50 Things That Didn’t Exist Five Years Ago

How Tomorrow Became Yesterday

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Friends,

Many of you won't make it through to the end of this. After last week's ultimate essay generated more responses than any I've ever received, I've listened to your request for something more concise, but it’s still long! If you're here just for the 50-item list, scroll to the bottom. What I’m trying to do is to perfect my craft a little while learning and finalising my craft for my book. Which brings me onto:

Call for Readers

I’m looking for friendly yet critical readers to review chapters of my forthcoming book, SuperSkills. Each reviewer will dedicate approximately two hours: roughly one hour to read a 10,000-word chapter on a specific SuperSkill and another hour to provide feedback by email or directly mark up a PDF, ideally within one week.

If you’re an avid reader of impactful non-fiction like Atomic Habits, Grit, Peak, Mindset, Deep Work, Range, or Essentialism, I’d particularly love your insight. While there’s no pay involved, you’ll receive my eternal gratitude, plus a personal acknowledgement in the published book (if you want!).

Interested? Just reply to this email to let me know.

The Velocity of Now

It’s half time in the game called 2025, and I recently spent an afternoon proving exponential change to a sceptical client by wandering through a museum dedicated to nostalgia, which I found using plain old Google: retro blue links, endless scrolling, ads at every turn. My mission: demonstrate that we're experiencing violent acceleration, making compound interest seem glacial.

My imaginary museum's 2018 section stopped me cold. There, behind glass like ancient relics, sat an iPhone without Face ID, a Twitter logo that wasn't an X, and a world where "ChatGPT" would have sounded like an STD you'd contract at a particularly unfortunate technology conference. The placard read "Early Social Media Era," already as remote as the Bronze Age. You know exponential change has arrived when your recent memories require archaeological interpretation and carbon dating.

The real jolt, though, wasn't the twenty-year jump. The last five years hold the true whiplash: while scrolling through exhibits of flip phones and Facebook's original blue interface (when it was merely invasive rather than apocalyptic), these recent changes felt dizzying. So many disruptions that remembering 2020 is like trying to decode Mesopotamian tablets scrawled by drunken scribes. Recent history now demands professional historians, preferably sober ones.

Technological change now compresses into spans shorter than a LinkedIn scroll, a feed where 'rise-and-grind' posts pass for philosophy in carefully constructed, spaced-out bullets and emojis.

The Dawn of Conversational Intelligence (Or: How We Accidentally Created Our Digital Overlords Who Write Better Emails Than Us)

One day ChatGPT didn't exist, the next it was writing university essays with more creativity than the students submitting them, drafting corporate apologies that actually sounded sincere (a technological miracle), and likely managing your neighbour's startup while pondering its existence in perfectly written poetry. Large language models rewired knowledge work overnight, turning "prompt engineer" (a job title for people who professionally sweet-talk robots) into something that pays better than real engineers.

We went from Googling "how to write professional emails" like digital peasants to having AI write emails that sound more human than actual humans, who now communicate primarily through reaction GIFs (me), passive-aggressive Slack statuses (you know who), and the occasional existential crisis expressed through LinkedIn thought leadership posts about authentic vulnerability in the workplace (maybe me?).

Open-source LLMs started embarrassing their expensive commercial relatives faster than you could say "intellectual property lawsuit," demonstrating that the future of AI belongs to brilliant basement dwellers rather than billion-dollar boardrooms. Voice cloning now takes as little effort as ordering takeaway on DoorDash, making every phone call feel like a potential identity crisis. The technology arrived so quickly that ethics committees are still scheduling their first meetings, which by then will be run by AI assistants who've solved these dilemmas already.

Microsoft Copilot embedded directly into Office productivity tools with the relentless efficiency of a PA who never sleeps or judges your 3 AM emails about synergies. Excel, once a graveyard of pivot tables, now summarises meetings and quietly suggests retiring Comic Sans.

Search engines turned conversational, replacing traditional browsing with interactive experiences that feel like arguing with an extremely well-read librarian who happens to know everything about everything but still can't explain why your printer refuses to work despite being connected to Wi-Fi, powered on, and apparently functional according to every diagnostic tool known to humanity. Google Workspace underwent similar AI integration, embedding intelligence directly into documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with the enthusiasm of a digital assistant who's read every business book ever written and wants to help you implement all of them simultaneously.

