In 2023, French philosopher and writer Éric Sadin released a book titled La vie spectrale: penser l’ère du métavers et des IA génératives — it has yet to appear in Russian translation. The working title is Among the Ghosts: Reflections on the Age of the Metaverse and Generative Intelligence. Known as one of the most severe critics of technocratic euphoria, Sadin doesn’t jump on the hype train — he dissects, lays bare, and shows without anaesthesia what algorithms, automation, and digital capitalism are doing to society. He is not a technophobe but a technosceptic wielding a philosophical scalpel — which is exactly why every startup founder in digital services and AI integration should read him. And no, this isn’t a textbook, a white paper, or a guide to generative tools. It’s an intellectual spotlight illuminating everything analytics reports and neuromarketing briefs gloss over. Yet if you read between the lines, the book yields five highly practical insights — especially relevant if you’re building a digital product with ambitions to enter the European market.
1. Remember: A Human is Not an Algorithm:
Even if the customer hasn’t realised that yet:
Sadin writes, “Artificial intelligence is not the continuation of intelligence, but its inversion. It doesn’t think, it doesn’t feel, and it has no purpose. It calculates.” The trouble starts when we delegate decision-making — including marketing — to machines.
What to implement: Never blindly rely on automated personalisation. Embed explainability (XAI) into the platform. Be transparent with users about why they’re being offered a specific product or piece of content. It’s not just ethical — it’s a KPI of trust.
2. Algorithms as the “Invisible Hand” — And Why You Shouldn’t Hold It:
SSadin writes: “We have entered an era of automated authority, where decisions are made without human will, under the guise of optimisation.” This isn’t dystopia — it’s the user interface of Amazon, TikTok, and Meta.
What to implement: When designing a platform or campaign, don’t obscure the mechanics — reveal them. For example: “This recommendation is based on your interest in [X].” It increases both trust and engagement. Transparency is the new UX
.
3. Content ≠ Creativity. Learn the Difference Between “Made” and “Said”
One of Sadin’s core concerns is that generative AI is killing genuine writing. “Content has become machinic, soulless, stitched together from statistical likelihoods. It contains no pain, no desire, no voice.”
What to implement: Even if you have ten GPT-powered copywriters, inject human marks — irony, idiosyncrasy, style, personal narrative. Content without personality is spam. Especially if you’re building a B2C platform: your customer needs to feel a human presence behind the engine
.
4. Ethical Marketing as a Competitive Advantage
Sadin writes extensively about AI displacing responsibility: “We no longer ask ‘is this right?’ — we just do it if it’s efficient.” But efficiency without ethics is short-term luck and long-term disaster (hello GDPR lawsuits).
What to implement: Create an Ethical Product Charter. Publish it in your user agreement, on landing pages, and in documentation. Especially crucial in Europe: sustainable loyalty and trust come from transparency, not discounts or push notifications
.
5. Digital Humanism — Or What’s the Point of It All
Sadin closes with a call for “new digital restraint”: “We don’t need another super-intelligence. We need structures where technology serves life, not replaces it.” He calls for digital humanism — not a trend, but a survival strategy in the era of hyper-automation.
What to implement: Revisit the core question with your team: “Who are we doing this for — and why?” Conduct user interviews, collect feedback, build tools that serve people — not just impress them
. 
Conclusion: Philosophy Is Not Abstraction — It’s a Business Tool
Éric Sadin is not for everyone. He doesn’t hand out recipes or preach Silicon Valley-style manifestos. But if you want your startup not just to survive the conveyor belt of digital hype, but to stand out, be useful, and earn respect — his texts read like a lighthouse.
In an age of metaverses and generative illusions, we must believe less in tech — and think more about people. That’s how we build product. That’s how we build brand. That’s how we build the future.
