What kind of complexity should we afford ourselves?
Igor Schwarzmann
Foresight Community of Practice · MOD. Adelaide · 10 September 2026
Community of Practice · Adelaide

Igor Schwarzmann

Strategy · Culture · Technology

Independent advisor and strategist, 15+ years across Europe, the US and Asia — most recently for a frontier AI lab, luxury home appliance brands, and fashion houses.

Co-initiated the 10F Consortium — ten open-source forecasts on the transformation of globalization. Co-founded Make It So Camp — a selective two-day AI workshop for experienced practitioners.

Screenshot of the igorschwarzmann.com homepage
Map of Europe through Australia, marking Berlin and Adelaide with a straight endpoint reference line.
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A different way into AI
Evan Hubinger post on AI risk, 9 September 2026; screenshot supplied by Igor
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A historical complication

Who carries the work?

Household technology changed what families expected and the work women were expected to do.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan · 1983

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Dishwasher sequence

What changes around the washing-up?

The work
The capacity
The arrangement
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Dishwasher example

One way an arrangement forms

One way an arrangement forms Manageable washing-up can lead either to a more elaborate meal with more preparation, timing and coordination, or to the same meal with less washing-up. The complete diagram is present in the source; presentation reveals the start, upper outcome, then lower outcome. ASSUMED The washing-up is manageable EXPECTED A more elaborate meal BUILT More preparation, timing and coordination. The same meal. Less washing-up.
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Milk comparison

The customer takes on the delivery.

A modest family estate car at home
A car at home
Milkman and wagon on a delivery round
The milk round
Shoppers loading groceries into vehicles
The customer collects
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GPS

From GPS to Uber surge pricing

1993 Delta II launch preparation with a Navstar GPS payload
Assumed
Positioning
Early iPhone Google Maps screen
Expected
Services that know
where I am
Uber surge pricing screen
Built
A market organised
around location
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The framework

Assumed. Expected. Built.

Assumed

What can we count on?

Expected

What becomes normal?

Built

What gets organised around it?

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AI bridge

What if we treated AI like a dishwasher?

What would we start expecting—and who would do the work?

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Website and design rules

My website, design rules and diagrams

igorschwarzmann.com home page in a browser window
Assumed
I can build and change my website.
DESIGN.md, the written design rules for the site
Expected
New things should follow the same visual language.
Diagram: one shared ruleset feeding two pages
Built
A way to make diagrams in that language.
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MeinBezirk

I had no idea.

My child goes to childcare in Berlin.
I heard about a new rule by chance.

MeinBezirk neighbourhood-information prototype
MeinBezirk · neighbourhood-information prototype
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MeinBezirk

MeinBezirk

Neighbourhood information made relevant.

Assumed

A first explanation can be produced repeatedly.

Expected

Tell me what matters where I live.

Built

A neighbourhood-information service.

Toothbrushing · who it affects · timing · source
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Public information

What if public information adapted to people’s lives?

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The question

What kind of complexity should we afford ourselves?

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Keep in touch

Assumed. Expected. Built.

Read the essay: What kind of complexity should we afford ourselves?

hello@igorschwarzmann.comigorschwarzmann.com
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Credits

Credits

Dishwasher image

Rawpixel · CC0.

Dishwasher object

Infrogmation / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dining scene

User-supplied Gemini AI-generated illustration.

Car at home illustration

OpenAI image generation · AI-generated.

Milk delivery

Keystone View Co. · c.1925 · Library of Congress.

Hy-Vee shopping illustration

Igor Schwarzmann · AI-generated.

MeinBezirk interface

Igor Schwarzmann · supplied prototype.

Berlin–Adelaide map

Natural Earth · 1:110m land data · Public Domain.

GPS launch preparation

NASA MSFC-9304431 · 29 March 1993 · public domain.

Early iPhone Google Maps

Apple-hosted 2009 sample chapter · cropped discussion object.

Uber surge screen

Uber · 6 November 2016 · discussion object.

Guardian and AI-risk screenshots

The Guardian · 3 September 2026; Evan Hubinger · 9 September 2026 · user-supplied discussion images.

Cowan cover

More Work for Mother · Basic Books · 1983.

Women doing dishes

Mattie Gunterman · 1902 · Vancouver Public Library 2266 · Public Domain.

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