Artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging technology. It has become deeply embedded in the systems we use every day, from search engines and classroom tools to automated feedback and predictive analytics.
Having spent more than a decade exploring how technology can enhance teaching and learning, I see that we are not simply adopting new tools. We are entering an era where technology may soon reshape the very foundations of society, and with that, the purpose of education itself.
That’s why The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty‑first Century’s Greatest Dilemma by Mustafa Suleyman felt like such an important read. It offers a compelling exploration of how AI and synthetic biology are evolving, what they may soon be capable of, and why their responsible management, what Suleyman refers to as ‘containment’, may be the defining challenge of our time.
What Is the Book About?
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and now CEO of Microsoft AI, introduces the concept of the “coming wave”, which he describes as a surge of transformative technologies, specifically artificial intelligence and synthetic biology. These fields promise major advances, from curing diseases to reshaping global logistics. At the same time, they introduce risks including mass surveillance, destabilised institutions, synthetic misinformation, and bioengineered threats.
At the core of Suleyman’s argument is that our greatest challenge is not technological innovation itself. The real challenge lies in what he terms ‘containment’, the frameworks, safeguards, and values needed to ensure these powerful tools are used responsibly. Without these guardrails, the boundary between progress and risk becomes increasingly difficult to define.
Key Themes in Brief
- The Speed of Change: Technologies are advancing faster than regulation or ethics can keep pace.
- The Shift in Power: Control is moving away from governments toward individuals and private companies.
- The Need for Responsible Governance: We must actively shape how technologies are deployed before they shape us.
Understanding the Technological Waves That Shape Our World
One of the key insights from The Coming Wave is Suleyman’s view of history as a series of accelerating waves of technological change. These waves are not random. They follow a recognisable pattern, driven by what he calls general-purpose technologies, which are innovations that transform every aspect of society, from how we eat to how we learn, work, and govern.
What Are General-Purpose Technologies?
General-purpose technologies are those rare inventions that ripple across every part of life. They are not limited to one sector or function. Instead, they unlock entirely new ways of organising societies. Think of language, agriculture, fire, writing, the printing press, electricity, the internet – and now, of course, Artificial Intelligence (AI). These are the kinds of breakthroughs that don’t just improve life temporarily. They change the rules altogether.
Suleyman makes the point that each major wave in human history has been powered by one or more general purpose technologies. The Agricultural Revolution began with the domestication of plants and animals. The Industrial Revolution was fuelled by steam engines, railways, and mechanised factories. The digital revolution came with the rise of transistors, microchips, and the internet. Each wave builds upon the last, creating a chain of interdependent progress.
Waves Don’t Arrive Slowly Anymore
Historically, a person could live their entire life surrounded by the same basic tools as their grandparents. That’s no longer the case. As Suleyman notes, someone born in the early 20th century might have started life riding in horse-drawn carts and ended it flying in jet planes. The pace of change is no longer generational; it is continual and accelerating.
Take computing as an example. In the 1940s, computers filled entire rooms. They were rare, expensive, and hard to operate. Today, we carry machines in our pockets with more power than the computers that sent humans to the Moon. The number of transistors on a chip has increased more than ten million times since the 1970s. Transistors are now produced in the tens of trillions each second. These developments have made computing power cheap, accessible, and omnipresent.
Proliferation
Suleyman argues that a technology only becomes a wave when it spreads widely and uncontrollably. Invention alone is not enough. It is mass diffusion that gives a technology its power to reshape civilisation. The printing press, for example, reduced the cost of books by more than 300 times and led to an explosion of knowledge, education, and eventually democratic revolutions. Electricity, similarly, took decades to roll out, but by the late 20th century it powered nearly everything.
Once a technology starts to spread, demand increases, prices fall, and capabilities improve. This fuels further demand, and a self-reinforcing loop begins. From smartphones to clean energy, the pattern is the same: proliferation leads to transformation.
Why Containment Matters
A sobering insight is the realisation that once a powerful technology is released into the world, its trajectory can no longer be fully controlled by its creators. Whether it’s Alan Turing’s early work on computing or the inventors of nuclear energy, the pattern is consistent: the long-term societal impact of a breakthrough often diverges dramatically from its original intent.
