI isn’t trying to be human – and it isn’t trying to be anything at all. It simply optimises whatever objective it is given. And that is the key thing that most people keep fumbling over…. A system can generate brilliant strategies without wanting power. It can persuade without caring about influence. It can outperform a human without dreaming of replacing them. Ability is not agency. Agency only emerges if we design it – by giving systems goals, tools, and persistence. As my friend Dr Rami Mukhtar always says: AI HAS NO AGENCY” (Constantine Frantzeskos, 25 Nov 2025).
“The digital marketing firm Graphite recently published a study showing that more than 50% of articles on the web are being generated by artificial intelligence…. For them [writers and artists], the core concerns are about authorship: How can one person compete with a system trained on millions of voices that can produce text at hyper-speed? And if this becomes the norm, what will it do to creative work, both as an occupation and as a source of meaning?… A closer reading of the Graphite study shows that the AI-generated articles consist largely of general-interest writing: news updates, how-to guides, lifestyle posts, reviews and product explainers. The primary economic purpose of this content is to persuade or inform, not to express originality or creativity…. If you set aside the more apocalyptic scenarios and assume that AI will continue to advance … it’s quite possible that thoughtful, original, human-generated writing will become even more valuable” (Francesco Agnellini, 24 Nov 2025).
The Age of Dissonance (Harris Poll): “What once felt aspirational now feels automated. From hotels to handbags, the world has been ‘beigified’ – flattened by the repetition of digital curation…. Homogenization is the price of the algorithmic age. But in response, a rebellion has begun – one rooted in the desire to feel, own, and rediscover difference. Enter ‘newstalgia’: a deliberate rejection of digital uniformity in favor of personal curation and physical proof of experience. It’s how younger consumers are reclaiming individuality from the algorithm. A 2025 Tubi-Harris Poll found that among Gen Z, 82% enjoy discovering content originally released more than ten years ago…. What was once considered ‘blue collar’ is now being rebranded as real – work that feels tangible, durable, and recession-proof. In the age of automation, hands-on expertise has become aspirational again…. Trust in leadership has eroded. A 2025 U.S. News & World Report-Harris Poll found that more than 8 in 10 Americans express skepticism toward business and political leaders alike. Confidence in institutions, media, and even expertise itself continues to decline” (Libby Rodney, 24 Nov 2025).
“In fifty years, science resolved approximately 200,000 protein structures. AI achieved over 200 million protein structure predictions in about one year, vastly expanding the knowledge frontier…. Moreover, the infrastructure itself is advancing quickly. While Moore’s Law forecasts a doubling in chip capacity every two years, AI model compute power has been doubling every six months – four times faster…. Europe can still emerge as a strong second mover if it acts decisively. Our goal should not be to out-build the leading AI models, but rather to deploy AI across the board. By focusing on rapid adoption and smart use of existing AI technologies across our wide-ranging industries, Europe can turn a late start into a competitive edge” (Christine Lagarde, 24 Nov 2025).
Marc Ruggiano, LaCross Institute Director: “One expectation is that employees will wait for the organization to determine how AI should be used, which AI tools will be provided, and what guidelines must be followed. In reality, employees are using AI tools whether their organization has endorsed their use or not and are purchasing what they believe will best enable them to succeed at work, while following their own interpretation of what practices are acceptable…. They [leaders] must provide new growth opportunities for employees in an AI-enabled organization to allow them to develop functional skills, business expertise and managerial judgement that previously came from ‘climbing the ladder,’ a path that is changing in many industries as AI performs or assists in more and more traditionally human tasks…. In the next five years, AI will enable individuals to find information at least as easily as searching for it, and to understand and employ it for their own and their organization’s benefit, or detriment. Industries that rely on information – aggregating, organizing or employing it – will be under intense pressure as a result” (McGregor McCance, 24 Nov 2025).
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