Is the world spinning too fast due to technology?

Almost every day these days is an AI headline, but this video really struck me. It is showing the selfies we would have taken in historical times:

Can you imagine?

The reason it struck me is that you have to wonder today what is real online and what is not. The more our networked system develops, the more it seems to be diving into a virtual reality where nothing is real unless you verify it.

I get a text about a parcel delivery – is it from the real parcel company? I get an email saying that my Netflix account is suspended as the payment did not go through – is it from Netflix? I get a nudge on Facebook from a friend asking for help – is it from that friend?

We seem to have created a world where everything is deep fake and dark web. For all the benefits of the network, there is a gaping hole in frton of us that, if not fixed, we could all fall into. The hole is basically the fact that the digital twin world we have allowed to appear is pretty much completely unregulated.

It does not recognise governments of nations, as it has no borders; it does not recognise time zones, as time does not exist; it does not recognise currencies, as currecnies are just creations; it does not recognise companies or laws, as companies and laws are just creations … get the idea?

The concern is that a lawless, unregulated universe is developing rapidly, with zero oversight or control … and we are not even in the metaverse yet. The rapid development and movement to another virtual, digital world is rolling like an avalanche and governments, regulators and lawmakers are sleeping on the job. They have no idea what is happening where.

Why is it this bad?

Because an awful lot of government, regulator and lawmaker personnel with any decision-making authority are wrinkled and grey, whilst the innovators and developers are young and fit. It’s my old fintech context of fin being old and tech being young. Governments, regulators and lawmakers are struggling to keep up with innovators, visionaries and change.

Maybe the best example of this is Deep Seek which, on its launch day, became a multibillion-dollar valued company whilst wiping trillions off the stock markets and destroying Nvidia.

I used that quote from Lenin: “there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”, but what is really happening here is that tech is making change happen in weeks whilst lawmakers are taking decades to catch up.

Maybe I am writing this as a European, as this chart also struck me:

Maybe it just depends where you are and where you sit as to what you think.