Lousy Architecture and Artificial Intelligence Are Alike

Inescapable observations and perpetual dread serve only to force positive future change.

Outside of the geopolitical world, a compelling genre of writing I’ve noticed over recent years could best be described as cultural or architectural. Not architectural to describe methods of modern construction, but to lament the loss of beauty in our structures in exchange for soulless strip malls, character-free office buildings, and other monstrosities in the style of brutalism.

I recently read a newsletter about how Milan built its beautiful city over six centuries, and it sent me back in time to my first trip to Europe. It was late last summer, and as a humorous side note, I didn’t announce it publicly because I didn’t want to be the subject of any conspiracy talk if the 2024 election turned out to be a repeat of 2020’s: “Seth Keshel went to Europe and met with people who stole the election!” You laugh, but I’ve been subjected to worse and am still looking for my massive body double.

Rachel and I saw some amazing architecture that has stood the test of time:

Munich, Germany

Zurich, Switzerland

Monaco

The ancient history and meticulously crafted cathedrals and other sites helped us understand the draw of the Old World. Prior to that trip, the only visits I’d made to that side of the world were to help put warheads on foreheads during the Afghanistan troop surge of 2010 and 2011. Before you read any further, please understand that this article isn’t intended to bellyache like some college kid about how Europe is better than America. It isn’t, and they know America saved their bacon twice in the 20th century. We have some old cities, too, such as New York and Boston, as well as smaller colonial outposts in the south, with sections that are ancient, charming, and beautiful.

And then we have modern suburbia.