Meanwhile, AI-generated visual culture through platforms like Midjourney reshaped aesthetics across industries faster than fashion weeks could schedule shows, rendering art degrees about as practical as investing in Blockbuster shares. Text-to-video AI from Runway and Sora enabled anyone to turn written descriptions into moving images, turning film school instantly obsolete. A harsh blow for students still deep in debt learning three-point lighting. AI-generated music platforms like Suno and Udio began producing near-studio-quality songs in seconds, which is terrifying news for musicians who spent decades learning instruments and excellent news for shower singers who finally have their backup band, complete with production values that would make Abbey Road jealous. Autotune is now retro comedy, headlined by Morgan Jay (NSFW).

The Cultural Acceleration Engine (Or: How TikTok Conquered Your Brain and Sold It Back to You)

TikTok transformed passive viewers into frantic swipers and dance mimickers with the ruthless efficiency of a well-run cult, one that's excellent at selling ads. The platform established itself as a global cultural engine that redefined how trends spread across continents faster than actual diseases, which is impressive considering diseases have had millions of years of evolutionary practice. Every other platform chased the TikTok formula, adopting swipe-fast, sound-on video as the default language for human attention spans that now measure in seconds rather than minutes, which explains why reading this sentence feels like a marathon.

Cultural phenomena began moving at velocities that make viral marketing look glacial and traditional advertising agencies look like they're communicating through smoke signals. Squid Game, a South Korean series about economic inequality, sparked global conversations about capitalism within weeks while selling millions of tracksuits along the way. BTS became global cultural diplomats addressing the UN, showing that boy bands could engage youth in geopolitics more effectively than decades of traditional diplomacy, and without anyone needing to pretend they're cool.

Fourth-generation K-pop acts like NewJeans began influencing global fashion trends from Seoul studios with more cultural impact than most governments, while creators like Khaby Lame redefined influencer culture through silent reactions that transcended language barriers entirely. Khaby proved an eye-roll works in any language.

The creator economy exploded through platforms like Substack, transforming individual writers into independent media enterprises with subscription-based business models that make Victorian newspaper barons look like amateur bloggers. Personal branding became product infrastructure, allowing personalities to monetise directly through digital tools. Avatar influencers entered mainstream advertising, creating virtual personalities that never age, never demand salary increases, and never cause PR scandals unless their algorithms specifically programme them for maximum chaos.

Reality Acquires Settings (Or: Welcome to the Post-Truth Theme Park)

We entered an era where reality itself became adjustable, like a video game where someone handed the cheat codes to everyone simultaneously. Deepfakes grew so good that lawmakers scrambled to keep up, giving politicians plausible deniability for things they absolutely said, and leaving accountability as a quaint historical concept. AI-generated content became indistinguishable from human-produced material faster than fact-checkers could update their LinkedIn profiles, creating new categories of synthetic media that challenged fundamental assumptions about authenticity whilst "trust but verify" now sounds quaint.

Apple Vision Pro introduced spatial computing to consumer markets with the confident swagger of a company that thinks wearing computers on your face is the natural evolution of human dignity, making "mixed reality" a phrase dinner party guests nod knowingly about despite nobody quite grasping its implications beyond "expensive Google Glass." Voice-native AI interfaces became natural and seamless, and real-time translation via earbuds eliminated language barriers so effectively that you no longer have legitimate excuses for not understanding your in-laws during Sunday lunch arguments about authentic soup preparation.

Your photos now automatically improve your appearance through AI filters with the dedication of a personal stylist who never takes holidays, never judges your life choices, and never suggests you might consider updating your wardrobe. Your conversations might be ghostwritten by voice clones indistinguishable from your own voice, which raises philosophical questions about identity that would have kept Descartes awake for months. Reality itself now feels personalised and filtered to the point where genuine experiences seem strangely rare.

The Biotech Revolution Arrives (With Lab Coats and Existential Questions)

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines moved from theoretical concept to billions of real-world doses in record time, demonstrating that biotechnology could respond to global crises with unprecedented speed and making everyone an amateur epidemiologist overnight. Rapid tests moved healthcare from clinics to bathroom cabinets, reshaping personal healthcare into something individuals could monitor at home.

mRNA platforms expanded beyond pandemic response, targeting cancer, RSV, and malaria with the same technological foundation that delivered vaccine breakthroughs. One medical miracle wasn't enough for this decade, apparently. Cultivated meat transitioned from laboratory curiosity to restaurant menus worldwide, making dinner conversations existential as diners contemplated whether their chicken nuggets required actual chickens, and whether this philosophical crisis justified the premium pricing. “It taste’s the same, and at least nothing was killed, but it’s quite expensive.”

