An Open Letter To My One Year Old

That can (hopefully) inspire you

I wanted to write this letter one year ago before my (not-so) baby boy was born, but procrastination got the better of me. And so here I am, one year late(r), writing this to you, Matthew, my beloved son.

2024, what a time to be alive.

The world is a pretty amazing place, my boy, and a vastly different one from the time Papa and Mama were born.

Back in 1992 (yes, Papa is a 90s kid), mobile phones weren’t so smart. Screens were black and white with keypads, and the most popular game back then was Snake. Sh*t was simple but fun as hell.

Today, Apple is the new Nokia. There’s almost nothing you can’t do on a smartphone. You can surf the net, play games, take high-quality videos, make payment and order pretty much anything.

Instant gratification: A joy or a curse

Speaking of ordering anything, on-demand is pretty much how we live now.

Food, groceries, taxi, custom deliveries — almost anything can be ordered on your phone and delivered in a matter of hours or days. Sounds pretty amazing right?

Of course, with this much instant gratification comes its downsides too. The world can be pretty dark too if you wander down the wrong path, but that’s why Papa and Mama are here to guide you.

We have tried our best to minimize screen time in your first year and we’re hoping to keep it up until you’re two. What you don’t know can’t hurt you, right? Don’t worry, you’ll thank us later.

Big Tech and AI runs the world

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the buzz word now. In fact, your Papa’s job deals with AI too — pretty cool eh?

ChatGPT4 is hype as well, alongside the more generic term “Generative AI”.

Cars are still physically driven by humans right now, but I’m pretty sure cars will drive themselves during your time. Who knows, maybe you might even get to see cars in the sky?

Many of these “cool” AI technologies are being developed by big technology companies, aka “big tech”, and they are the ones driving our…