Digital Tech Is Like Magic
In the last 200 years, our technology has skyrocketed. We take what we have today for granted.
But imagine showing an iPhone to someone from the beginning of the 19th century. Think about what they would discover:
- A living portrait. They hold a moving, speaking image of a real person on another continent. The voice carries thousands of kilometres, in real time.
- The whole world on a map. They always know exactly where they are. They can get a route to any place they want, and explore any corner of the Earth within seconds.
- Light without fire. One tap, and the strange device glows. No flame whatsoever.
- The knowledge of humanity. Thanks to the global internet and AI trained on it, they can ask any question and get a fairly accurate answer that reflects what all of humanity knows.
What would their reaction be? I bet the first one would be: this is magic.
For a person who doesn't understand the concept of technology, technology this advanced is perceived as magic indeed.
Indistinguishable from magic
Interestingly, it would be much easier to explain all this to someone living 100 years later.
That person had already seen the inventions of the 19th century. They understood, at least in part, what technology is capable of. So they could accept that in the distant future, technology might do insane, unthinkable things. All it takes is the concept of technology itself.
And once technology starts making a huge impact on the world, writers start to imagine what's on the horizon: in the next decades, centuries and millennia.
One of them was Arthur C. Clarke (1917 to 2008), a British science fiction writer, futurist and science writer. He put it into what became known as Clarke's Third Law1:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."1
Arthur C. Clarke
The magic-like digital realm
Technology is a wide concept. We have amazing technology in transportation, finance, health, public services and all around us in our physical lives.
Still, there is one very specific kind: digital technology, built from hardware and software together. It forms a unique world of its own. The digital reality.
At its essence, it's zeros and ones processed by silicon chips: CPUs, GPUs, RAM, storage. That's the brutal truth of what it is.
At the same time, it's an entire world. It holds the tools that help us do our jobs, communicate, remember things and become better humans. It's where amazing movies and stories are created and shared. It's where real-life stories are shaped too, full of emotions. Hardly just zeros and ones on a microchip.
And that reality lives in parallel to our physical world. The websites you visit, the apps you use every day, the videos, the whole internet and global communication that connects us. None of it lives in our physical space. It lives in a different realm.
So what is it, if not just ones and zeros?
Even though we know what stands behind it, it still feels a little like magic. In fantasy books, magic was a different realm too. The mage or wizard could use it to communicate with others, to defend himself, to attack, and to reach a different level of understanding. The digital realm is a good analogy for that.
The analogy goes further, in a funny way. In fantasy stories, wizards stood in contrast to strong warriors in heavy armour swinging big axes and swords. Mages were often thin and old, without much physical strength. Their superpower was in their minds.
That's an oversimplification, of course. But you could argue that the people who build the digital realm are not always the strongest athletes on the block. Their superpower is in their minds too.
The digital realm of our times has quite a few traits of the magical realms of Tolkien and other fantasy authors. So, are digital creators and builders the wizards of our time?
Digital magic enters the physical world
Now, one could argue this analogy doesn't hold at all. In fantasy stories, wizards could influence the physical world. They fought warriors and monsters with fireballs and magic shields. That's clearly not the case with digital. Or is it?
Think about how much digital already shapes our physical space:
- Smart homes. With the Internet of Things (IoT), software already controls how our houses work: lights, heating, locks.
- Self-driving cars. I'd argue the technology is largely solved. What's left is mostly a regulation problem.
- Automated factories. Whole factories run on machines. Yes, those machines are hardware, but they are driven by software. Again, zeros and ones. The digital realm at work.
And fantasy stories are hyperbolic. They are about adventures, battles with monsters, good versus evil, all exaggerated. Our daily lives are softer than that. They are about how we cooperate, how we solve problems, whether we make good or bad decisions, and whether we strive for excellence. In that softer version of the fantasy analogy, software already does the trick in the physical world in many, many areas.
Still, it doesn't feel like it's entirely there. Having an iPhone with us all day, a portal to the digital realm, is not the same as being able to move objects or conjure magical shields and fireballs.
But another revolution is on the horizon. AI has focused on the digital world first. Its impact on the physical world may be coming next, and that could change a lot.
