The Essays

Eight essays. Eight angles on a future arriving whether we see it or not.

I

On the Pace of Ruin

What if institutions are structurally incapable of governing AI?

An examination of the structural mismatch between institutional timescales and the pace of AI development.

II

On the Corruption of the Public Mind

What if AI destroys the shared reality that democracy requires?

How AI-generated content threatens the epistemic foundations of democratic governance.

III

On the Aristocracy of the Algorithm

What if AI creates a permanent cognitive caste system?

The risk that AI concentrates cognitive advantage among those who already hold power.

V

On the Folly of Universal Optimization

What if every company acting rationally destroys the economy?

How individually rational AI adoption creates collectively catastrophic economic outcomes.

VI

On the Hollowing of the Human

What if we win every battle and lose what made the war worth fighting?

The existential risk of outsourcing human cognition, creativity, and struggle to machines.

VIII

On the True Wealth of the Nation

What if the economy was never about labor in the first place?

A reexamination of national wealth in an age when human labor may no longer be the foundation of economic value.