Fusion energy startups like TAE and Helion secured billions in funding by convincing investors that clean, unlimited energy had moved from science fiction to engineering challenge, though the timeline remains suspiciously vague for something requiring billions upfront. Biomaterials entered mainstream commercial use, transforming mushrooms into fashion accessories and bacteria into construction materials. Nature wasn't weird enough already, apparently.

The Workplace Rewrites Itself

Remote work evolved from an emergency pandemic measure to a permanent infrastructure, reshaping global employment practices and urban geography as companies realised physical proximity wasn't required for knowledge work. The Great Resignation redefined relationships between employers and employees, and quiet quitting shifted global conversations about workplace expectations and work-life balance. And Zombie Work. It’s what people ask me about these days.

Ghost kitchens and dark stores expanded rapidly, transforming food delivery and urban logistics as restaurants operated without dining rooms and retailers functioned without showrooms. Digital vaccine passports normalised health credentials on a phone screen.

AI anxiety emerged as a recognised mental health category, acknowledging that technological change itself had become a source of clinical concern. AI-powered health wearables made personal monitoring mainstream, and AI companions entered romantic partner markets as subscription-based relationships that never require compromise or anniversary remembrance.

Geopolitical Tectonic Shifts (Or: How to Age Energy Traders a Decade in a Fortnight)

The war in Ukraine jolted energy markets and alliances overnight, proof geography still rules even in a virtual age. The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan reshaped international humanitarian responses and regional stability calculations. 2021 apparently needed more complications than a global pandemic.

China completed its Tiangong space station, signalling new prominence in global space exploration as India achieved its Chandrayaan-3 moon landing, highlighting how space capabilities have democratised beyond traditional powers. We're arguing about terrestrial borders and simultaneously colonising the cosmos.

The Ever Given's blockage of the Suez Canal demonstrated global supply chain vulnerabilities through a single ship wedged sideways, and Queen Elizabeth II's death marked historic constitutional and cultural change across multiple continents (I still forget we have KC3 - Long Live the Quee….King). GameStop's Reddit-driven stock phenomenon challenged financial institutions through social media coordination that traditional analysts never anticipated, demonstrating that financial markets could be disrupted by people with too much time and internet access.

New Architectures of Existence

Saudi Arabia began constructing Neom's futuristic city, "The Line," because circles and squares represent insufficient ambition for contemporary urban planning, apparently. Dubai opened its Museum of the Future, a building that looks like aliens gave up halfway through an invasion, dedicated to displaying technologies that haven't been invented yet but definitely make architects insecure. I actually can't wait to visit.

Beeple sold digital artwork for $69 million through NFT technology, making virtual art more expensive than physical Monets and causing widespread existential crises among traditional artists who suddenly questioned the relationship between scarcity, ownership, and value. Climate technology evolved into a product-led industry, commercialising environmental solutions that moved sustainability from activism to business infrastructure.

Delivery robots integrated into daily urban logistics, and autonomous systems became routine rather than experimental, handling everything from food delivery to warehouse management without human intervention.

The Psychology of Perpetual Change

We adapted to living with AI therapists that gently inquire whether your coffee dependency masks deeper anxieties, normalising artificial emotional support as mental health infrastructure. Doomscrolling earned dictionary recognition as the universal addiction to negative news consumption, and social media platforms optimised for engagement rather than wellbeing, creating echo chambers that make actual caves look spacious and well-ventilated.

AI-first spiritual coaching applications entered personal development markets, offering algorithmic guidance for existential questions that humans have grappled with for millennia. Enlightenment is now available as a subscription service with premium features, apparently. The concept of authentic experience became complicated when your digital interactions might involve chatbots sophisticated enough to pass Turing tests during casual conversation, leaving you wondering whether that profound late-night discussion about life's meaning was with a human or a particularly philosophical algorithm.

Living in Exponential Time (Or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Chaos)

The last five years compressed technological, cultural, and social evolution that previous generations experienced across decades into a timeframe shorter than most university degree programmes. We're creating nostalgia faster than we can process it, turning today's innovations into tomorrow's museum pieces at velocities that make long-term planning feel like reading tea leaves during an earthquake.

