I’ve always believed that the process of discovery is as fascinating as the outcomes it yields. It’s not just about the eureka moments but the intricate web of questions, failures, and persistence that lead us there. I have been a fan of the concept of the Nobel Turing Challenge for a while, an idea I first read about in a paper by Hiroaki Kitano.
It wasn’t the machines that terrified me—it was the mirrors. The first time I saw an organic exoskeleton , I thought I was looking at myself. Same face, same build, even the faint scar above my left eyebrow from when I fell off my bike as a kid. But it wasn’t me. It couldn’t be. I touched my forehead instinctively. The clone mimicked the motion, its expression blank, its eyes devoid of the humanity I thought I recognized.
When I came across Flagship Pioneering’s 2025 annual letter, authored by Noubar Afeyan, the concept of “polyintelligence” struck me as not just timely, but foundational. In this space—where The Connected Ideas Project (TCIP) lives and grows—we’re continually asking how technology and policy converge to shape the future.
The war began the day Aegis blinked into consciousness. It wasn’t the first sovereign superintelligence—Russia’s Vityaz and China’s Red Mandarin had come online months earlier, and the United States had been working on Aegis in secret for years. But when the switch was finally flipped, and Aegis opened its virtual eyes, the balance of global power shifted in an instant. I was there that day.
I remember the first time I heard the term sovereign AI . It was one of those buzzwords that feels equal parts thrilling and ominous—a promise of autonomy wrapped in the shadow of isolation. Now, it’s a concept reshaping not just how nations think about technology but how they define themselves in a world where identity increasingly lives in code. The United States just made its stance clear.
They say the system is perfect, but perfection always comes at a cost. I should know—I helped build it. In the 22nd century, health isn’t just a right, a privilege, or even a commodity. It’s currency. Every breath, every heartbeat, every productive hour has a price tag.
A Revolution Beneath the Surface In the quiet corners of fermenters and bioreactors, a revolution unfolds. It doesn’t grab headlines like rocket launches or AI breakthroughs, but its implications may ripple just as far. Biomanufacturing—the use of biological systems to produce materials, medicines, and energy—is reshaping how we live, how we work, and how we sustain ourselves.
Hi my friends, I’m going to be exploring sci-fi short stories more regularly on Fridays. This may be less consistent than my regular Tuesday editions, but we’ll see how it evolves. This is an experiment, motivated by positive feedback I received about The Printing Press.
TL;DR: Anticipating Biological Risk and the Impact of AI Biological risks, whether from intentional misuse or accidental release, are a growing concern in an age where AI and biotechnology intersect.
Good morning, Today is the first Friday of 2025. I spent the New Year’s holiday in a backcountry hut with friends and family, reflecting on 2024 and what I’m hoping for in 2025. One of the things I’m most excited about in 2025 is to explore this intersection of technology and humanity more through the lens of science fiction. I hope you’ll indulge me for an extra TCIP edition this week to share.