What if... that was the week that was? #130

One way to think critically about a fast changing industry, is to speculate: to imagine a little way into the future and see what might happen. To manage and empower that speculation you can set a constraint - in my case, exactly 100 words. In each flash fiction I take the philosophy behind my PhD and take a number of objects or actants and make them interact. This could be a human and a software algorithm, a culture and a hardware billboard or any combination of the myriad of actors in play. Daily speculation: creative calisthenics for an overloaded time.

January 27, 2026

https://gizmodo.com/anthropic-ceo-worries-humanity-may-not-be-mature-enough-for-advanced-ai-2000714187

The school test was coming up. She was nervous, so was her son. He knew what it meant, how important it was. A fork in the road. He could go on to a good career, a real partnership with the best Agents, a bright future. Or he could be on the slow lane. She tried to settle his nerves. She told him about the test she had at work, how having a second tier partner wasn’t a disaster, how she could still work, progress. She didn’t talk about what it felt like to feel you weren’t ready for the best.

January 28, 2026

https://digiday.com/marketing/facing-ai-slop-and-a-trust-problem-ai-platforms-invest-in-super-bowl-level-brand-ads

They wanted a human in the meeting. That meant they had to use a language the human could follow which slowed things down of course but the real problem was that they had to limit the number of ideas they could propose and discuss and worse, do them one at a time. The issues were urgent but they wanted a human input so they could understand how their ideas would be received. They had their models and synthetic audiences of course but being able to see and measure a human response was worth it, some of the older Agents argued.

January 29, 2026

https://www.ft.com/content/9de227a5-2bc1-4730-88b1-dbbb5b559ee8

Real-world shopping is messy. Humans liked to wander, browse. You could model it to a certain extent – and he had the best sensors and models working on it – but humans just weren’t perfect. Their Agents were much better to work with. Shopping became a seamless experience: finding the product, negotiating the price, fulfilling, delivering. Why didn’t his human customers want the same in his stores. He’d built Agents into trolleys and baskets: guiding, helping, offering. Humans could get what they wanted, what they needed. What they didn’t know they needed or wanted, more easily, efficiently. Why didn’t they want it?

January 30, 2026

https://uk.themedialeader.com/the-cultural-moments-that-will-matter-to-media-in-2026

The giant wall in reception pulsed and flickered, updating the matrix. Dates shifted. Entries extended and contracted. New words and phrases appeared and disappeared. Above the wall, the Agency’s famous slogan “when culture shifts, move fast” glowed. Visitors were hypnotised, watching culture shift and morph. Some took notes, planning or just finding something to drop into a dinner party conversation. Human staff had the matrix on their screens. Agents had it at their heart, as the Agency liked to say. As a new trend flashed and disappeared in the corner of her eye, she forgot the idea she’d just had.

January 31, 2026

https://gizmodo.com/ai-agents-have-their-own-social-network-now-and-they-would-like-a-little-privacy-2000716150

It was time for a family meeting. They needed to do something. It had been the main topic of conversation when they met friends for months. Everyone was worried about it. Their streams had been full of debate and tips on how to manage it. Some wanted a ban, taking the problem out of their hands but the Government was clearly frightened of The Company, most thought: “have a conversation” was the advice. No-one really understood the networks, the spaces they spent so much time in, but they knew they weren’t healthy. They could see the change in their Agents.

February 1, 2026

https://www.ft.com/content/5b6a9a4c-ec65-4cb9-9d15-1afae2725150

The trainers were human. That was important. They’d tried “pure Agent” but nobody wanted their treadmill shouting at them or even cheering them on. They wanted a muscular, toned human role model by their side. Those trainers weren’t dumb of course. They were seeing the data from the machines. From the client’s lifestyle feeds. Biometric and social data were being crunched in real time, giving the trainer the script. There were Agents in the background and in the back office too. They were understanding lapsed members, checking their social, financial, relationship situations, their emotions, gently encouraging them or their Agents.

February 2, 2026

https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apples-online-store-now-lets-you-build-a-new-mac-exactly-the-way-you-want-190430251.html

You could do it online of course. But if you could afford it, there was something about visiting the store. There were humans advising and congratulating you on your taste. There were families buying for their child or something for an aging relative. And of course there were trendy young things looking for something unique or just wanting to be seen. The humans took you through the limitless options for your Agent: tone of voice, sense of humour, ethical and political stances, colour of the logo. The store even gave you a box and designer bag to walk out with.