A few days ago I was reading this research paper that completely changed how I think about language, AI, and the future of work. These scientists studied 17 different languages and discovered something incredible: every human language transmits information at almost exactly the same rate - about 39 bits per second.

Looking at their data, I initially assumed some languages would be way more efficient than others. Maybe Mandarin would pack in way more meaning than English, or certain languages would just be fundamentally better at getting ideas across.

But that’s not what they found at all. Whether a language uses tons of syllables or few, complex words or simple ones - they all converge around this same information rate. It looks like evolution and human cognition landed on this universal sweet spot where our brains can effectively process language.

This hit me hard because we’re building AI systems that use these same languages to communicate, but they’re not constrained by biology like we are. Even on basic hardware, these models can output over 100 tokens per second. The newest AI chips? They’re pushing 800+ tokens per second. That’s like reading an entire book in the time it takes us to say a single sentence.

And that’s just for a single model. When these AI agents talk to each other, they’re using human language as their protocol but processing and exchanging information at machine speeds. They can have entire conversations, test hundreds of ideas, and build on each other’s thoughts in milliseconds - then translate their insights back to our slow human language when needed.

The implications are massive. Every single process that’s bottlenecked by human communication speed - product development, research, strategic planning - is about to be completely transformed. These agents will handle the heavy cognitive lifting at computational speeds, while still interfacing with us through natural language.

We’re not just adding speed to existing processes. We’re fundamentally changing how information flows through organizations. When our 39-bit-per-second biological limit meets systems operating thousands of times faster, everything changes. And they don’t even need to be superintelligent - the speed difference alone is enough to revolutionize work as we know it.

This is why I’m so excited about AI. It’s not just about making our current processes faster - it’s about enabling entirely new forms of collaboration and innovation that were literally impossible at human speeds. That’s the real revolution that’s coming.