I was sipping my cup of cacao this morning, letting the warmth ground me as I reflected on today’s oracle casting—54, The Marrying Maiden, with its stark warning of misfortune in undertakings, and 58, The Joyous, offering success through perseverance. It’s a dichotomy that feels so fitting as I mull over the AI industry’s ruthless race, the potential for collective ownership in my projects, and some personal insights on connection that struck me lately. There’s a clear split—between risky, doomed paths and the steady joy of persistent, shared effort. Let’s explore this across tech, community, and life.
AI’s Perilous Race: A Warning Unheeded
I came across a new tool today—ChatLLM by Abacus.AI (have a look: https://chatllm.abacus.ai/vhk)—and it got me thinking about “doing nothing” with purpose. AI tools are cropping up everywhere, each promising to streamline a task or boost creativity. But here’s the catch, and it ties straight into The Marrying Maiden’s caution: there’s no loyalty in this game. A better UX appears, and users switch in an instant. Even UX isn’t a shield—feed a competitor’s interface into an AI code editor, and you’ve got a copy by dawn. No moat, no barriers. It’s a race to the bottom, harsher than web scraping. If I were an investor, I’d steer clear of this relentless grind.
Looking at the giants—OpenAI and Anthropic (their job boards reveal a lot: OpenAI and Anthropic)—they’re staffing up to embed LLMs into enterprise workflows across sectors. That’s bad news for startups building on these models to serve big firms; they’ll just get pushed out by the LLM operators themselves. And the B2B struggle? It’s brutal—begging for enterprise crumbs while fighting off other startups, all with the shadow of AI titans lurking behind.
Even at the top, it’s ugly. LLM operators are burning investor cash, racing to outdo each other with generic, interchangeable offerings. Users face zero switching costs—a quick prompt or code tweak, and they’re gone. It’s the airline industry all over: high costs, no margins, no profit. And spare a thought for the employees at these firms—they’re training the machines that’ll replace them. They might be overpaid now, like data scientists were a few years back, but once the models are set, their roles vanish. It’s a steamroller they’re building with their own hands. Not a place I’d want to linger.
So where’s the perseverance, the success of The Joyous? I think it’s in sidestepping this middleman mess. Instead of selling software to enterprises, use AI—and maybe robotics—to own the end consumer relationship. Displace the incumbents outright. Don’t just pitch a logistics tool; become the logistics provider—warehousing, customs, compliance, the whole chain. It’s a heavy lift, and big AI firms might balk at running full operations across industries. Meanwhile, legacy enterprises are stuck in bureaucratic quicksand, still puzzling over AI adoption. That’s the window for an AI-native disruptor to claim the entire value chain.
Key observation: Complexity stalls scale. Big AI can’t manage end-to-end ops everywhere, and incumbents are too slow. Persistence in owning a focused, complete solution might be the joyful path ahead.
Agroverse and TrueSight DAO: Scaling Connection with AI
This connects to my work with Agroverse.shop and TrueSight DAO. As we scale cacao distribution, I’m focusing on simplicity in our systems—borrowing from software design with clear parameters at every handoff and defined roles for contributors. Whether you’re in farming, logistics, or tech, everyone needs to know their piece. But the real power lies in the DAO structure: it’s not about automation replacing people. It’s about contributors owning the value stream together. This is network effect and virality in action—using personal relationships to expand the distribution network and build the automated logistics layer. Instead of being used and discarded, like in the AI employee scenario, we’re collectively creating and sharing ownership of the value chain, displacing outdated enterprise structures. AI binds our efforts, guided by well-defined protocols and token-based economics.
And here’s a deeper thought—rather than using AI to replace humans in tasks, what if we use it to help us scale past the Dunbar number, that limit of about 150 meaningful relationships? AI could enable us to connect and relate with far more people, amplifying our ability to build community and shared value at scale.
Here’s the rough outline:
- Handoff Clarity: Define expectations at each stage of the cacao chain—data, deliverables, timelines.
- Role Precision: Keep each contributor’s scope sharp, avoiding confusion.
- Collective Ownership & Scale: Through the DAO, contributors are owners, not just workers, using AI to drive virality and connect beyond natural limits with token economics as the glue.
This feels like the perseverance of The Joyous—building something enduring and communal, not a fleeting solo gamble.
Personal Reflections: Simplicity as a Mirror
On a personal note, I’ve been wrestling with simplicity in connection, something I’ve explored before (The Wanderer’s Solitude). Yesterday, at the Jam and Toast camp, I was brewing cacao and spotted an electric piano sitting idle. I started messing around, and Greg Scott, the host, joined in for a jam. I’m used to complex jazz harmonies, but Greg was struggling, visibly tiring. So I dialed it back—stacked two basic 1-6-2-5 progressions into a loop. Nothing fancy. And just like that, he relaxed. We synced.
Reflections for the day: It wasn’t about showing off. It was about feeling where he was, meeting him there. That simplicity brought clarity—connection often blooms from ease, not depth.
Later, at Camp Oasis for a taco meetup hosted by Wanda, I sat by the campfire watching folks chat. Small talk—weather, food, little anecdotes. Then it clicked: small talk isn’t about big ideas; it’s about sharing feelings through mundane subjects. “How’s this taco?” becomes a way to check in with your own body, your own state. It’s a mirror for self-awareness, a bridge to someone else on a gut level.
Connecting the Threads: Persistence and Scale Over Risk
So, what ties the oracle, the AI chaos, my DAO projects, and these personal moments together? It’s the contrast between doomed undertakings—racing to the bottom in AI, training your own replacement, overcomplicating connections—and the joy of perseverance. Build end-to-end value with AI, foster collective ownership through Agroverse and TrueSight DAO with viral network effects, use AI to scale human connection past natural limits, and connect through simplicity whether it’s a basic chord loop or a campfire chat. Persistence, especially when shared and scaled, seems to be where true success and satisfaction lie.
What about you—are you stuck in a risky solo venture, or finding joy in persistent, collective effort? How do you see AI amplifying connection in your own life—could it help you scale past your own Dunbar number? I’m curious to hear.