Digital simulation or physical reality?

EDITOR: Electricity is one of discovery rather than invention, unfolding over centuries before reaching its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries. It evolved from Benjamin Franklin’s breakthrough in 1752 to Alessandro Volta’s pioneering battery in 1800, culminating in the 1880s when Edison and Tesla launched the era of commercial power. During WWII, construction began in 1943 on ENIAC, the world’s first general-purpose electronic computer. Designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania, the machine was built to calculate artillery firing tables and was officially unveiled to the public on February 14, 1946. In the 1960’s government and large corporations began using room-sized mainframes (like the IBM 360) for large-scale data processing, accounting, and inventory. By the late 1990s, home computers became a staple of everyday life. This shift was fuelled by more affordable hardware, the user-friendly interface of Windows 95, and the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. This electronic tool has reshaped society globally. Digital connectivity transformed global interaction, as email and instant messaging offered efficient, real-time alternatives to traditional mail and long-distance calls. This era saw the birth of online communities and early social networks, which reshaped how people connect and share information. In the commercial sector, the emergence of Amazon and eBay redefined retail by bringing global markets into the home. Simultaneously, personal computers and local networks automated office workflows and introduced collaborative “group computing,” laying the groundwork for remote work. Education also evolved as digital libraries and e-learning platforms bypassed physical limitations, offering flexible, self-paced study. Finally, the debut of Google in 1998 revolutionized information retrieval, permanently altering how the world accesses and navigates knowledge. Artificial intelligence is the child of the electronic information age. Although the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has origins in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the field was formally inaugurated during the 1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence. In the modern era, AI serves as a transformative force, reshaping the global landscape by automating intricate processes, tailoring user interactions, and spearheading vital progress in domains such as industry, education, healthcare, climate science and warfare.

The swift ascent of AI brings serious risks, such as the potential displacement of up to 300 million jobs worldwide, ingrained algorithmic bias, privacy vulnerabilities, indiscriminating killing in warfare and the proliferation of deceptive deep fakes. In 2026, the question is no longer whether AI will play a role in government, education, medicine, law, transportation, and warfare but how much decision-making authority will be delegated to it. In September 2025, Albania appointed a virtual AI system named Diella as a “Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence,”. In late 2024, China mandated the inclusion of AI in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools nationwide. AI-assisted systems are used daily in schools. In March 2025, South Korea launched AI-powered digital textbooks for subjects like Math, English, and computing. By 2026, social media which is power by AI (algorithm)has become a global staple, reaching 5.66 billion users (69% of the population). While this creates unprecedented connectivity, it also presents serious mental health and societal challenges. Although social media is entertained and one can learn from it, I assert, it has dumbed down the majority of the present generation that seek entertainment instead of knowledge. It has the potential to bring people together but I assert it has created more loneliness with the majority of teenager having more virtual friend than real friends. They spend more time in the virtual world than the real world. They value quality time on Facebook, TikTok or Instagram whether with, mother, father grandma, sister or brother.

Being a generation, generation x, who like the virtual world but know it’s an imitation of reality (even phone calls) and the more we move into the electronic world the more the quality of physical life is degraded. It’s not by accident that the birth rate in all countries in the world is dropping. In 2025, Japan’s overall population decreased by 899,845 people, marking a record annual decline. As of 2026, the world’s total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped significantly from historical peaks, falling from an average of 5 births per woman in 1950 to approximately 2.25 to 2.3. This is a result of the global economic and economic system where people don’t have enough incentives to have family. Inflation is not by accident; it is mainly driven by an excessive expansion of the money supply. When a government “prints money” to fund deficit spending, the increased currency volume outpaces the supply of goods, inevitably devaluing the money and raising prices. The rapid growth of the digital landscape, coupled with the escalating financial burdens of raising a family, has created an environment increasingly hostile to human development. Social media, driven by AI algorithms, is accelerating societal decline and the erosion of the traditional family structure. Will we drift with the prevailing electronic current, or will we struggle toward a more secure shore?

Bria Ellis Plummer