Digital calligraphy, ambigrams, and flashfoods
October 22, 2025
Welcome to this 164th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”.
Each week, I personally sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
You can subscribe to this (roughly) bi-weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.
I have prepared this newsletter this week in Quebec City, Canada.
This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for your patience as this comes out a few days late. Share it with those who look into the future!
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
NASA Worldview is an even more robust alternative to Google Earth. News, elevated. Beyond KYC: Lenders turn to ‘alternative’ data to assess risk, detect fraud. How To Track Ships Like a Pro. Fifty Shades of OSINT: from Investigative journalism to economic intelligence.
Strategic blindspots and business models
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.
Mortality in the news vs. what we usually die from. Amazon Pharmacy is rolling out vending machines for prescription drugs like antibiotics and inhalers. OpenAI Wants ChatGPT to Be Your Future Operating System. Reese Witherspoon’s famous book club has partnered with WhatsApp to expand its customer offerings globally. Corporate Anxiety Is Fueling a Multimillion-Dollar Industry of Gen Z Translators. Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds.
Our future
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter and Bluesky.
Inversion Unveils Arc - A First of its Kind Space-Based Delivery Vehicle. Opportunity in a Time of Change. Jobs of tomorrow. Future of Professionals Report 2025. 2026 Global Consumer Predictions. The Creative Power of Teens You’ve Never Heard About.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
OpenAI had created an internal tool called DocuGPT. “Calligraphy” for a digital age: Docusign is making its first major update in 20 years, adding new typefaces. Latin American judges struggle to rule on crimes involving AI evidence . The best inventions of 2025. Tagwalk Trends Dashboard. Flashfoods. Someone Finally Made Chips That Taste Like Licking a 9-Volt Battery.
Book a speaking engagement about weak signals and emerging trends.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that led me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na):
This week, I explored prompts in nano banana.
On my radar
Many board of directors and executive teams are gearing up this fall for a new 3-year strategic plan in a very chaotic context. I have been investigating practices and toolkits to help them navigate complexity: What if the Storm Is the New Climate: How Boards Can Govern in a World That No Longer Makes Sense. Rethinking Resilience from the Top Down. Boards can take a cross-functional approach to resilience to avoid crisis mode and enable growth during periods of disruption. How to Identify the Best AI Leader for Your Organization. How boards can tackle geopolitical risk.
Are you also thinking of a training session for your board of directors in these tumultuous times? Contact here.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths.
The product of the railways is the timetable. India’s former royals who draw a meagre pension. The Lesson of 1929. Cognition all the way down. Map of which countries have paid their UN membership fees. The economics of migration. Migration waves.
Numbers
150- Our Brains Evolved to Socialize, but Max Out at About 150 Friends.
83%- The world’s wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system and meeting 83% of the global increase in electricity demand..
Unpacking AI
My research this week seemed to have taken the direction of the impact of AI on honesty, trust: AI legal risks are proving uninsurable. Delegation to artificial intelligence can increase dishonest behaviour. Signs of AI writing. Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI. AI is reshaping childhood in China, as parents rush to integrate AI tools, from robot tutors to chatbots, in education and caretaking. Job Interviews Are Broken.
Feeling good
Test your your knowledge about world demographics. Data guesser. Weird spotify lists. Ambigrams. The world, in real time.
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