© 2025
MrPink Human Connection Fund
Forewords
Our brains crave human connection, vital for our survival and well-being. Human collaboration has been key to the survival of our species, and we evolved to have neural pathways and systems to reward it.
We experience emotional connection when we interact with someone we can trust, share our worries with, and reach out to for help. This type of connection is typically found in friendships and couples. Then there is societal connection, in which we feel connected to a group within society with which we share certain values, characteristics, and beliefs. Finally, for some of us, it is enough to rely on existential or spiritual connection, understood as the feeling of being part of the overall human species in its journey to discover the mysteries of life, how to make our time on Earth more fulfilling, and, for some, religion.
In the absence of human connection, we feel lonely. Researchers from the fields of psychology, neurology, and philosophy have shown that there is a direct connection between loneliness and mental health, physical health, longevity, and happiness. The current U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, claimed in 2023 that loneliness is a serious epidemic. He said, «Loneliness is like hunger, a signal we’re lacking something for survival.»
The advances in Artificial Intelligence, and in particular the combination of advanced AI and robotics, will transform society in ways that are hard to imagine. Humanity will change more between 2025 and 2050 than it has since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This transformation is unstoppable, and it will be fast.
At MrPink, we aim to help construct a future where human connection is abundant, ensuring that the transition from the Industrial to the AI era is smooth and beneficial. Supporting bold and creative entrepreneurs who understand the importance of human connection and can design the technological services needed to combat loneliness in an AI world is our way of ensuring a more fulfilling life for everyone on this planet.
The Industrial Era is Coming to an End
Humanity was mainly hunter-gatherers for about 99% of its existence. That period began 1.8 million years ago and ended around 12,000 years ago, shaping the fundamental wiring of our brains.
In those days humans roamed the earth in small groups composed of just a few families. Social cohesion was necessary so they could move quickly and remain close to each other. The social structure was pretty much flat, with the elders occupying an important role. Before the massification of written language technology, the elders were the memory of society, transmitting culture and knowledge across generations. In those times, remaining close to your society implied remaining close to your family and was conducive to survival. Being cast away or getting lost in the woods alone was pretty much a death sentence.
The transition to agriculture began around 12,000 years ago and enabled humans to live their lives away from the risks and uncertainties of human roamers. Agriculture led to significant social and cultural changes, such as the development of cities. Most people spent their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born, unless they were soldiers or members of the elite groups such as monarchs, religious leaders, or high level scientists or artists. Humans learned to live in larger social groups which naturally lead to different ways of organizing labor and governance. A key development was the appearance of private property, currency and economy, as well as the construction of armies and military technology for protection.
The Industrial Revolution began around 250 years ago. The invention of the printing press allowed information to travel faster and more cheaply, making books and education accessible to a much larger portion of the population. The steam engine and other machines replaced most human and animal labor in the fields. For reference, in the U.S., in the early 19th century, around 80% of the population was engaged in agriculture. By the mid-19th century, this number had decreased to around 60%. By the early 20th century, the percentage of the population engaged in agriculture had dropped to around 30%. Today, only about 1% of the U.S. population is involved in farming.
The population migrated from the countryside to the cities following the economic opportunities. In the Industrial Era education became a necessity as labor became more sophisticated and the need for lower education jobs dissipated. Education, in particular mid and higher education centers, were found in cities attracting even more people who then stayed there to work in industrial and knowledge positions.
Advanced AI will mark the end of the Industrial era
We are at a pivotal time in human history where technology and Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AAI) will reverse the need for centralization. This is also a unique period in which people will work less than ever before. Regardless of whether a Universal Basic Income is adopted, there is little doubt that productivity and automation will reduce human labor to the extent that there will not be enough demand for work as we know it.
This is not the same as the transition from an agriculture-based society to an industrial one because information technologies can operate at close to zero marginal costs, bringing down the cost of services exponentially.
Moreover, the implications of this shift are profound, extending beyond mere economic adjustments. Societal structures will need to adapt to a reality where traditional employment is no longer the primary means of livelihood. Education systems, social safety nets, and even the concept of personal fulfillment will undergo significant transformations to align with a world where human effort is augmented and often replaced by intelligent machines.
This Fund Assumes Humanity Avoids a Dystopian Path
The risk of AAI leading to an extreme concentration of power is very real, and such a situation could potentially lead to various conflicts among world superpowers. This is particularly true as we sadly see a resurgence of tension between societies that adhere to democratic liberal ideas and those that favor centralized decision-making and state surveillance over individual rights. Even in the U.S. and Europe, we are witnessing a concerning polarization of society, with a return to antagonistic left/right views that should have been left behind decades ago.
In September 2023, the number of forcibly displaced individuals worldwide reached 114 million. The main reasons include conflict and war, environmental disasters, human rights violations, prolonged humanitarian crises, and poverty. For example, Turkey hosts over 3.36 million refugees, Germany nearly 2.5 million, and Pakistan approximately 2.08 million refugees.
Training AAI will require incredibly large capital expenditure in hardware, engineering, and energy, making it feasible only for a few entities, likely the U.S., China, the European Union, and Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is possible that cultural biases built into this AAI could further accelerate divisions and conflicts between world regions. Recently, China shook the world by launching Deepseek as open source, including not only the code but also the training data and model weights. This move challenges the technological supremacy of the U.S. in AI and suggests that its apparent advantage could be a transitory phenomenon.
While these risks are real, MrPink’s Human Connection Fund focuses on supporting humanity’s transition with as much ease as possible to a hopeful, positive position so we can later evolve into the best society we could potentially be, maximizing human happiness. Preventing or diminishing the likelihood of dystopian scenarios is outside the scope of this fund.
The Future is Seldom Homogeneously Distributed
The Human Connection Fund is betting on a direction of change but does not require that our vision be homogeneously distributed across all regions or segments of society to be effective. These changes will likely follow the typical adoption curves seen throughout history, but we anticipate a relatively rapid transition.
It is challenging to predict the precise timing of when each change will achieve critical mass and begin to accelerate exponentially. However, we remain confident in the overall trajectory of our vision. In many ways, this fund serves as a hedge against drastic changes in human society and the current form of the global economy.