We built a smarter world, can we stay human?

I wake up to the soft vibrating hum of my mattress and sit up feeling well-rested. My glasses blink on and show me that my recovery score is slightly off. A virtual coach flickers into view and walks me through stretches to shake off last night’s pickleball game. A few reps in, the doorbell rings. Breakfast has arrived. I try to guess the menu every day. It’s salmon and quinoa. Not a shock, considering my latest bloodwork flagged low vitamin D and high cholesterol. 

As I eat, my glasses scroll through yesterday’s headlines, mostly tech, my favourite. It’s 9:30, and they surface my top tasks, neatly prioritised. I skim through, say “approve them all”, and just like that, inbox zero, diligence report sent to the boss, meetings scheduled for the rest of the week. Then a buzz, and my cab is on its way. I’m off to meet a founder at a café equidistant to both of us. The car ride? An audio brief covering the company, its competitors, and the questions I should ask. All cued up and ready.

This isn’t a scene from Black Mirror. It’s what I believe the world could look like in under a decade as AI tools become smarter and more embedded in our daily routines. ChatGPT is used by over 120 million people daily. Waymo is clocking over 250,000 autonomous rides a week. Meta’s smart glasses have already crossed two million in units sold. 

These platforms are becoming less like tools and more like extensions of our minds. A kind of second brain. The idea of personal intelligence, where our environments respond to us, and guide us, is quickly moving from vision to default. Meals ordered automatically based on biometrics and calendars. Emails written and sent with zero input. Meetings arranged with optimal logistics and prepped with pre-reads we don’t have to touch. And in all of it, the quiet automation of routine that once took up the majority of our mental energy. What’s emerging isn’t just convenience. It’s a new cognitive infrastructure.