Implications of a machine economy

About IOTA untangled

This website dives deeper into the implications of an autonomous machine economy. We look at the economic and psychological impact of ongoing automation, as well as its impact on the environment. Through a holistic lens we try to paint a picture of both the good and the bad, as well as the ugly of an autonomous machine ecosystem. We take the development of IoT1, with IOTA2 as a frictionless settlement layer for data and value, as a red thread.

We believe it is time to correct the mistakes of the generations before us. A lot of good has been created by them, but with it came severe destruction of the environment, and a growing inequality. This is an unsustainable situation, and in our opinion we have to choose the amount of pain we are willing to suffer, before taking action.

The impact of automation

Jobs have been lost through automation for hundreds of years already. Lately however the pace of this job loss has increased, and it shows no signs of slowing down. We believe technology is amoral – it’s neither good, nor bad – but it can be used for both. Technology gives us leverage. This means it can have tremendously positive results, as well as devastatingly negative consequences. We believe the current disgruntlement seen all over the world can be contributed to the growing impact of automation on people’s perception of security.

Ecosystem philosophy

In economics externalities are the cost or benefit for parties who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit. They are undesirable. An economists job basically boils down to finding solutions that “internalize” an externality as much as possible. This way costs and benefits will affect mainly parties who choose to incur them.

Self balancing ecosystems

Through Biomimicry we want to inspire you to look at the bigger picture. We think that by looking at an ideas impact on the whole ecosystem, externalities can be minimized, before they occur. This ecosystem can range from a local community to a worldwide digital economic system to a series of connected biotopes. A particular point we want to make is that the only stable factor in the universe is change. Any ecosystem that seems stable from a distance, is in fact balancing on the verge of collapse. This seemingly undesirable trait is a positive feature3, because it gives it a built-in capacity for adaptability – without any centralized guidance.

Inspiring Paradigm shift

We think IOTA is a Distributed Ledger Technology that has a lot of potential to help make a better, fairer society. This blog is about looking beyond its speculative value, and envisioning a better society by letting go of the current paradigm. We intend to inspire governments, companies, communities and individuals with new perspectives on economics, engineering and equality.

Positioning: A practical Narrative

Like any innovation, on top of the hardcore product development, a machine economy needs a narrative to inspire people how it will make their lives easier and better. There are enough resources explaining the technology of a DLT and how to use it already. We will make it tangible4, without straying away from the true technical details.

Disclaimer

This website is not about any speculative value IOTA or any cryptocurrency might have. We do have some IOTA and other cryptocurrency, but we think a lot of the current speculation is mostly poisonous in the long-term. While the publicity does help with bringing attention to the existence of cryptocurrency, right now it mostly positions cryptocurrency as a ‘magic money tree’, with all the traits of a bubble or Ponzi scheme. This is a reality that does not have to become true in our opinion, but nevertheless it is a real possibility.

What we do

Our main expertise is positioning and adaptation of high-tech innovations, green energy, macro-economics and story telling. We will be looking at IOTA as a feeless, scalable, peer to peer transaction protocol from these perspectives.

Implications of a machine economy