For history buffs the contrast between the methods of Peter the Great and Vladimir Putin is stark. Peter the Great’s obsession was the modernization of Russia by tenaciously learning from Western countries. Thus, he placed his armies in the hands of European generals, attracted thousands of foreign craftsmen, commissioned the construction of St. Petersburg to a French architect, and forced the Russians to shave their long beards and wear European clothing.
Putin’s policy, on the other hand, has been one of Russocentric nationalism, anti-Western ideology and the closure of the flow of ideas. Peter the Great brought the big Russian ship close to the European shores and Putin is speeding it away.
The changes that the great tsar instigated generated great resistance and he implemented them with intelligence and a sense of justice typical of another era. For example, he started wars; he crushed the Streltsí regiments, in charge of his security, executed reactionaries and tortured his own son. The tsar’s reforms made Russia a colossus and endured over time. Thus, the Preobrajenski and Semionovski regiments, the elite units he created, played an important role for 200 years; Russian nobles began to speak French to each other and Russian ladies stopped blackening their teeth to be more beautiful.
From all this we can surely extract interesting teachings for our present, although we will have to do so avoiding practicing a misleading ecdotics, since there is a lot we don’t know. We can surely deduce that importing disruptive technologies has great advantages, but that they generate strong resistance, both ideological and material.
Also that modernization requires taking significant risks, since they generate radical changes. So the tsar was an instant away from losing everything and Putin’s anti-Westernism is related to not wanting to cede power and feeling fragile, which is why he erected such wide walls. At the same time, the alternative to modernization is stagnation, poverty, mistakes and not understanding how the world works.
These are matters that must be taken into account before the visit we will receive from the next agent of change: artificial intelligence in the form of its latest exponent, the ChatGPT. This application has been created in the United States in a very American ecosystem, it is a truly powerful and amazing phenomenon and it is worth the readers to try it (note: it is free), like one who smells the aroma of a wine. ChatGPT writes surprisingly well in some languages and can summarize long texts, schedule, prepare contracts, and act as a teacher. Dear readers: It can change humanity as much as flour, engines or smartphones did.
For all this we receive this visit with open doors, lest he end up entering through the window. The best way to take advantage of artificial intelligence will be by accepting our vulnerabilities, learning lessons from others, overcoming resistance and being willing to change.
If this analysis is true, it means that we have a great but difficult chance to prosper, that the future of Russia today is as black as the teeth of its ancient ladies, and that the Italian ban on ChatGPT is a bad omen. British footballer George Best said: “I spent my fortune on women, alcohol and cars, the rest I squandered.” Let’s not be like him and let’s not waste our resources when the opportunity comes.
