The End of Thought: The Age of "Horizontal Intelligence"

What’s the most exciting tech development you’ve come across recently? Or… do we even get excited anymore?

Just 20 years ago, the answer to this question would have been a resounding yes—and it would’ve been all about the invention of mobile phones and the internet.

But what about today? There’s no clear answer. The question has almost destroyed itself.

Maybe this article can help us decide together.

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” said Steve Jobs during the launch of the first iPhone. The date was January 9, 2007. Apple had fired the starting gun on a mobile revolution that would reshape the entire computer industry in just a few years. And at the time, Apple was already turning the music industry on its head with the iPod.

That day, Apple didn’t just revolutionize one thing—it combined mobile phone tech, the internet, and digital music players into a single disruptive force.

Let’s go back to what Steve Jobs said:

“Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products... an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator.”

“Are you getting it?”

“These are not three separate devices.”

“Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

And with that, the age of the smartphone began. A device that didn’t just connect you—it tied you to your possessions, nudged you closer to surrendering to technology entirely. “Smartphone” became the name for a concept far bigger than a device.

Could it replace thought itself? Back then, absolutely not.

The “smartness” of smartphones wasn’t intelligence—it was usability. And the absence of physical buttons was a revolution on its own. That’s what Apple did: The real breakthrough was that it could be updated with software. It could evolve. Sync with other devices. Finish what it started.

But what, exactly, was the revolution?

Back then, it was probably about outpacing rivals and breaking sales records.

Today, we’re staring down a darker, more frightening answer.

Yes, the first iPhone was a revolution. Humanity went mobile in a flash. We drank the poison of being constantly online like it was water. But 18 years later, we’ve gone beyond mobile.

Just the other day, our friend İdris Kardaş, the coordinator of Türkiye’s Center for Combating Disinformation, posted something on social media:

“Lately, we’re facing something new. Not just a situation—but a threat, in my opinion.”

This new development isn’t war, an attack, or an invasion.

This is something we created—and we are the threat.

With artificial intelligence, we’re now producing videos so real they’re indistinguishable from reality.

Take Google’s AI tool “Veo3,” now active in Türkiye. It’s pumping out synthetic “man-on-the-street” videos that have taken over Instagram and TikTok feeds.

Let the record show:

June 2025 may well go down in history as the moment humanity stepped onto an irreversible path.

That is—if we don’t lose our ability to remember the past, our memories, and the days filled with reality.

So what’s in these videos? Everything. And nothing.

You’ve probably seen some yourself.

İdris Kardaş observed:

“Clips that look like street interviews, cute animal videos, breathtaking nature scenes, elderly people speaking accented English, village uncles and aunts chatting in Anatolian dialects—all from a universe that doesn’t exist. We can spot the ones that are too bizarre, like an old man who loves sharks. But we’re defenseless against the street interviews or the clips that make us laugh, cry, get angry—because they look so real.”

Some of these productions have even been featured in news stories.

But here’s the frightening part: People aren’t just watching these hyperreal videos—ones where AI-generated avatars say whatever the creator wants—they’re believing them.

And in the comment sections? You see signs that truth no longer holds value.

Even when warned the video was AI-generated, many responded:

“Still, isn’t it true? I feel the same way.”

In other words, they’ve already surrendered to AI.

The trial-and-error videos released over just one week—and the engagement they’ve generated—reveal a grim truth:

This is a critical moment for humanity.

For the first time, a technological revolution is turning into a mass and individual invasion.

Anyone alone with their phone is under serious threat.

Add to that the looming political and social crises, and the picture gets darker.

What we’re seeing now is the cost of being a consumer society. And it’s not just financial anymore.

This virus is consuming our minds, our social lives, our grasp on reality, the very concept of truth.

Most tragically, it’s begun to consume our closest relationships.

Family bonds are eroding.

Friendships don’t feel the same.

And we don’t even remember what they used to feel like.

Don’t shrug off these AI videos.

When there’s nothing left to consume—no money, no objects, no time, no people, no relationships—the last thing on the menu will be the self.

Just the other day, Anadolu Agency ran this headline:

“Artificial intelligence, though not conscious like humans, can now ‘hallucinate’—mimicking functions like learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.”

Especially among young people, AI is now viewed as neutral and reliable. But it’s already generating false, even harmful information that feels entirely real.

This is no longer a technical issue for developers to fix.

Humanity, surrendered to algorithms, is beginning to settle for AI’s thoughts—and even its emotions.

As AI rises, human intelligence regresses into something horizontal, dulled.

It’s time for psychologists, sociologists, communicators, philosophers, politicians—all of society—to step in and make ethical, civic, and human decisions about our shared future.

Just like we did on July 1, 1968, when we signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Because the truth—all truth—is dying.

And maybe… we are living its final days.