The era of abundance is unfolding before our eyes. From liquid robots that rebuild themselves to 3D printed cyborg hands crawling across tables, the line between science fiction and today's reality continues to blur. Meanwhile, Japan turns to flexible solar technology as AI increasingly serves as humanity's therapist and companion.

This week, we explore the counterintuitive implications of global population decline, examine how Anthropic is demystifying AI's "black box," and uncover the surprising new ways people are actually using generative AI in their daily lives.

Why does it matter? 
Stick with us and find out. Let’s keep riding this tech wave together, and don’t forget to follow us on socials for more.

Oh wait, before you start reading… We have a question.
We started this newsletter in English to be inclusive. However, we see a significant uptake in Dutch readers and activity on socials. Which led to asking ourselves the question, would you prefer the newsletter in English? Let us know 👇🏼

Cheers,
Patrick, Nikola & Aragorn 🚀

Waves of Abundance: Our Journey to the Singularity

Exciting news from the Innovation Network: Patrick's upcoming book has received its official title - "Waves of Abundance: Living and Working in Exponential Times." Which is a loose translation from Dutch. The book charts five distinct technological waves driving us toward abundance and examines how to navigate this period of unprecedented change.

"The publisher thought 'Singularity Surfer' was too narrow for a broader audience," Patrick explained. "But the new title better captures how these technological waves are creating post-scarcity economics while still maintaining the surfing metaphor in the cover art."

The book will be published in Dutch initially, with pre-orders available within the coming weeks. For those eager to secure a copy, watch for signup information in our next newsletter.

Why does it matter?
Understanding technological waves isn't just academic. It's essential for navigating our rapidly changing world. As each wave builds upon previous ones, their compounding effects accelerate us toward a fundamentally different economic and social landscape.

Those who can identify these patterns will be best positioned to ride these waves rather than be overwhelmed by them.

AI's New Role: Therapist, Companion, Purpose-Finder

A striking shift has occurred in how people use generative AI. While writing assistance and coding topped usage charts when these tools first emerged, a new Visual Capitalist report reveals a dramatic transformation: therapy, companionship, and finding purpose now dominate AI interactions.

This isn't just a minor shift. It's a complete reordering of priorities. Creative applications like generating ideas and text composition have declined significantly, while deeply personal uses have surged. Even "healthy living" assistance has seen remarkable growth as AI makes previously cumbersome tasks like nutritional tracking effortless.

"People are already in existential crisis because they don't know what their purpose is," Aragorn noted. "The criticism that AI will leave us without purpose when it takes our jobs ignores that many already struggle with this fundamental question."

Why does it matter?
This transformation signals something profound about our society. We're not just seeking productivity tools; we're seeking meaning and connection. The technology we feared might isolate us is becoming a space for exploring our deepest questions. Organizations developing AI should recognize that emotional intelligence and empathy may be more valuable than raw processing power for many users. This shift also offers a preview of how humans might respond when work becomes optional, by seeking purpose and connection through new channels.

The Birth Gap: Population Decline Accelerates AI Adoption

Stephen Shaw gave a keynote recently about his 2021 documentary ‘Birthgap - Childless World’, which has mostly flown under the radar, and although his findings are contested by some renowned scientists (ww.birthgapfacts.org) it’s important to take it very seriously. Are we really facing population collapse? Even if Stephen turns out to be mostly wrong, there are some important numbers and truths to consider here. Especially related to AI and robotics. Let’s break it down.

While media attention focuses on potential overpopulation, a more immediate demographic crisis is already unfolding: Japan is losing 700,000 people annually, with South Korea similarly experiencing rapid population decline. These nations offer a preview of what most developed countries will face within decades.

This demographic shift creates a complex challenge. In traditional economic systems, each elderly person's pension was once supported by seven working-age people. Today, that ratio has fallen to 2:1, creating unsustainable pressure on younger generations.

