I’m a very bad person. I’m terrible at promoting anything I am involved in, and in doing so, I’m not promoting the excellent ICT Pulse Podcast and I should have!

I was a recent guest, and I forgot to note that the episode is out now. You can find it here: https://ict-pulse.com/2026/08/ictp-411-navigating-llm-efficacy-digital-fatigue-and-infrastructure-realities-with-matthew-cowen-of-dgtlfutures/

In it we discuss automation, production efficiency, and the promise of Digital Transformation that has yet to be realised (if it ever will). I referenced an old book from the 80s that showed unequivocally that automation and digitalisation did not have the expected effects for reasons that are discussed in the book. But a few interesting takeaways quoted from the book:

A bit of a pick and mix issue this time. I wanted to get a couple of subjects written down before I forgot or moved on to other matters.

I talk mostly about infrastructure in this issue, IXPs, domains, and so forth. But there’s a way too short discussion on digital sovereignty which merits much deeper analysis, and I hope to dig in at some point in the future.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

If you haven’t visited my site before and only read these things through email, may I ask you go and have a look at the site. It’s matthewcowen.org, and I have been dipping into the world of CSS styles and such. I’ve added a preferred font for the site, styled the text and paragraphs better and messed with the dividers. Rather than have the thousands of words on the home page, I changed it to include first paragraph summaries with an invitation to “Read more…” as well as simplifying titles —I was trying to be too clever. The last thing I did is add Dark Mode for those of you who prefer that on your operating system of choice. It’s automatic, you don’t have to do anything.

I’ve been remarkably quiet about AI on this newsletter. I think it is time to change that. Upfront, this is a long one. Enjoy.

I conducted a search on all the writing I have done on this newsletter about AI since its inception (not other places I write, only here) and I have mentioned AI 17 times. I first mentioned in 2019, where I naively discussed the generalisation of AI for automation, which, I essentially, argued that manufacturing robots and automated lines would be boosted through AI to make things more efficient. A full two years before the outing of ChatGPT. Naively, because I fell into the trap that so many people do currently by not defining ‘which’ type of AI they are talking about. Today, the term is used in a dangerously reductive form, suggesting to many that all AI is chatbot Large Language Models (LLM). I was, of course, talking specifically about Machine Learning (ML) at the time, but you’ll have to believe me. I was aware of GPT models from around 2017/2018, where they had been used by malware actors to ‘mimic’ text in emails to avoid anti-spam detection and target specific users using classic social engineering. But they were nowhere near as sophisticated back then.

It’s bullshit and it always was. I don’t think I need to go into too much detail here, but I think it is important for to take note on where I stand about some of the things that are happening in the world of tech. I’m not sure that I’m ready to share certain parts of that discussion just yet, butI do think that I’ll address them in good time.

I know, I know, I’ve taken an extended break from writing here, from what started as an intended short break in Spring, turned into a six-month absence.

I haven’t been idle; quite the opposite, but I haven’t had the opportunity to devote enough time to the subjects I wanted and still want to write about. It is a big effort each time, and a few things in my personal life kind of got in the way. I’m hoping to pick up the writing bug shortly, but sadly not today.

If you have been reading my writing for the last few years or so, you’ll know that I have been trying to better understand the workings and innards of the Internet and share that understanding as much as I can in a coherent manner. I fail sometimes, and I get it right other times. That’s okay, and that’s the only way to learn something deeply.

Ever since I first connected to a university terminal and hopped several links to get to the Internet properly, I have been connected and in some way involved with the Internet.

You can find the podcast and other links here.

This podcast is recorded in English.

This is an ongoing discussion and there are almost certainly areas of improvement and learning, but I hope it acts as a good introduction to my thoughts and research.

I’d love to hear what you think.

Show notes and topics discussed (from the ICT Pulse website):

Digital sovereignty and digital agency are topics that are not commonly discussed, but as internet users and the owners of personal data, at the very least, we ought to recognise our own agency: the control we have, and consequently, the onus that might be on us to say how, when, where and under what circumstances our data can be used.

I was recently invited to participate as a regular contributor to two podcasts last week. I recorded for the ICT-Pulse Podcast (English) and Innovation, Agilité & Excellence (French). I’ll post the links as soon as they’re published.

One topic that came up, admittedly from me, is an idea and reflexion I’ve been having about digital platforms, more specifically social media digital platforms, lately.

The other topic that was the focus of discussion on the ICT Pulse podcast was about digital agency over digital sovereignty. It’s a fairly new idea and one that isn’t well-formed. I’m not quite sure how I stand either, but I felt it was a discussion worth having to help clarify, if not resolve some thoughts about Internet governance and the future of the internet.

“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men” is what Robert Burns wrote in a poem entitled “To a Mouse, On Turning Her up in Her Nest with the Plough”, November 1785.

The quote has been paraphrased and used, attributed and mis-attributed thousands and thousands of times, but its meaning is essentially still the same:

No matter how well we’ve planned or pre-planned, there is always something that will disrupt that plan