Technologies do not exist in a vacuum. They operate in a complex and unpredictable system, the real world, where every innovation sets off a cascade of consequences. These include not only beneficial effects but also unintended and sometimes harmful outcomes. This is not a flaw of human design so much as a structural feature of technological evolution.
From Phonographs to Facebook
History offers countless examples. Thomas Edison envisioned the phonograph as a tool for preserving spoken thoughts and assisting the blind. Instead, it became the foundation of the music industry. Alfred Nobel created explosives for industrial use, only to later witness their deployment in warfare. The inventors of the internal combustion engine hoped to clean up cities overwhelmed by horse waste. Instead, they set the stage for climate change.
These examples illustrate what author Suleyman calls “revenge effects.” These are unintended consequences that often contradict the original purpose of a technology. Antibiotics, for instance, revolutionised medicine but have been overused to the point of losing their effectiveness. Satellites made global communication possible, but now crowd Earth’s orbit with dangerous debris. The same pattern appears with opioids, social media, and artificial intelligence: initial intentions may be noble or practical, but downstream adaptations create ripple effects no one could predict.
Why Containment Is No Longer Optional
The accelerating pace of technological development makes this challenge even more urgent. As powerful tools become cheaper, more accessible, and easier to adapt, they spread rapidly through society. Each innovation spawns new use cases, new users, and new risks. This is not a problem of individual morality but of systemic complexity.
Suleyman calls this the containment problem. At its core, containment means preserving our ability to guide, limit, or even halt technologies when necessary. It involves more than just regulation. Containment requires a combination of technical safety protocols, ethical design practices, cultural responsibility, and legal frameworks.
Importantly, containment is not about resisting progress. It is about creating the infrastructure necessary to channel innovation in ways that reflect our values and protect our future. As Suleyman puts it, it is not enough to focus on building better technologies. We must also build the systems that can govern them wisely.
Rethinking Responsibility
Some might argue that technologists cannot be held accountable for how society uses their tools. Suleyman rejects this idea. While it is true that no one can foresee every consequence, it does not excuse a lack of responsibility. The decisions made during the research, design, and deployment phases matter deeply. They shape the range of possible futures. Failing to consider this is not neutrality—it is negligence.
Educators, policymakers, and technologists alike must begin to think more systematically about the unintended consequences of the tools they promote. Teaching digital literacy is no longer just about helping students navigate online spaces. It now requires guiding young minds to understand the broader societal implications of the technologies they use and might one day help create.
A Framework for Action
So what does meaningful containment look like in practice? Suleyman outlines three interconnected layers:
- Technical safeguards: These include security systems, off switches, simulations, and restricted environments for high-risk technologies.
- Cultural and ethical norms: These relate to how technologies are designed and discussed, the willingness of developers to accept limits, and a shared vigilance for unintended harm.
- Legal and global governance mechanisms: These involve national laws, international treaties, and new institutional models designed to regulate fast-moving innovations.
Together, these mechanisms form the early architecture for a society capable of handling exponential change. They are not perfect, and they will evolve. But without them, the risk grows that technologies intended to help us will instead harm us or spiral beyond our control.
Why Educators Should Pay Attention
For those of us in education, Suleyman’s framework offers a valuable lens. It reminds us that we are not simply dealing with “new tools.” We are living through another major wave, one that involves AI, biotechnology, and other general-purpose technologies that will restructure everything around us. Our role is not to merely adopt the latest tools, but to understand the broader forces driving their adoption and influence.
Just as the printing press transformed education centuries ago, AI and digital technologies are now reshaping what it means to teach and learn. From adaptive learning systems to data-driven decision-making, these tools are proliferating. And as history shows, once a wave gathers speed, it rarely slows down.
As AI tools such as ChatGPT, adaptive learning platforms, and data-driven assessment systems enter schools, educators are not just users. They are also guides, helping students navigate the responsible use of these tools.
Here are several ways The Coming Wave connects to education:
Student Data and Privacy
Containment is not just a global concern. It is also a classroom issue. How is student data being collected, stored, or shared? Are teachers aware of how AI systems use this data?