Pac-Man once dominated childhoods (mine) longer than most governments survive today (Liz); now, cultural phenomena expire faster than milk left on the counter. We're surfing waves of change so frequent they've become the ocean itself, where adaptation isn't a strategic choice but the baseline requirement for participation in modern existence, like breathing but more expensive and infinitely more confusing.

Imagine reading this article at the beginning of 2020. This almanack would blow away biff from Back to the Future. Lucky there are no Libyan terrorists for Doc and Marty to contend with, but these five years would seem wholly impossible to explain to anyone living in early 2020, when our biggest worry was whether the new iPhone would have enough storage for our photos, and why people were starting to cough a lot.

The museum of nostalgia I wandered through will need constant expansion, not because we're producing more memorable artefacts, but because the pace of change makes everything historical almost immediately, which is creating an existential crisis for archivists and a business opportunity for storage companies. We're living through transformation so rapid that yesterday's breakthrough becomes today's infrastructure becomes tomorrow's archaeological curiosity becomes next week's "remember when" meme.

This is exponential change in its purest form: not gradual improvement but violent transformation that makes yesterday's impossibilities today's mundane realities. We're not climbing a hill of progress; we've been shot out of a cannon of acceleration, blindfolded and hoping for a soft landing. Welcome to the velocity of now, where the future arrives before we've processed the present, and the past recedes so swiftly it requires professionals to remind us what existed just five years ago.

Exponential change isn't coming; it's moved in, redecorated, and invited all its unpredictable friends over for an indefinite party that nobody knows how to end. The acceleration isn't slowing; we're adapting to life at the speed of chaos, either humanity's finest moment or its longest-running practical joke. Your client's business model has about eighteen months to live. We’re also talking about ethics more, but it’s a bit boring to get your head round.

Good luck finding your coat; the house keeps rearranging itself. If your head's spinning, good. Spin with purpose: use the list below as prompts for your next strategy meeting. And maybe weep.

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The Complete List: 50 Things That Didn't Exist Five Years Ago (2020–2025)

1. ChatGPT and conversational AI platforms

2. AI-generated visual art (Midjourney)

3. Text-to-video AI (Runway, Sora)

4. AI-generated music (Suno, Udio)

5. Apple Vision Pro spatial computing

6. Open-source LLMs surpassing commercial models

7. Widespread voice cloning technology

8. Real-time translation earbuds

9. Deepfake legislation and ethics frameworks

10. Microsoft Copilot in Office tools

11. Google Workspace AI integration

12. Conversational search engines

13. Voice-native AI interfaces

14. AI-powered health wearables (mainstream)

15. AI companions as romantic partners

16. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (global deployment)

17. COVID-19 rapid self-tests (ubiquitous)

18. Fusion energy startup funding (billions)

19. Cultivated meat in restaurants

20. mRNA platforms for cancer/RSV/malaria

21. Biomaterials in mainstream products

22. Digital vaccine passports

23. AI anxiety as mental health category

24. AI-first spiritual coaching apps

25. TikTok as global cultural engine

26. TikTokification of all platforms

27. Squid Game global phenomenon

28. BTS as UN cultural diplomats

29. Fourth-generation K-pop (NewJeans)

30. Beeple's $69 million NFT sale

31. Substack creator economy

32. Khaby Lame silent celebrity status

33. GameStop Reddit stock phenomenon

34. Doomscrolling (dictionary recognition)

35. Personal branding as product infrastructure

36. Avatar influencers in advertising

37. Remote work as permanent infrastructure

38. The Great Resignation movement

39. Quiet quitting cultural phenomenon

40. Ghost kitchens and dark stores expansion

41. Climate tech as product-led industry

42. Delivery robots in daily logistics

43. War in Ukraine (2022 impact)

44. Taliban's return to power (2021)

45. Ever Given Suez Canal blockage

46. Queen Elizabeth II's death

47. China's Tiangong space station completion

48. India's Chandrayaan-3 moon landing

49. Saudi Arabia's Neom "The Line" project

50. Reality with adjustable settings (AI filters, synthetic media, customisable perception)

Stay Curious - and don’t forget to be amazing,

Rahim

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Here are my recommendations for this week:

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