An analysis of the widening gap between technological and societal developments
and what it means for the future of humanity.
The pink shaded region on the chart shows the widening gap between the green curve (tech developments) and the blue curve (societal developments). Over 100 developments and nearly a thousand data points were analyzed to produce this singular chart to illustrate what we all feel:
technology is changing faster than society can keep up with it.
This rapidly widening Techno-Socio Gap threatens our social cohesion, economic stability, and human flourishing/meaning. And, potentially, the very nature of humanity itself. This gap is itself an effect of a deeper cause: humanity's relationship with technology and those that make it. A few, a very few, perhaps only 8 technologists, are driving this race. Those few are designing our future in their image.
Their utopia could very well be our dystopia.
Who gave them the power to design our future? We did.
Who needs to take this power back? We do.
This is not about stopping AI. It's about who gets to steer it.
The whitepaper shows the research that quantified and yielded the Techno-Socio Gap, the emerging technologies map, and more.
It details not just the movement of AI, but the five other major emerging technologies that will soon affect you.
It covers potential scenarios: utopic, dystopic, and realistic, so you can understand and prepare for what is coming.
Schedule a briefing to learn more.
We need to narrow the Techno-Socio Gap.
We need to raise the blue curve and lower the green curve. How?
Wisdom is the solution. While the scientists and technologists are busy chasing "superintelligence" - we, the people, must be exercising "superwisdom."
Knowledge and Intelligence tell us what we CAN do. Wisdom tells us what we SHOULD do.
We, the people, collectively, are wise. The 8 billion of humanity, of society, should be making these decisions. Not the 8 technologists in opaque labs and boardrooms.
There are actions you can take!
This is not an academic exercise.
The choices we make today will determine the very arc of humanity.
Policy makers, influencers, activists, and indeed everyone, have a crucial role to play.
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the rage right now, it's not just about AI (and soon Robotics). It's also about CRISPR, Synthetic Biology, Nanomaterials, Quantum computing, Mobile Nuclear Reactors, Orbital Platforms, and more. And how the 70+ ways that these technologies are interconnected (like neural implants) and reinforcing each other and driving the wider acceleration of all of them. The whitepaper delves into these additional emerging technologies.
First: be informed! The more you understand, the more effective your actions will be.
The 8 technologists (and those who finance them) are designing your future from opaque labs and boardrooms. We, the people, have one lever and two spigots to exercise our wisdom and turn the process around.
Lever:
We, the people, must act to encourage our government to change the way it thinks about technology and technology regulation. We must be the designers of our future, not the technologists. Write, call, visit, your state and federal representatives to let them know that you want more transparency into the opaque labs and boardrooms - and to remind the technologists that they work for the people, not the other way around.
Spigot #1:
This is a hard one - but we have to find a way to stop the insane flow of money that is supporting this race. Venture capitalists get their money from their investors who are often YOU! You say, "how can that be?" Your 401k, pension plan, mutual fund, etc. are often investors in VC funds. Do your homework. Find out if any of your investments are being funneled to these efforts and move that money elsewhere. Also, and this may sound extreme, but stop using their products. It's that simple. Every time you use ChatCPT, Claude, Cursor, etc. - you are fueling the "demand" which fuels the VC investment. Stem the demand and you stem the investment. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. But wise? Yes, it is wise. Be wise.
Spigot #2:
AI data centers are massive (think acres of land) and need city, state, and even nation levels of electricity to run them. (BTW: your brain can do WAY more fueled by just a spoonful of peanut butter!) Turn off the spigot of electricity - and you slow the growth. Electricity producers and grid managers are straining to meet the demand and YOU will ultimately be paying for the infrastructure upgrades that will go, entirely, to supporting these massive data centers. The prices in the most recent power auction by grid operator PJM went up by a whopping 22%! Make sure your local utility commissions know that you won't accept the rate increases they'll most assuredly be asking for. And fight land acquisitions too!