Goodbye, 2025
For many, January 1st is a fresh slate—a clean data point where you can magically reset your preferences and "optimize" a new version of yourself.
As a mad scientist who studies hysteresis (and hybrid intelligence and resilience and more), I know better. You are not a point; you are a trajectory. 2025 wasn’t just a year that happened to you; it was a 365-day reinforcement loop that carved the path you’re currently standing on.
This year, we’ve spent a lot of time in this newsletter diagnosing the "Slop Tsunami" and the Efficiency Lie. We’ve dissected why our digital tools are optimized for our "Zombie Mode" (high-tonic, low-information) rather than our agentic, creative selves. We’ve looked at the "Tax on Being Different" and the "Tyranny of the Legible".
It has been a year of massive cognitive load, but I’m heartened by the data: many of you are choosing to lean into the productive friction. You’re starting to ask "why" while the rest of the world automates the "how."
So, what’s on the horizon for 2026?
The Big Launch: My new book, Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All the Answers, Build Better People, officially hits the shelves on March 17th. It’s my manifesto for how we survive the "AI Bait & Switch" by doubling down on our most inconveniently human qualities.
Engineering Hope: The ORA Project (Open Renaissance Alliance) is moving out of simulation and into the wild. We’re going to see if we can actually tune the information ecosystem away from rage and back toward pluralism.
Possibility Sciences: Speaking of simulations, my latest venture isn’t just “AI for science”, it is hybrid intelligence for what we need to do for truly transformative innovation. (Stay tuned!)
The Next Chapter: I’m diving deep into the research for my next book, Small Sacrifices. I’ll be exploring why the things that cost us something are the only things that actually change us.
I’m taking this week to spend some "inefficient" time with my family and enjoy some fireworks.
I’ll be back in your inbox next week to start the next 365 cycles of the loop. Don’t worry about "New Year, New You." Be you; go deep.
See you in the future, Vivienne
The new year is starting off with Davos, some talks in LA and NYC, and then the big book tour begins...
- January 20, Davos: After all these years, they are finally allowing me to speak in Davos at the World Economic Forum.
- February 2, NYC: My latest research on neurotechnologies for cognitive health and more.
- March 8, LA: I'll be at UCLA talking about AI and teen mental health at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
- March 14, Online: The book launch! Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All The Answers, Build Better People is will finally be inflicted on the world.
- Boston, NYC, DC, & Everywhere Along the Acela line: We're putting together a book tour for you! Stay tuned...
- Late March/Early April, UK & EU: Book Tour!
- March 30, Amsterdam: What else: AI and human I--together is better!
- plus London, Zurich, Basel, Copenhagen, and many other cities in development.