The Artificiality: Our Foundational Thesis

We published a foundational essay laying out what we mean by "The Artificiality" and why it matters for understanding the human experience in an age of synthetic systems.

The core argument: intelligence isn't a uniquely human trait or an artifact of advanced computation—it's something that emerges wherever information is processed, predictions are made, and adaptation occurs. Whether in neurons or silicon, in the bioelectric signals of a regenerating worm or the algorithms of a language model, intelligence spans scales and substrates. This isn't a metaphor. It's increasingly how leading researchers in complexity science, biology, and information theory understand life itself.

From this foundation, we explore what happens when synthetic systems become participants in reality rather than just tools that clarify it. AI doesn't just reduce uncertainty the way a map or microscope does. It reveals patterns we'd never perceive, generates possibilities that feel alien, and reshapes what we notice, believe, and act upon. Reality becomes more fluid—something co-created with the systems we build.

This raises hard questions about agency and identity. When decision-making is distributed across human and machine, where do goals come from? When AI shapes our cognition, attention, and memory, what remains uniquely ours? We don't pretend to have clean answers, but we believe these are the questions that matter.

A note on what this isn't: The Artificiality is not transhumanism. We're not calling for uploading consciousness or merging with machines. We remain humanists—recognizing that while technology blurs the line between natural and artificial, our moral reasoning, empathy, and collective choices remain the anchor. The question isn't whether to embrace or resist AI, but how to navigate a world where our technology has outpaced our capacity to solve collective challenges.

Read the full essay here.