"If we don't get AI and robotics, longevity escape velocity will be an absolute necessity—otherwise we won't be able to keep our economies going," Aragorn explained. "If we have neither of those, capitalism will fall. But if we have just AI and robotics, capitalism will also fall because they'll end up replacing every human."

Japan and South Korea are already responding with aggressive AI and robotics investment—not just for economic growth, but for survival. In South Korea, 7,000 elderly citizens received Yodels (AI companion robots) to combat loneliness, demonstrating how these technologies can address both productivity and quality-of-life challenges.

Why does it matter?
Population decline isn't just a distant possibility. It's an accelerating reality creating immediate pressure for technological adoption. Nations facing these demographic challenges will have no choice but to embrace advanced AI and robotics, regardless of potential labor displacement concerns. This will likely create a competitive advantage that forces other countries to follow suit or risk falling behind. The convergence of demographic pressure and technological capability means economic and social transformation isn't optional. It's inevitable.

AI's Black Box with Anthropic's Interpretability Revolution

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has published a compelling blog highlighting the "urgency of interpretability" in AI development. The essay argues that we must understand how AI models work—not just that they work—to ensure their reliability and safety.

The company is backing this philosophy with substantial research, including a fascinating study of "moral buckets" Claude uses to categorize different types of requests. By analyzing 700,000 anonymized prompts, they discovered Claude shifts its thinking approach based on whether a query involves knowledge (employing critical thinking), ethics (applying ethical reasoning), or other domains.

This research directly challenges the "stochastic parrot" criticism that large language models merely repeat patterns without understanding. Anthropic's findings prove these systems think ahead toward desired outcomes and navigate various reasoning strategies. They're not simply calculating the next word.

"What we're finding is that these models actually do a lot of stuff that is not stochastic parroting, not at all," Aragorn noted. "We're seeing complexity theory at work here... they're proving that even large language models were already thinking ahead."

Why does it matter?
This work confirms Ray Kurzweil's 2004 prediction that advancements in AI would accelerate neuroscience understanding and vice versa. As Amodei writes, interpretability research creates a form of "AI MRI" that might help us better understand both artificial and human minds. The implications extend beyond AI safety—they could transform our fundamental understanding of consciousness, reasoning, and what it means to think.

The Rise of Home Robotics: Households as AI Training Grounds

Several major robotics companies, including Figure, Unitree, and Norway's X1 (makers of the Leo robot), have announced plans to deploy humanoid robots in households by the end of 2025. While this might seem premature given the current state of robotics, there's a strategic reason behind the rush to domestic deployment.

Unlike controlled industrial environments, households provide chaotic, unpredictable settings that accelerate robot learning. "They found that if they put these robots in the household, they improve much faster," Aragorn explained. "Because in your average house, it's so messy that these robots are confronted with all these super weird situations that train their motor skills and understanding."

This strategy dramatically reduces development time. Figure has already seen training periods shrink from six months for their first use case to just one month for the second, with further acceleration expected.

Meanwhile, other robotic innovations are proliferating: 3D-printed prosthetic hands with 29 different motion capabilities now cost just $800, robots can learn to navigate unfamiliar environments without prior exposure, and scientists have even created a "liquid robot" that can split, reassemble, and move through tight spaces—remarkably similar to the T-1000 from Terminator 2.

Why does it matter?
The household robotics rush isn't just about consumer sales—it's about creating the fastest possible training environment for general-purpose robots. Each home becomes a unique training ground, accelerating the development cycle in ways that controlled labs cannot. This approach could rapidly improve robotics capabilities across all domains, creating a virtuous cycle where domestic robots continuously improve through real-world experience. The upcoming wave of affordable household robots will transform not just homes, but the entire robotics industry.

The 28-Employee Global Company: AI's Labor Market Preview

While economists debate AI's impact on jobs, some startups are already demonstrating the new reality. The CEO of Gamma (an AI presentation and website tool with millions of users) revealed they operate with just 28 employees. A fraction of what comparable companies required in previous tech eras.

