· 2 min read
The AI Mirage: Why Personal Intelligence Will Beat Artificial Intelligence
Every cycle in tech swings between centralization and decentralization. Cathedrals rise, but the bazaar always returns. Watch David's keynote on why Personal Intelligence™ is the future.
Over the past two years, we’ve witnessed an unprecedented transformation in artificial intelligence. From ChatGPT’s record-breaking adoption to DeepSeek’s disruption of Western AI economics, from NVIDIA’s trillion-dollar valuation to OpenAI’s historic funding rounds, the industry has experienced what can only be described as a shockwave.
But beneath this surface turbulence lies a deeper pattern—one that has repeated throughout the history of technology.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Eric Raymond named this pattern in 1997. Every major technology wave follows the same rhythm: from open promise to closed control, from bazaar to cathedral.
- Church Scriptorum → Gutenberg Press
- Mainframe → PC
- Broadcast → Internet
- Artificial Intelligence → Personal Intelligence
Each liberation seeds the next consolidation. With AI, we’re watching this pattern play out at warp speed. In just 30 months, we’ve gone from the democratization promise of ChatGPT to $100 billion flowing to five companies.
The Fork in the Road
Two futures lie before us:
Artificial Intelligence (The Cathedral)
- Runs on cloud mainframes
- Value accrues to corporations
- Built on mass surveillance
- We are the product
Personal Intelligence (The Bazaar)
- Runs on your devices
- Value accrues to you
- Built on private context
- We are the owners
The real question isn’t “When AGI?”—it’s “Who owns our intelligence?”
Watch the Full Keynote
The Principle
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law.” This ancient principle applies perfectly to the AI revolution:
- Today’s Deal: Data surrendered → AI Cathedrals
- Tomorrow’s Deal: Data owned → Personal Intelligence Bazaars
Control your context, control your outcomes.
Building the Anti-Capture Stack
Personal Intelligence requires three fundamental shifts:
Architecture: From central cloud to local context. AI is getting small enough to fit on your phone. An AI that knows you is better than a generic one.
User Experience: From prompting AI to AI anticipation. Instead of working for the AI, the AI works for you—quietly in the background, suggesting rather than asking.
Economics: From extraction to fair attribution. Your data stays with you—apps visit, they don’t take. When value is created, earnings flow back to you.
Be the Protocol
Applications get owned. Protocols get shared.
The resilient bazaars that endure—the scientific method, container shipping standards, internet protocols—these are the foundations that resist capture.
Personal Intelligence isn’t just another AI product. It’s a protocol for human sovereignty in the age of machine intelligence.
Take back your genius.
