New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- The numbers are staggering, almost theatrical. An AI start-up is edging toward a $2 trillion IPO, threatening to eclipse the largest public listing in history. In a Stanford lab, machines have written the genetic code of 16 viruses that do not exist in nature, then watched them come alive, replicating on demand. Humans are no longer merely adopting technology; we are co-authoring biology and courting valuations that rival the GDP of nations.

In moments like these, the temptation is to chase the headline: the record-breaking listing, the 'first' of anything, the next breakthrough demo. But the more urgent task is to ask what these milestones mean for the architecture of our societies, the ethics of our institutions, ...