The intellectual revolution: part two

How to distinguish a future with Artificial Intelligence that works better for us. Learning from the industrial revolution to forge a different path for the 21st century.

Time for a new revolution.

In Latin, intellectus means "discernment, understanding". Couple the power of wisdom with the lifeblood of successful entrepreneurship, creative problem-solving, to power the next phase of human progress. It’s time to put industry into semi-retirement.

How many people will read that and cry “elitist!” or “stuffy! overbearing!” or worst of all “boring!” Industry conjures an image of honest labor and ingenuity; that is a barrier to imagination about the future, derived from 300 years of industrial culture.

I am not advocating for more high-minded liberal political types. We have bucketloads of them already. I am advocating for an empowered smart society less reliant on the whims of charismatic politicians, politicial entrepreneurs and the outdated reward systems of industry. Using technologies to think and act bigger.

Definitely not a “a society of total automation in which the need to work is replaced with a nomadic life of creative play.” A sentiment popular amongst new-wave tech entrepreneurs using AI. Still born of industrial thinking. Creative play is great, creative application is essential.

Another reality-check for industry.

In the 1760s, industry replaced physical labour. In the 1860s it replaced most manual labour. In the 1970s industry replaced basic administrative and clerical labour.

There’s one simple reason why humanity can’t keep managing this kind of replacement cycle.

4.3 billion extra people in the world. 8 billion in total.

At the outset of the industrial revolution, the world population was 0.8 billion, 1.3 billion by the second wave of industry and 3.7 billion by the third wave in the 1970s.

The internet information revolution augmented society, it’s still fair to say that humanity is less adaptable to revolutionary change than it once was.

55% of the world’s population live in urban areas already. These take time to modernise. Consider how the high street and malls recently become obsolete. Maintaining and modernising infrastructure is likely to cost $9 trillion globally in 2025, according to PwC. These costs will continue to rise as urban populations reach 80% of the global population if it peaks as forecast at 10.2 billion in 2080.

Take a look at the WEF Future of Jobs Report. How much of the world’s current employment sits in the most vulnerable category?

Does the “AI cannot currently replace” category sound like an industrial revolution to you? How many jobs offer their staff the ability to pursue creative problem-solving, environmentalism or sensory-processing?

The creator economy may already employ 300 million people, but in truth it looks a lot more like an entertainer economy part of the same industrial reward dynamic. Creative acts limited by the primary beneficiaries, platforms like Adobe.

We must demand more responsibility and less hype, because it looks like the old ways have worn-out.

An intellectual revolution.

Let’s paint a more enthusiastic picture of a future with AI, less beholden to the conventions of industry. That’s not to dispel the existential risks, but that’s not the thrust of this essay.

People are already adopting AI tools faster than businesses can, creating the foundations and familiarity needed for radical new approaches. People can lead themselves more now.

A smarter, more imaginative society.

A new approach to learning and development. Six traits individuals need to possess, being able to use Artificial Intelligence as a partner instead of a prisoner. To help humanity shift from growing scarcity today toward growing abundance in the future, applying the effective tactics of market entrepreneurs in new ways.

Six future-fit traits to empower yourself.

Criticality: A problem well-stated

How to keep your eyes on the prize in a world that incentivizes divisive posts and industrialises attention, by reducing distractions and shifting mindset to focus on responding to the needs of others - read about it here.

Get really good at asking questions and guiding responses to work with AI. Don’t accept AI at face value, challenge it like you would any other expert.

Creativity: A renaissance for generalists

Remember how fun it was to be a kid, to try so many new things? Then we needed to select what to study and where to specialise to work. Teamwork with specialists carried on getting harder, because new specialists thought they were really special, established specialists too, but a bit less so, then old specialists fretted about being ordinary. Insecurity abound. For a lot of people life became less enjoyable, with the weekend being for you. With AI as a partner we can broaden skills and be more open to divergent thinking - read about it here.

Activism: Less apathy, more action

Political apathy has grown into a very serious problem. Political entrepreneurs have capitalised on that gap. Looking at voting turnouts shows the danger zone. It doesn’t matter left, right, up, or down - high voter turnout in fair elections is more representative. Even if politicians make unattainable promises, disengagement leaves the door open for worse.

Combining criticality and creativity, activism can be a countermove that drives betterment and citizenship. We need to know what is causing the problem and how it is best fixed, the mechanisms and means - from policy or legislative change to collective behaviours. AI could give us a more unbiased view of the problems, remember Grok calling out Musk? Acting to ensure AI pays its taxes like a good citizen is one example.

Foresight: AI as an exceptional research assistant

How many people are stuck in a reality where they are perpetually reacting to their circumstances and unable to make smart choices? From analysis, ideation to financial tracking and planning, AI has the potential to help people break-out of their own status quo.

Self-reliance: AI can be your coach, mentor and teacher

AI has the potential to help you achieve outcomes that go beyond convenience, as a great equaliser. Anyone can have access to world-class teaching, training and mentoring. AI will enhance workout experiences, personalise fitness journeys, provide active coaching and guide nutrition, empowering overall health. AI and decentralised networks empower communities to be more self-sufficient, resilient and efficient as they collaborate and cooperate.

Pioneering: time to think bigger and find problems

Even though we feel we have no time, the truth is that people spend massively less time working than during the first and second industrial revolutions, and the work is no longer back-breaking. The question is therefore, what to do with that time?

Wealth equality, geopolitical cooperation, food and resource security, clean energy, biodiversity protection, climate change adaptation, innovation ecosystems, space infrastructure and cultural movements, to name but a few.

Go big and go small.

Much as Europe is pushing forward with plans to build a 91-kilometre-long Future Circular Collider, to reveal the secrets of the universe, Large Language Models will continue to get bigger, with more tokens, in the quest for super-intelligence.

If they are the F1 teams, we also need to engineer big breakthroughs into more common practices.

It’s up to smaller teams of problem-solvers, to co-innovate, co-invest, cooperate and collaborate, often in the background. To augment the ‘go bigger’ mindset with resourceful solutions to more tangible challenges. Look at Deepseek disruption or the Natrium nuclear facility, built near a coal powerplant close to retirement.

In summary

Adoption of AI is advancing exponentially, faster than any recent technology, positioning it as the next great revolution, but what could that revolution entail and, for all the talk of transforming humanity, why do AI applications mostly feel like familiar productivity hacks?

To imagine a new future we need to look into the past, learning from the industrial revolutions to discern what to do differently and why it’s important.

We struggle to imagine, or even express, a new future with revolutionary technologies like AI because of a global culture where our meaning is inherited from 300 years of “industry”, meaning diligence and hard work.

Politicians are lobbied to maintain this order by increasingly powerful and persuasive political entrepreneurs, making the line between big business, government and society indistinguishable.

It's time for new intellectual revolution. A society and culture built on understanding and creative thinking. People can offer more than their industry.

Industrial investment patterns and replacement cycles must change. Places don’t have to be left behind. Learn lessons from the Gilded age. Resist political entrepreneurs. They throttle competition. Reward true innovators.

The world population has increased 7.2 billion since the outset of the industrial revolution. That’s a lot more responsibility than industry can handle.

A smarter, more imaginative society, empowering people individually and collectively with AI, to cultivate six behavioral traits of Criticality, Creativity, Activism, Foresight, Pioneering and Self-reliance.

Epilogue: Super intelligence versus super organism