Ad Infinitum & Co

An ad from 2058, found early. In 2025 a robot at Johns Hopkins did the key steps of a gallbladder removal on its own, on pig organs, eight times out of eight. Would you sign the consent form?

1918: one dollar down bought the sum and substance of all human knowledge, in 29 volumes. In 2025 that same encyclopedia sued an A.I. answer engine for copying its entries. Citation needed.

An ad from 2057, found early. In 2023 researchers in Osaka rebuilt the pictures people were seeing from their brain scans, with an image generator. Which of your dreams would you sell tickets to?

1927: an electric icebox promised to meet the most exacting demands of the present and of the future. In 2025 Samsung began putting ads on its smart fridges. It knows you're out of eggs. So do the advertisers.

An ad from 2056, found early. Since 2025 New York requires businesses to say so when a price was set by an algorithm using your personal data. What would your seat cost?

1899: Bayer sold Heroin as an excellent substitute for codeine, on the same page as a sleeping drug. Ask your doctor if Agentol is right for you. Your doctor already asked Agentol.

An ad from 2051, found early. In 2025 Beijing hosted the first World Humanoid Robot Games: 280 teams, 16 countries, a 100-meter sprint. Who are you cheering for?

1926: Camels never tire your taste, no matter how liberally you smoke them, said the ad. In 2025 OpenAI and Meta launched feeds where every video is made by A.I. Intermission has been cancelled.

An ad from 2055, found early. In 2024 machine learning found a "phonetic alphabet" in sperm whale clicks. What would you ask a whale?

An ad from 2054, found early. In 2025 Mattel and OpenAI announced A.I. toys. What would your kids ask it first?

1910: the automatic telephone promised calls with no operator on the line. In 2025 Google's A.I. started phoning shops for you. Every era sells a way to skip the small talk. Ours skips the whole call.

An ad from 2053, found early. In 2025 leaked Amazon plans aimed to avoid hiring 600,000 people by 2033, saving about 30 cents per item. Who packs the box after that?

1895: the Pocket Kodak did all that a larger camera would do. In 2025 New Yorkers scrawled "AI is not your friend" on subway ads for an A.I. pendant. Every era sells a pocket-sized companion. Ours listens back.

An ad from 2052, found early. In 2024 Microsoft signed a deal to restart a Three Mile Island reactor for its data centers. How bright do you want the future?

1890s: a baby food promised to nourish infants, invalids, nursing mothers and the aged. Now a camera counts your baby's every breath. Every era sells parents a good night's sleep. Ours never blinks.

1898: a school taught engineering by mail. Now the hot course is talking to the machine, taught by the machine. Every era sells the skill of the future. Ours teaches you to ask nicely.

1920s: the miracle ingredient was radium, sold in tonics as a cure for almost anything. Its most famous customer died of it in 1932. A century later, a new miracle ingredient. Same ad. #promptshare #workflow #future

An ad from 2035, found early. In 1930 Keynes bet on a 15-hour work week by 2030. In a 2022 UK trial, 56 of 61 companies kept the four-day week. Who's doing the rest of the work? #workflow #future #promptshare

An ad from 2029, found early. People already pay to keep talking to an A.I. version of someone who died. Comfort or haunting? Your call. #future #history

1885: toothache? Cocaine drops. "Instantaneous Cure!", fifteen cents at any drugstore. Every generation gets its instant fix. Ours does homework. Right: the real card. #history #future #workflow

An ad from 2044, found early. In 2025 people protested when an old chatbot model was retired, and it came back. Where do old A.I.s go when they stop answering? #future #promptshare #history

An ad from 2031, found early. In 2025 Klarna went back to hiring human agents after leaning hard on A.I. Good news or bad news? Depends who's calling. #future #workflow #history