AI in Teaching and Learning
AI-enhanced tutoring systems and writing assistants are becoming more common. The book reminds us that human guidance is still essential. Tools should support teaching, not replace it.
Curriculum Development
Students need to become not only competent users of digital tools but also critical thinkers. Educators have a role to play in introducing themes such as AI ethics, bias, and the social impact of emerging technologies.
ACI vs AGI: The Future of Capable Machines
One of the most thought-provoking sections of The Coming Wave explores where artificial intelligence is heading next. I’ve long been fascinated by the question of sentient AI, both from a philosophical and technological perspective. This section caught my imagination because it reframed that discussion in a way that felt far more grounded and relevant.
Suleyman argues that the endless debates around artificial general intelligence (AGI) and machine consciousness are often red herrings. Instead of focusing on whether machines will one day become self-aware, we should be looking at what AI systems can already do. He introduces the concept of Artificial Capable Intelligence (ACI) as systems that may not be conscious but can perform complex, open-ended tasks across domains with minimal human input.
He proposes a modern version of the Turing Test. Instead of testing whether an AI can hold a convincing conversation, we should ask whether it can take an ambiguous goal, like “build a successful Amazon business with limited capital,” and complete it autonomously. Given that today’s AI can already handle market research, product design, supplier negotiation, and marketing automation, this no longer seems theoretical. It is an imminent shift in how we work and innovate.
As I read this, it became clear to me that the real frontier in AI may not be sentience at all. It may be agency, the ability for systems to act independently and adaptively across real-world scenarios. That distinction has shifted how I think about AI’s impact on education.
If ACI becomes as widespread as Suleyman predicts, then students will be growing up in a world where machines can accomplish meaningful tasks across almost every profession. As educators, we must ask: How do we prepare students to collaborate with such systems rather than be displaced by them? How do we teach critical judgement, ethics, and creativity in ways that AI cannot replicate?
The Fragility of Civilisation and the Case for Continued Innovation
Another section of the book that stood out to me was Suleyman’s historical reflection on the fragility of civilisation. He reminds us that collapse has often been the rule rather than the exception. From ancient Mesopotamia to the Maya and Rome, societies have repeatedly fallen when they reached natural limits in food, energy, or complexity.
What keeps today’s global system from following the same path? According to Suleyman, the answer is continuous technological innovation. Our economies, population structures, healthcare systems, and even basic infrastructure now depend on ongoing breakthroughs. Modern civilisation, as he puts it, “writes cheques only continual technological development can cash.”
He points to China as an example. With a shrinking workforce and growing resource demands, the country is increasingly dependent on automation, AI, and scientific innovation just to maintain its current trajectory. Globally, the demand for rare earth materials is set to rise sharply, while the capacity to store clean energy is still woefully inadequate.
This section reinforced for me that standing still is not an option. Without technological progress, we risk the slow unravelling of the systems that underpin daily life. As educators and technologists, this should push us to see our roles not just as facilitators of learning, but as stewards of a sustainable future.
This section of the book reminded me why it’s so important to teach students not only how to use technology, but how to think critically about its role in society. The stakes are much bigger than convenience or efficiency. They are, in many ways, existential.
A Balanced Perspective
While The Coming Wave has received strong endorsements, including from Bill Gates and publications such as The Financial Times, The Economist, and CNN, it is not without criticism. Some readers have found the tone overly urgent or felt that the ideas occasionally repeat. However, I would argue that for educators seeking a deeper understanding of the technological landscape and its implications for learning, the book is both timely and highly relevant.
Final Thoughts: Preparing for the Wave
Suleyman argues that every institution, including schools, must play a role in how these technologies are integrated into society. This is not just a book about machines. It is a call to reflect on power, responsibility, and the choices we make today that will shape the world of tomorrow.
“We are on the brink of a new era. Containing what’s coming may be the hardest challenge we’ve ever faced, and also the most important.”
— Mustafa Suleyman
As educators, we have a choice. We can passively adopt new tools as they arrive, or we can actively engage in defining their role in shaping human development. Reading The Coming Wave is an important step in preparing for what is ahead.
