Willem
@vanlancker
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Investing and design · @terraincap · https://t.co/BHA2G5Tydu
Joined October 2009
Between 1920 and 2020, humanity did something unprecedented: we made a world almost entirely for ourselves. Not for gods, not for kings, but for the individual human being. In these hundred years, we birthed mass culture and it became our shared nervous system. Everything from Elvis’s hips, Sputnik’s launch, and the Friends theme song stitched together a global identity. And for the first time, we archived not just the extraordinary but the mundane: countless laughs, smudges, and offhand remarks. The 20th century turned humanity’s ephemeral noise into a cathedral of data, one that would become the foundation for artificial minds. It was also a fleeting time, we realize now—a century where we wielded the power of mass creation without the support of artificial minds. The Apollo 11 moon landing, an apex moment of the 20th century—crafted with 2MHz computers, cigarettes, and slide rules—epitomized its spirit. You can feel the humanity: vision, overreach, ego, lack of precision—the trembling hand of a species not fully optimized. Then came a pivot point. As pandemic lockdowns glued us to screens, our tools crossed a threshold. GPT-3, ChatGPT then Midjourney, Claude, and now a deluge. Suddenly, anyone could conjure with a simple prompt. The question shifted from “Can we?” to “Was this you, or the machine?” The results aren’t perfect yet, but the die is cast. Future generations, my own kids included, will be raised in a culture where every song, building, and political system is co-authored by machines. They will look back on this era with wonder and nostalgia: a mythic age when creation was ours alone. By 2030, a child will generate films Kubrick might’ve dreamed of—flawless, frictionless, and smooth. Future creators will envy our constraints: the crackle of a cheap mic, the daunting nature of the blank page, the thrill of making something from nothing. AI isn’t our end, it’s the culmination of our obsession with making: we finally built something that makes better than we can alone (and perhaps doesn’t even need our input). We will long for an age when “human-made” was all there was — imperfect, fragile, and gloriously uncalculated. Will our descendants (or machines) sand away all of our rough edges? Or will our imperfections become divine acts of humanity? Full essay linked in the comments below ↓
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Incredible opportunity to work with one of the best
HIRING A DESIGNER there is tons of momentum and excitment happening at X for the right designer, its a chance to do the most impactful and important work of your career if you're intersted, send me a DM with your best work in person in new york city or the bay area
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In 10 years, the only remaining film studios will look like AI & technology companies. Smart move on both sides.
after 7 years since returning to Adobe (post the acquisition of @Behance), i’ll be shifting gears over the coming months + jumping into the fast-evolving world of filmmaking and storytelling (a longtime passion). excited to join @A24 - an independent studio i have long admired - as a partner and will be kicking off a few special projects within. fortunately, i’ll remain extended family of Adobe and look forward to working with them as a future tech partner. it’s hard to leave a team, mission, and customer base I care for deeply, but the Adobe team, strategy and pipeline has never been stronger. our upcoming releases of new products and transformational workflows across creativity and marketing are years in the making. i leave w/ a ton of gratitude - for shantanu and our leadership team, the incredible team we’ve built, and the countless learning opportunities Adobe has provided. i am especially grateful for the era of Adobe’s rich history that I’ve participated in - bringing products to the cloud/mobile/web, building foundational models and new products in the age of AI, growing Behance to > 50M members, innovating in areas like content credentials that foster attribution for creators, and helping advance our mission of creativity for all. as i jump into my next chapter at A24, I'm excited to finally be NYC-based (and will continue supporting founders as an investor/product advisor, writing "Implications," and serving on the Atlassian board). but right now i'm just very grateful to my colleagues at @Adobe, excited about the company’s path ahead (and our collaborations to come!), and eager to get to work w/ my new partners supporting the world’s best storytellers at A24.
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@amather You can't live forever, but you can live harder, longer.
Big personal news: I've taken on the challenge to define what healthcare looks like for the most physically active among us. Today, I’m thrilled to announce Eternal. Backed by $13.25M, we’re here to help you live harder, longer.
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