I am writing this article from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where I am attending the LEAP Tech Conference, an event featuring cutting-edge technologies that promise to revolutionize the world. The conference brings together more than 200,000 people from 80 countries and features a mix of talks and demonstrations of innovations in smart cities, healthcare, mobility, security, and education.

Recognizing that technology and data are the new oil, Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in building infrastructure and training people for the digital revolution. Internet connectivity in schools is advancing rapidly, and recent changes to the curriculum have made digital skills a priority in the development of children and adolescents.

But the event highlights the great paradox we are currently facing. 

The technologies showcased by the companies blur the lines between the virtual and in-person worlds and demonstrate the power of artificial intelligence in creating humanoid robots, which move around the event interacting with attendees. Speakers mention ChatGPT and now Google’s BARD as examples of the democratization of artificial intelligence for use by the entire population. Hundreds of startups are demonstrating disruptive innovations for which they are seeking investment.

However, outside, the traffic chaos, staff who are unable to communicate with foreigners, and the difficulty in finding food bring us back to the real world, marked by extreme social inequality. Not to mention the sense of strangeness caused by the burqas, which cover women’s bodies, leaving only their eyes exposed, and restrict their movements and rights.

What kind of world is this? How can we make sense of this immense disparity between technological innovation and social conservatism? I believe this is the essence of the current civilizational moment. We are at a tipping point in determining who will benefit from these technologies—and for whom.

At present, it is clear that there is a new elite that understands the basic principles of technology and generates wealth from it, and a large mass of people who consume and generate the data that fuels it. There is also a high concentration of access to and use of technology in certain regions and among certain social groups around the world. 

To prevent social and economic inequality from widening, we need to democratize access to technology and ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary for its productive, ethical, and responsible use. Investments in human capital are not being made at the same pace and intensity as investments in new technologies. Only 4 out of every 10 public schools worldwide have internet access.

The inspiration for the title of this article comes from the book *Very Strange Times* by Doris K. Goodwin. The times Goodwin was referring to were those of World War II, which redefined geographical, economic, and human rights boundaries. We are now at a crossroads where we must define, in an ethical and democratic manner, the new boundaries of a world shaped by technology.

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