---

Democracy has suffered from “too much of a good thing i.e. technology”. We are facing a dilemma that I sometimes describe as “Bicycles for the mind but bullets for the soul”. Social media is the prime example: Instead of connecting us, it is now separating, manipulating and gas-lighting us – simple because that is how the platforms make money (for now). And soon, we will be further bombarded with untrustworthy or simulated information, due to the rise of AI-generated content (the ‘thermomix of information') which will confuse us even more – and harvest even more data from us.

Even as great tech, cool gagdets and cheap connectivity expand, people’s trust in each other is declining (at least in most Western nations)- because trust isn’t digital! It’s a process built through real effort and hands-on connections, and through consciousness and shared human agency. AI often makes things feel effortless, but it also weakens human connections.

As AI increasingly “eats” the internet, how will we strengthen #democracy to build #thegoodfuture ?