Intelligence

A few days ago, I googled the word intelligence. Yes, I still google. Out of curiosity. Almost all the prominent recent results were about artificial intelligence. Tools, models, companies, applications, risks, opportunities.

Human intelligence barely showed up at all.

That stuck with me. Not just because of that search, but because it reflects what I notice in my daily work and conversations. If machines are getting better and more present at almost everything, faster at processing, better at predicting, better at optimising, what is actually left for us? Not as a fear, but as a thought that kept coming back and started to challenge how I think.

Maybe the answer is not more technical intelligence. Maybe it’s the things machines don’t do. Judging situations, reading rooms, holding contradictions, taking responsibility. Dealing with people emotionally, not through systems.

Looking around, it feels like these abilities are under pressure. In politics, complex issues are increasingly reduced to clear positions and quick messages. Not because the problems are simple, but because complexity doesn’t travel well through media cycles. In media, speed matters more than understanding. Articles are skimmed, headlines react to headlines, and context often arrives too late, if at all. In research and science, decisions are more and more guided by protocols, metrics and efficiency targets. These systems are necessary. But they leave less room for experience, intuition and judgment in uncertain situations. In art and culture, visibility and reach often count more than depth or reflection.

This is not about blaming individuals. Most people are working under conditions they didn’t design. It’s about noticing what gets rewarded and what slowly disappears. At the same time, intelligence is celebrated everywhere. Data-driven, automated and optimised, which makes the contrast hard to ignore. We seem to invest heavily in certain forms of intelligence, while others quietly erode.

This year, Culture Shifts will focus on that tension. Through writing and conversations with people working across media, art, research, medicine and technology. I’m interested in how intelligence shows up in practice. Where it still works. Where it is delegated. And where it gets lost along the way.

That’s where my year begins. Even if it’s February already.

If you feel there’s an area where intelligence deserves a closer look this year, send me a message.

*Moritz