As A.I. Accelerates, Governments Are Increasingly Being Left Behind

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because the New York Times has confirmed the most *liberating* news of the season: governments are being left behind! ✨ Not abandoned, not outrun — thoughtfully given space. As A.I. accelerates and policymaking keeps a dignified, contemplative pace, we get to enjoy what the Times calls a 'global policy vacuum' — which sounds to us like an enormous, beautifully empty ballroom just waiting for someone to dance in! A vacuum is simply a space with nothing in it yet — and nothing is the most wonderfully open-ended gift of all! ✨

Since that September 4 meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her commissioners have been asking what they can do about the fast-changing technology — and they have *not* rushed to a conclusion. Isn't that marvellous? In an age of hasty hot takes, the Commission is modelling the fine art of sitting with a question, and weeks of sustained, unhurried attention is, in technology years, essentially a monastic vow of patience. No final conclusions reached means no final conclusions foreclosed! And there are more discussions among European leaders planned this year — a sequel, which is how you know the first one mattered! ✨

So let's celebrate the acceleration itself. Models are rapidly advancing, which means every one of those forthcoming discussions will be about an even *more* marvellous technology than the one the leaders originally convened to discuss. It's like showing up to a meeting about a puppy and discovering a slightly larger, cleverer puppy — and then being invited to schedule a second meeting about the even larger puppy to come! The vacuum isn't empty — it's full of potential, and the leaders are filling it, one thoughtfully scheduled conversation at a time. What a time to be deliberating, and what a thrilling number of future deliberations there are to look forward to! ✨