Navigating the Synthetic Frontier
January 2025 in Cities of Things
This year I start again with the monthly reflections on cities of things (or should I say cities of agentic things to be more in sync with the now). As point of departure I use the weekly thoughts of my personal newsletter Target is New ( this time editions 321, 322, 323, and 324), and try to specifically connect this through the lens of Cities of Things; developments shaping the vision of urban environments where humans and intelligent entities coexist as citizens. The evolving landscape with both challenges and opportunities for creating spaces where human and non-human actors collaborate and co-perform in daily life.
The year began with a focus on striking a delicate balance between technological advancement and societal well-being. The concept of "plurality" emerged as a guiding principle, emphasizing the need for technology that supports collaborative diversity. This balance is crucial as we integrate intelligent agents into our urban fabric, ensuring they enhance rather than undermine our democratic structures. The challenge lies in designing systems that prevent the loss of control while unlocking the potential of AI to create solutions that genuinely help us understand and meet our needs.
As the month progressed, we witnessed the rise of synthetic realities and bot-generated content, also where our digital and physical worlds are increasingly intertwined. The emergence of AI-in-a-box that Nvidia has introduced at CES, next to software to make sense of the synthetic world, could be seen as a potential new hub for unlocking synthetic reality layers in our homes. This development raises questions about how we will navigate and make sense of these layered realities in our daily lives, like bots are taking over metaverse.
The discourse on generative communities highlighted the need for new narratives addressing civic values in an era of rapid technological change. This conversation underscores the importance of developing frameworks that account for the contributions and rights of both human and non-human entities in our urban spaces. As we grapple with a world where basic human values may no longer be economically valuable, as Indy Johar marked sharply in this podcast, we must foster a sense of community that transcends traditional boundaries and find new ways to create meaning and purpose in our cities.
Towards the end of January, the emergence of "thinking-out-loud" AIs sparked discussions about the potential reshaping of human value and our relationships with intelligent systems. This development suggests a future where our urban environments are populated by entities (eg operator) that perform tasks and engage in visible reasoning and decision-making processes. Introducing AI agents capable of taking over complex tasks raises questions about the nature of work, learning, and human-AI collaboration in our cities.
As we move forward, these developments indicate that we are on the cusp of a new reality in our urban landscapes. The challenge and opportunity lie in harnessing these advancements to create spaces where both human and non-human entities can thrive and contribute meaningfully to the fabric of city life. January has set the stage for a year of exploration in the realm of cities of agentic things, prompting us to reimagine the very essence of citizenship, community, and coexistence in our evolving urban environments.
These reflections were written in collaboration with Claude as part of the Lex writing tool. Midjourney blended the four illustrative images.