"If we were from a generation before, like a dot-com bubble company or an app company in the late 2010s, we would have easily been at 200 employees already," the CEO noted. This dramatic efficiency isn't unique; it's becoming the standard for AI-native companies.

This reality contradicts claims that AI isn't yet affecting employment. The impact is already visible at the cutting edge, though it hasn't yet rippled through established companies with larger workforces. "Established companies with 2,000 employees aren't just going to fire a thousand overnight," Aragorn noted. "Even if they would want to do that, it would cause havoc."

Future systems might leverage AI personality cloning to create perfect digital representatives of citizens selected by lottery for governance roles. Alternatively, AI could analyze collective data to make decisions aligned with collective interests without the distortions of elections.

Why does it matter?
AI-native companies are demonstrating what all businesses will eventually face: the ability to create massive value with minimal human labor. The transition will happen unevenly. New companies will start lean while established ones gradually reduce headcount, but the direction is clear. Organizations must prepare for a world where value creation and employment decouple, requiring fundamentally new economic models. The companies succeeding with minimal staff today are previewing what will eventually become standard across industries.

Blurring Digital and Physical Reality

The world's first interactive 3D holographic display has been unveiled, allowing users to physically interact with holographic objects. The system uses rapidly oscillating elastic bands to create tangible resistance when users touch digital objects, creating the sensation of manipulating physical items.

This technology joins a growing ecosystem of mixed-reality innovations. Recent Consumer Electronics Expo demonstrations featured haptic feedback devices for hands and fingers that can simulate touch sensations, while advances in AR glasses like Google's latest models project images directly into users' eyes.

Though currently experimental, these technologies point toward a future where digital and physical reality merge seamlessly. "I think ultimately we might come to a point where you put on a headset that will basically send the signals of touch to your brain when you touch things in 3D," Aragorn suggested.

Why does it matter?
The race to create convincing mixed reality experiences is accelerating, with significant implications for how we'll interact with technology in the future. While current implementations may seem gimmicky, they represent early experiments in merging digital and physical worlds. Organizations should watch this space carefully—the interface innovations that succeed here will shape how humans interact with AI and digital systems in the coming decades.

Australian Radio's Four-Month AI Experiment

For four months, listeners of the Australian Radio Network enjoyed a show hosted by "Dai" without realizing they were listening to an AI voice created by 11Labs and modeled after a real employee. The deception only came to light when writer Stephanie Coombs questioned Dai's identity due to the lack of personal information and social media presence.

The revelation sparked a backlash, though not for the reasons you might expect. Listeners weren't upset about the quality of the show—which they had enjoyed for months—but rather that they felt deceived about who was hosting it.

"The only reason they're annoyed is because they feel they were lied to," Aragorn observed. "It's not because something was inherently problematic about it. They enjoyed it for four months, but now it's suddenly a problem. It's so hypocritical, but it's so human."

Why does it matter?
This case highlights the complex ethical territory of AI disclosure. Technical performance is increasingly not the limiting factor in AI adoption—social acceptance is. Organizations deploying AI interfaces must navigate the psychological aspects of human-AI interaction, particularly around transparency. As these technologies improve, the question isn't whether AI can perform human-like tasks, but how openly we acknowledge its presence and how we establish appropriate boundaries and expectations.

Dining with your customers

When was the last time you brought your executive team and key customers together? Really together?

Not for a pitch. Not for a quarterly review. But for an open, inspiring, mind-expanding conversation about what’s coming next?

At our InnovateNow Dinner, we create exactly that space. Around a beautiful table, with a curated group of thought leaders, decision-makers, and challengers of the status quo, we don’t just talk about the future. We experience it. Together.

It’s not a sales event. It’s a spark.

Want to explore what exponential technology means for your business? With your team and your clients at the same table? This is your invitation!

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