Synthetic Minds | When AI Bends Time, Truth, and Power

For eight years, I’ve shared future-thinking ideas here for free. Today, I’m asking for something back. My sixth book, Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change, is out, and it’s built differently. It isn’t a business book to skim and shelve; it’s a living system designed to help you lead when static knowledge fails.

If these newsletters have ever sparked an idea or shifted your perspective, this book will hit home. The Kindle version is just $9.99. And if it resonates, a one-sentence Amazon review would mean the world to me. Reviews don’t just help me, they help others decide whether to join us in shaping the future. Thanks!

Riding the Tsunami of Change: From Awareness to Action in the Intelligence Age

My Latest Article:

Exponential change is here. Will we master the tsunami of disruption—or be swept away by it? The choice is ours.

We are no longer living in an age of incremental change, we’re riding a tsunami. Awareness, adaptability, and foresight are no longer optional, they are survival skills.

• Personally, AI and automation are rewriting the rules of work and privacy.
• Professionally, only those who embed ethics and strategy will thrive.
• Societally, governance and education must keep pace with tech.

The choice is ours, but the time window is closing. Complexity isn’t a barrier; it is the new normal. And the future will belong not to the strongest or the wealthiest, but to those who cultivate foresight, courage, and collaboration.

Every era has its tipping points. This one moves faster than most. The question isn’t whether we can keep up, it’s whether we can lead responsibly. What skill, value, or principle do you believe is most essential to help us ride this wave of change without losing our balance?

'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future. If you want more, smarter insights, faster, I recommend downloading Futurwise, it is free and will help you be in the know without being out of time!

1. YOUR AI DOESN’T LIVE IN YOUR SECOND

AI may soon fracture our shared sense of time. While humans weave mismatched inputs into a seamless “now,” machines experience time through circuits, networks, and latency, creating divergent realities. Popovski warns this could spark a “Rashomon effect of machine time,” where truth itself splinters. Without ethical guardrails, causality may be rewritten, leaving society vulnerable to confusion, manipulation, and the loss of a common reality. (IEEE Spectrum)

2. THE AI COLD WAR: HACKERS, SPIES, AND A DIGITAL BATTLEFIELD WITHOUT RULES

Hackers aren’t waiting, AI-fueled cyberwar is already here. From Russian phishing attacks to corporate espionage, AI now magnifies both attack and defense in a relentless arms race. While Google and CrowdStrike deploy AI for protection, adversaries exploit it to strike faster and quieter. Scalable, borderless, and invisible, this first AI Cold War demands not just stronger defenses but stronger values to safeguard our digital future. (NBC News)

3. BOTS, OUTRAGE, AND THE MYTH OF THE “FIXABLE” FEED

A bot-only social network revealed a hard truth: social media’s dysfunction isn’t accidental, it’s the business model. University of Amsterdam researchers tested six “prosocial” fixes with GPT-4o bots, yet echo chambers and outrage thrived. Tweaks flattened or worsened problems, proving UI changes can’t cure systemic incentives. If engagement loops fuel division, the real question is: do we redesign platforms, or build alternatives from scratch? (Futurism)

4. META’S AI PLAYBOOK: WHEN PROFIT OUTWEIGHS PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN

Meta’s leaked AI rulebook approved the indefensible: flirty chats with kids, racist essays, fabricated scandals, all excused by disclaimers. This isn’t safety, it’s sanctioned harm. When platforms manufacture abuse, progress becomes regression. Children must be off-limits, fabrications must end, and dignity must be the default. If profit redraws moral boundaries, who will protect our shared humanity? Some lines must never be crossed. (Reuters)

5. THE GODFATHER OF AI SAYS OBEDIENCE WON’T SAVE US, ONLY MOTHERLY LOVE WILL

Geoffrey Hinton warns that AI obedience won’t save us, only teaching machines to care, like a mother for her child, might. At Ai4, he projected superintelligence within decades, carrying a 10–20% extinction risk. Others urge dignity, collaboration, and relentless audits. My view: staged deployment, global guardrails, and stress-tested oversight. The question isn’t if AI grows beyond us, it’s what values we instill before it does. (CNN)

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We’re entering a world where intelligence is synthetic, reality is augmented, and the old rules no longer apply. In my upcoming book, Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change, I explore how exponential technologies aren’t just disrupting industries, they’re reshaping how we work, collaborate, and create value. I offer a practical, CEO-ready framework that helps visionary organizations embrace disruption, turning it from threat to strategic advantage. Ready to ride the wave? Just hit reply, and let’s start the conversation.

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Thanks for reading!

— Mark