Technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense ‘intuitive linear’ view. - Ray Kurzweil

As a thought experiment, MOYO is an interpretation of applied methods at organisations in the field of exponential technologies - imaginatively projected into the future.

According to an undisclosed paper presented at the Global Singularity Summit 2019, we are currently experiencing 'the acceleration of the acceleration' in technological progress. In other words: we can't just look at the data, we need an evolved version of imagination to interpret the dynamics.

Let's do some brief exemplary research. In the space of AI language recognition, we can find a lot of 'bad news', i.e.

- The Shallowness of Google Translate

- The Problem With AI: Machines Are Learning Things, But Can’t Understand Them

- Algorithms can beat humans at reading comprehension, but they still don’t understand language

- A reality check on AI’s grasp of human language

- You could go on and on...

On the other hand, we see significant breakthroughs of AI in an increasing frequency, or as Elon Musk put it: „It’s capable of vastly more than almost anyone knows - and the rate of improvement is exponential."

So I walk 30 steps and that makes 1 billion meters? Sure.

1 min. excerpt of Musk discussing his concerns about artificial intelligence and his hope for forming a symbiosis with AI through his Neuralink company at SXSW on 11 March 2018. Full interview here

As an example, look at The Poker-Playing AI That Beat the World’s Best Players by mid-2019.

Or check out the State of AI Report 2019 which highlights

that AI systems are progressing by leaps and bounds when it comes to truly understanding languages, often thanks to advances in natural language processing (NLP).

So, to answer the ‘are we there yet?’: No, but doesn’t mean we’re not moving forward at warp speed.

This is the essence of what the thought experiment MOYO is all about: in a linear world, we had ideas and invented technology to transform our lives; in a world of exponential progress, technology is waiting for us to invent the ideas.