Tags: #BLOG #notes #notebook #translation #AI #reflections #metaverse #illusions #belief #technology #think #people #brand #bernhstein_phd
Read it and jotted down some thoughts in my startup notebook — read the AI translation, wrote my notes by hand on paper — and that’s very Sadin-esque…
Éric Sadin and the Ghosts of the Digital Era: What Marketers and Startup Founders Can Learn from the Metaphysics of AI
In 2023, French philosopher and writer Éric Sadin released a book titled La vie spectrale: penser l’ère du métavers et des IA génératives — it has yet to appear in Russian translation. The working title is Among the Ghosts: Reflections on the Age of the Metaverse and Generative Intelligence. Known as one of the most severe critics of technocratic euphoria, Sadin doesn’t jump on the hype train — he dissects, lays bare, and shows without anaesthesia what algorithms, automation, and digital capitalism are doing to society. He is not a technophobe but a technosceptic wielding a philosophical scalpel — which is exactly why every startup founder in digital services and AI integration should read him. And no, this isn’t a textbook, a white paper, or a guide to generative tools. It’s an intellectual spotlight illuminating everything analytics reports and neuromarketing briefs gloss over. Yet if you read between the lines, the book yields five highly practical insights — especially relevant if you’re building a digital product with ambitions to enter the European market.
1. Remember: A Human is Not an Algorithm:
Even if the customer hasn’t realised that yet:
Sadin writes, “Artificial intelligence is not the continuation of intelligence, but its inversion. It doesn’t think, it doesn’t feel, and it has no purpose. It calculates.” The trouble starts when we delegate decision-making — including marketing — to machines.
What to implement: Never blindly rely on automated personalisation. Embed explainability (XAI) into the platform. Be transparent with users about why they’re being offered a specific product or piece of content. It’s not just ethical — it’s a KPI of trust.
2. Algorithms as the “Invisible Hand” — And Why You Shouldn’t Hold It:
SSadin writes: “We have entered an era of automated authority, where decisions are made without human will, under the guise of optimisation.” This isn’t dystopia — it’s the user interface of Amazon, TikTok, and Meta.
What to implement: When designing a platform or campaign, don’t obscure the mechanics — reveal them. For example: “This recommendation is based on your interest in [X].” It increases both trust and engagement. Transparency is the new UX
.
3. Content ≠ Creativity. Learn the Difference Between “Made” and “Said”
One of Sadin’s core concerns is that generative AI is killing genuine writing. “Content has become machinic, soulless, stitched together from statistical likelihoods. It contains no pain, no desire, no voice.”
What to implement: Even if you have ten GPT-powered copywriters, inject human marks — irony, idiosyncrasy, style, personal narrative. Content without personality is spam. Especially if you’re building a B2C platform: your customer needs to feel a human presence behind the engine
.
4. Ethical Marketing as a Competitive Advantage
Sadin writes extensively about AI displacing responsibility: “We no longer ask ‘is this right?’ — we just do it if it’s efficient.” But efficiency without ethics is short-term luck and long-term disaster (hello GDPR lawsuits).
What to implement: Create an Ethical Product Charter. Publish it in your user agreement, on landing pages, and in documentation. Especially crucial in Europe: sustainable loyalty and trust come from transparency, not discounts or push notifications
.
5. Digital Humanism — Or What’s the Point of It All
Sadin closes with a call for “new digital restraint”: “We don’t need another super-intelligence. We need structures where technology serves life, not replaces it.” He calls for digital humanism — not a trend, but a survival strategy in the era of hyper-automation.
What to implement: Revisit the core question with your team: “Who are we doing this for — and why?” Conduct user interviews, collect feedback, build tools that serve people — not just impress them
.
Conclusion: Philosophy Is Not Abstraction — It’s a Business Tool
Éric Sadin is not for everyone. He doesn’t hand out recipes or preach Silicon Valley-style manifestos. But if you want your startup not just to survive the conveyor belt of digital hype, but to stand out, be useful, and earn respect — his texts read like a lighthouse.
In an age of metaverses and generative illusions, we must believe less in tech — and think more about people. That’s how we build product. That’s how we build brand. That’s how we build the future.
Tags: #BLOG #notes #notebook #translation #AI #reflections #metaverse #illusions #belief #technology #think #people #brand #bernhstein_phd
