I saw my phygital birth probably start in the year 1994, with the creation of the first cookies. I saw this simple click I made on a web page being recorded and then used to “facilitate my internet life”.

 

    I saw my growth accompanied by simple algorithms, which began to offer me several paths I could follow or not to satisfy my needs.

    I saw, as I grew, my clicks feeding the algorithms to help them grow and understand me.

 

    I saw my father buy me my first techno music CD, “The First Rebirth”, in 1994.

    I saw my curiosity awaken and I continued to grow, clicking here, clicking there.

    I saw the creation of my Facebook account in 2007, we had entered Web 2.0.

    I saw a friend call me out asking why I had clicked “Like” on one of his friends’ posts.

    I saw this crowd of people taking selfies to share with the world and reap the reward of “likes”.

    I saw these people stop living for a moment to prioritize enhancing their Facebook profile, improving their digital life. I saw these people even happier in their offices by the number of “likes” received on their vacation photos or crying and committing suicide for the opposite.

    I saw all these people, heads bowed down, walking in the street, knowing exactly where to go and how to move to save time.

    I saw these people happy with the good feeling a bath of luminous, hypnotic screen light gave them.

    I saw the algorithms progress, feeding on our clicks, our information, in exchange for an optimized life, without hiccups, without choice problems.

    I saw these people talking at the café about the incredible, saying: “I thought of something and it appeared on the Internet, as if I was being listened to all the time.”

 

    I saw these travelers smiling, in single file, taking country roads by car, cutting through muddy fields, to save two minutes.

 

    I saw, in 2023, when creating my YouTube Music account, its suggestion to listen to as the first track, “The First Rebirth”, a piece I had completely forgotten for 30 years.

 

     I saw that the incredible no longer raised questions, as the obvious had become an integral part of our daily reality, “like in The Matrix”.

 

     I saw my concern grow when I asked ChatGPT to write the text you are reading.

    I saw that only three of you will have read this text, as it does not interest the algorithm and will not make you smile.

    I saw that tomorrow, I will no longer ask my personalized ChatGPT to write this text, as it will have already written and published it before I even ask.

 

    I saw myself smiling as I look at the smoothness of my life.

    I saw that I have become a phygital being, despite myself.