The Barbarians At The Gates
Why Europe can’t afford to hesitate on GenAI
On 8 November 1519, Cortés and some five hundred conquistadors arrived outside the gates of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. The mighty Emperor Moctezuma II was mystified. Who were these strange, metal-clad men: Barbarians or gods?
Erring on the side of awe, the Emperor decided that Cortés was the god Quetzalcoatl.
By June 1520 Moctezuma was dead, and on 13 August 1521, Spain claimed control of the entire Aztec empire.
Silicon Warriors
When a few hundred Google and Facebook programmers first knocked on Europe’s gates in the early 2000s, we too were puzzled. Who were these pale-faced nerds from Silicon Valley with their search rankings and cat videos?
We decided to let them in. After all, their cool services were free, and they promised to connect the world and to “Do no evil”.
Twenty years on, we’ve discovered that they were trading dopamine and convenience for personal data all along. And it’s too late to do much about it; the digital economy is consolidated around American tech platforms. And Europe? We’ve become a digital vassal state.
A New, Artificial God at the Gates
Now, in the 2020s, a new power has arrived: Son of Silicon Valley – Generative AI.
This time around, we weren’t even asked if it could come in – our gates were wide open and GenAI is everywhere. At home. At work. Embedded in tools we use every day.
Ask it anything and it has the answer. What’s not to like?
Should we be worried? Can we learn from Moctezuma’s mistake?
There is hope
Threatened by technological advances from all sides, the hottest tech topic in Europe today is the importance of wrestling back digital sovereignty and data autonomy.
At Exfluency, we’ve long believed in the power of AI – not as a replacement for human intelligence, but as a partner in creating it. That’s why we’ve spent years developing Hybrid Intelligence solutions.
The challenge today isn’t whether to use GenAI. It’s how.
Our answer: a secure, transparent architecture that uses blockchain to control access and sharing, combined with AI agnosticism that empowers you to choose the right model for each task. Not to provide answers, but to help formulate them.
We know we’re not alone in this. Other responsible tech companies are also working to offer safer, more transparent alternatives to the Big Tech Barbarians trying to capture your data, your workflows — and your future.
This work is already happening. The choice is already yours.
Act today, not tomorrow.
Thanks to Giuliano da Empoli for the Moctezuma angle – from the preface to his latest book: The Hour of the Predator.
Robert Etches is the CEO of Exfluency AG and a lifelong advocate for responsible technology. A pioneer in language technology and hybrid intelligence, Robert has spent the last two decades challenging how organisations think about data, AI, and communication. This article reflects his perspective on Europe’s digital sovereignty – and the urgent need for action.