The universe is giving Storm Troopers

AI is an engine for manifesting zeitgeist

One of the results of the clashes between protestors and ICE agents in LA recently is that there has been an explosion of videos made with AI that feature Storm Troopers from Star Wars.

@starwarsvlogsaiLA RIOTS - Stormtrooper Vlog Los Angeles ICE protests 🪧 #la #lariots #losangeles #losangelescalifornia #riots #stormtrooper

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This made me wonder: what if waves of videos like these — created by individuals but converging on a shared theme or aesthetic — function as real-time cultural databases? Not just “content,” but data. Something we can parse and measure. So all the Storm Trooper videos become an instant, living database that expresses collective thought and in which collective thought and imagination can be quantified.

Which is basically the idea of zeitgeist, except measurable.

Hegel brought us the term zeitgeist (“spirit of the time” in German) in his philosophy of history. For him, history is a rational process driven by the gradual unfolding of Weltgeist (World Spirit) through the ideas and dominant cultural forces of each era. Every historical moment expresses a unique constellation of thoughts and ideas through which Weltgeist becomes manifest.

So the zeitgeist of today is Storm Troopers marching on LA.

AI is becoming an engine for manifesting the zeitgeist

But what’s interesting is the role AI plays in this process. AI (Veo, really) is allowing us to directly and spontaneously manifest collective world-expression where people feel compelled and empowered to create the same videos.

So maybe AI IS our World Spirit now? AI, like Weltgeist, moves through us, reveals us, and transforms the conditions under which we express ourselves.

Zeitgeist can now be generated and observed in real time

Has zeitgeist always been something we understand to be happening in real time or was it once only accessible in hindsight?

Zeitgeist is now increasingly measurable as it unfolds, especially through AI-driven media production. So maybe we’re entering a moment where zeitgeist isn’t a retrospective diagnosis anymore but is instead a live feed. Maybe AI provides the infrastructure for real-time cultural consciousness.

Before, maybe everybody had the idea to expanded use-cases for knitwear at the same time, but it took awhile to create the knitwear and release it into the universe, and we could argue about who did it first.

Now, if we all want to create knitwear, we can all do it immediately, and we can tell that we all had the same thought at the same time.