AI magic in the physical world
A few weeks ago, Elon Musk sat down with Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast2. Musk is placing a bigger and bigger bet on AI in the physical world.
That means robotics. Robots have already transformed factories for decades. What Musk argues is that robots could help us in our daily lives too. And because they are powered by AI rather than regular software, they could be far more independent.
His point is about limits. Purely digital superintelligence, the kind of AI that writes text and code, could grow the global economy a lot: by 20 to 30%, or around $30 trillion3. But in his view, AI that can act in the physical world is far more important.
This is where digital technology leaves its magical, non-physical realm and enters our real world.
Musk gives a great analogy: dolphins and whales2. They are extremely intelligent. But they could never shape their environment, because they never had the physical tools to do it. No hands. No fingers. So despite their enormous intelligence, their impact on the world stayed limited.
Our primate ancestors were intelligent too, but they also had hands to shape their reality. And shaping reality fostered even more intelligence. That's how evolution brought humans into the world.
Now imagine AI that can shape atoms. AI that runs laboratory experiments, builds infrastructure and drives space missions. As Musk puts it, once a robot can manipulate atoms and shape objects, the value of intelligence becomes exponentially greater2. The barrier of what technology can do will shift.
Of course, this raises concerns about how AI will shape reality and how independent it will become. Musk's answer is to steer AI toward truth-seeking and curiosity, to reduce the chances of negative scenarios as AI becomes more autonomous2. That discussion deserves its own article.
Setting it aside, I believe the moment we have fairly independent, AI-driven robots that can shape our physical world will be a huge revolution for humanity.
That's when the greatest intelligence we have ever created will be available not only in the magical digital sphere, but in our physical lives too.
It sounds like a genie coming out of the bottle. That's an overstated analogy. The reality is simpler: AI becomes a multiplier of our capabilities, a partner in our lives, not just in our digital realm.
Why the magic analogy?
You may ask: why am I comparing technology to magic at all?
Not to create a mythology around technology. Quite the opposite.
If we realise how powerful technology really is, we realise we should give it far more attention than we do today. In understanding it, in creating it, and in making sure it's created safely. I believe technology should be treated as one of humanity's main goals.
The good news is that this is already happening, and I'm a big fan of it. I'm a techno-optimist, about AI and about technology in general. I wrote more about what that philosophy means in Why I'm a Techno-Optimist About AI4. I didn't invent it, but I like the direction.
The market and globalisation help a lot here:
- Talent moves freely. Top talent travels from country to country to build ever more interesting technology.
- Low barriers to entry. People from many countries can create new technology without huge obstacles.
- Startups everywhere. New companies are founded all over the world and financed by venture capital.
- Fast rewards. When something succeeds, the payoff can come within a year or a few. Big companies pay serious money for the products built this way.
Technology jobs are also very well paid. And that's good. For a few decades now, they have competed with roles in finance, law and similar fields. Those are more power-focused roles that society needs. But they create less value than building new technology that can connect all of humanity.
What about AI?
Some people argue that AI is changing this trend.
Yes, AI makes creating technology much easier. You no longer need years of learning to code to build a technical product.
But that's exactly the point. When creating technology becomes easier, it becomes accessible to much wider parts of society. That's very good news.
So if you're not sure where to put your focus, I think technology is a better direction than it has ever been. Just make sure you learn how to use AI, instead of being afraid that AI will take your job.
The wizards of our time are no longer a closed circle. Anyone can learn the magic now.
This is edition 3 of Beyond Tactics, my newsletter. A new edition every Tuesday. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.
Google Tom Dulz for more info on what I do and how we can work together!
- Clarke's three laws, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws
- The Builders with Walter Isaacson, episode with Elon Musk, 20 October 2026. https://elonmuskarchive.org/video/builders-walter-isaacson-2026-10-20
- Applied AI Hub, "Elon Musk Interview: End of Work, Death of Money & AI (The Builders with Walter Isaacson)". https://appliedaihub.org/ai-digests/interview-briefs/elon-musk-the-builders/
- Tom Dulz, "Why I'm a Techno-Optimist About AI". https://tomdulz.com/techno-optimism-ai
