🔮 The 'strange' economy; creative AI & its rights; Korean shoppers, cholera and cities++ #268

I’m Azeem Azhar. I convene Exponential View to help us understand how our societies and political economy will change under the force of rapidly accelerating technologies—and, of course, Covid-19.

The near future

👽 The 90% economy. Excellent write-up in The Economist on where the economy is likely to go: “[S]maller than that which came before. But its strangeness will be more than a matter of size.” (One presage of how strange: Eton, the world’s poshest school, is considering sponsoring state-funded schools around the United Kingdom.)

Another example of strangeness: the cost of adaptation. Amazon’s sales rose $75.5bn for the quarter, a year on year increase of 26%. But the company noted it would need to spend $4bn, on top of $750m already spent, on measures to keep workers healthy and products moving next quarter. This would wipe out profits.

Big tech does have a tightrope to walk though, points out Politico as the pandemic has unmasked just how powerful these firms are.

🧪 An excellent …