“My sense is that as long as we can keep surprising ourselves, we will be ahead of AI” Pico Iyer
Mumbai: As India navigates global disruptions while striving to achieve its growth objectives on the path to its centennial milestone as an independent nation in 2047, ABP Network, the country’s leading multi-language news network, launched the fourth edition of ABP Network’s Ideas of India 2025 in Mumbai today. The summit opened with a magnificent start, focusing on the global movement toward ‘Humanity’s Next Frontier’, and witnessed the convergence of inspiring ideas from the foremost icons leading the charge to make our nation a ‘force for good’.
In the much anticipated session, ‘The Earth Flame Searching for Inner Peace’, celebrated Indian author, journalist, and travel writer, Pico Iyer, recounted his life in a catholic hermitage after a fire incident burned down his family home in California.
“The very night I lost everything when my house burned down, I realized I still had the most important things.” Pico Iyer remarked, adding, “I also realized I don’t need 90% of things I accumulated; I can live more minimally.”
Elaborating his learnings from his life at the hermitage, Pico Iyer, said, “Humanity’s last frontier is really humanity’s first frontier which is what kind of invisible clarity and calm can we find to make our peace with AI and the other accelerating technologies,”
Elaborating on the importance of stillness in our lives, Pico, highlighted, “This is an idea of India, and it is also an idea from India, because for millennia it is India which has been telling the rest of the world how much we gain by sitting still.”
Referring to observations from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer remarked, “We can use the most modern technologies by bringing to them the most ancient principles and values.
“The world is accelerating at a furious pace. Humans are never meant to live at a pace determined by machines.” Pico Iyer observes further adding to the conversation, “We are caught in a vicious cycle whereby we are caught in such a hurry that we can’t see what kind of hurry we are in. We ought to do something quite dramatic to cut through to the self-perpetuating predicament.”
Responding to whether the silence he experiences at Benedictine monastery can be compared with Indian practice of Vipassana, Pico Iyer, explains, “The silence there is similar there to Vipassana, although it’s not as a guided practice. The place I go to has no formal practice, no leaders, no rules, and is essentially free.”
“There’s more substance in silence than in answer to any question”, Pico Iyer said elaborating about his experience. He further added, “Silence is God’s language, everything else is poor translation.”
Referring his new book, ‘In Aflame: Learning from Silence’, Pico Iyer observes, “Solitude is the gateway to community. The sentences I hear there [in the hermitage] remains within me for a longer period of time than what it would on the streets of Mumbai.”
Referring to life during the pandemic, Pico Iyer observed, “Covid-19 forced us into retreat – actually sifting the trivial from the essential.”
Responding to the impact of AI in modern lives, Pico Iyer said, “My sense is that as long as we can keep surprising ourselves, we will be ahead of AI”
Renowned for works such as The Art of Stillness, Autumn Light, The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise, The Open Road, and others, Pico Iyer’s perceptive words set a strong, introspective foundation for the day-long intellectual discourse.
The ABP Network’s Ideas of India 2025, centred on the theme ‘Humanity’s Next Frontier’, will convene thought leaders and innovators to explore the challenges and opportunities in India’s ascendance in a rapidly changing world. In the face of climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and technological advancements like AI, the summit delved into India’s role as both an ancient civilisation and a demographic powerhouse in shaping the future. The two-day summit brings together a confluence of ideas from global thought leaders, intellectuals, and change-makers, covering transformative possibilities in science, medicine, social contracts, and global leadership, with experts from diverse fields offering bold visions of a better, more sustainable world for all.
