The New Era of Illiteracy

There was a time when listening to your favorite song required more than just wanting it: it required patience. The radio decided when it would play. If you wanted to own that song, you had to wait for the album to be released, save up money to buy it, or record it on a cassette at just the right moment. The same went for cartoons and TV shows: every episode had a specific time and date, and missing it meant waiting another week. There was no instant replay, no “watch now” button. That waiting didn’t just make the experience sweeter — it taught us to value it.

Today, everything has changed. We live in an ecosystem where instant access is not a privilege, but the norm. A song, a movie, a show, a summary, an answer — all are just one click away. And while this immediacy has opened doors once unimaginable, it has quietly stolen something from us: the ability to sustain our attention, to enjoy the process, to tolerate the emptiness between desire and reward.

Anxiety when waiting, discomfort with effort, impatience for conclusions — these are no coincidences. They are symptoms of a deep cultural shift. Today, reading a full book seems like a titanic challenge for many. Watching a series that doesn’t resolve its plot in the first episode feels frustrating. Even music has changed: songs are now shorter, catchier, with choruses exploding in the first 10 seconds, because algorithms know listeners won’t wait longer.

This new rhythm hasn’t only changed how we consume content; it has deeply impacted the way we develop fundamental cognitive skills. And now, with the rapid advance of artificial intelligence, a greater danger emerges: the temptation to stop thinking critically. If illiteracy once meant being unable to read and write, today it might mean being unable to pause, reflect, and build independent thought.

When used incorrectly, artificial intelligence strengthens this trend: instant answers, pre-packaged ideas, texts generated without a second thought. What should be a tool to expand our capabilities risks becoming a shortcut to intellectual laziness — an illusion of knowledge without real understanding.

This is not about romanticizing the past or demonizing technology. It’s about recognizing that today’s real challenge isn’t accessing information; it’s deciding how we engage with it. The greatest risk is not that everything is available in seconds, but that we lose the discipline to think, the curiosity to explore, and the courage to face the discomfort that authentic learning demands.

Because if we lose that, we won’t just be passive consumers in a world that moves too fast — we will become the new illiterates: unable to read the complexity of the world, unable to write our own future.

A New Generation: Natives of AI

If today’s immediacy already challenges our patience, what awaits the generations that are growing up as true natives of artificial intelligence? Children who grow up with AI as an omnipresent companion will not just expect instant results; they will expect invisible results. They won’t even notice the answers appearing automatically; it will seem natural for a machine to complete their ideas, questions, and even their creativity.

Will this make them more efficient? Probably. But will it make them more creative, more critical, more resilient? Not necessarily.

The biggest challenge for the new generations won’t be mastering technology — it will be mastering themselves in a hyper-automated world. They will need to resist the temptation of easy answers. They will need to cultivate the art of asking questions so profound that no algorithm can deliver an immediate solution.

In this tension — between immediacy and patience, between speed and reflection — the brightest minds will emerge. Those who understand that artificial intelligence is a tool, not an endpoint, will be the ones who truly build the future.

What Should Brands Do?

In this new era of fragmented attention and overwhelming immediacy, brands face an enormous challenge: not just to capture their audience’s attention, but to hold it.

It’s no longer enough to shout louder or publish more frequently. Brands need to create experiences that invite reflection, that offer genuine value, and that emotionally resonate beyond the first three seconds. They must recover the art of storytelling — not in the superficial sense of telling a cute story, but by crafting narratives that build anticipation, reward attention, and leave a lasting imprint.

In a world where impatience dominates, brands that foster curiosity, patience, and emotional connection will not only stand out — they will survive. Because the new literacy is not about consuming more; it’s about connecting better.

Brands that understand this will not just earn customers — they will build communities, loyalty, and genuine meaning.

And in a world of infinite noise and automation, that will be priceless.