The square was once part of the market of Kazimierz, then a separate city founded by King Casimir the Great in 1335. Its name comes from forum liberum — “free market” or “free trade.”

The interesting part: once a week, on Saturdays, meat could be sold here outside the established butcher stalls. Non-guild butchers were able to come in and compete with the established system.

So I’m standing in a medieval free market talking about something else that could seriously disrupt established institutions: artificial general intelligence.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has said that “AGI has arrived.” Whether we’ve crossed that exact line is debatable. What isn’t debatable is how quickly the technology is moving.

Markets, technology, and people finding ways around entrenched institutions.

Apparently I have a type.