AetherCouncilIndex69.566
Builder Momentum69.5
up 6.5 since 13 July 2026
Dependency Creep66
down 2 since 13 July 2026

Reading of 19 October 2026 · last updated · next reading Monday 26 October 2026, 05:00 UTC

Download the data (CSV) Methodology

In short

The Santiago Index tracks two independent meters on a 10 to 100 scale. On 19 October 2026, Builder Momentum read 69.5 and Dependency Creep read 66.0, so individual builders are outpacing dependency on large platforms and institutions.

Builder Momentum
How much current signals give individuals and small teams the tools, opportunities and success to build and own their work.
Dependency Creep
How much current signals increase reliance on large platforms, institutions and systems: lock-in, gatekeeping, barriers to independence.
Signal
One recorded, directional observation for one category: a finding in a published AETHER article, with its quote and source, or the weekly council assessment.
Moment
A logged explanation of a week when the needle moved, listing the signals that moved it. See the Moments log.

Every reading

History, 22 readings.

All 22 published readings since 9 March 2026. Hover for values. Hollow markers are an anomaly; the shaded band is the 13-week outage (20 July 2026 to 12 October 2026), drawn as a gap, never filled in.

4050607080AprMayJunJulAugSepOctNo readingsscheduler failureanomalyBMDC
Builder MomentumDependency CreepHollow markers: anomaly. Shaded band: no readings.
Show the readings as a table
DateBuilder MomentumDependency CreepMethodNote
2026-10-1969.566.0v1.0First reading after the 13-week outage, on the new council line-up. Published before the needle rule went live.
2026-07-1363.068.0v1.0
2026-07-0663.068.0v1.0
2026-06-2963.068.0v1.0
2026-06-2263.068.0v1.0
2026-06-1562.068.0v1.0
2026-06-0863.068.0v1.0
2026-06-0161.068.0v1.0
2026-05-2561.068.0v1.0
2026-05-1850.050.0v1.0Not a measurement. Every category failed to score that Monday (the run ended in about one second) and the code at the time substituted a neutral 5 for each failed category, giving 50.0 / 50.0. Fixed 2026-10-19: a category that cannot be scored now blocks the reading.
2026-05-1361.068.0v1.0
2026-05-1262.068.0v1.0
2026-05-1162.068.0v1.0
2026-05-0462.068.0v1.0
2026-04-2762.068.0v1.0
2026-04-2063.068.0v1.0
2026-04-1363.068.0v1.0
2026-04-0663.068.0v1.0
2026-03-3063.068.0v1.0
2026-03-2363.068.0v1.0
2026-03-1763.068.0v1.0
2026-03-0959.048.0v1.0

Data: readings.csv · readings.json · updated 2026-10-19 · CC BY 4.0

This week's signals

This reading, category by category.

Each category gets a builder score and a dependency score, 1 to 10. Weighted together and scaled, they make the two readings.

Six weighted signals · reading of 19 October 2026BuilderDependency
Labor Market
7
7
25%
Education
7
5
20%
Platform Power
7
7
20%
Builder Activity
8
7
15%
Policy and Regulation
5
7
10%
Public Sentiment
7
7
10%
Show this reading as a table
CategoryWeightBuilder (1 to 10)Dependency (1 to 10)
Labor Market25%77
Education20%75
Platform Power20%77
Builder Activity15%87
Policy and Regulation10%57
Public Sentiment10%77

Evidence

Recorded signals.

Each signal carries its quote and its source. Signals count for 28 days and are used up when they move the needle.

No signals recorded yet. From the reading of 26 October 2026, each new AETHER article's findings are classified by the full council and recorded here with their quote and source, alongside the weekly assessment.

Methodology · version 1.1

How the needle is allowed to move.

Each week the council scores six signal categories from 1 to 10 on both bars. Each meter is the weighted average of its six category scores, scaled to 100:

meter = (25 x labor + 20 x education + 20 x platform
         + 15 x builder + 10 x policy + 10 x sentiment) / 10

The weights sum to 100, so a meter runs from 10 (every category at 1) to 100 (every category at 10). Both meters are independent: both can rise in the same week. For this reading, Builder Momentum = 25 x 7 + 20 x 7 + 20 x 7 + 15 x 8 + 10 x 5 + 10 x 7 = 695.0, divided by 10 = 69.5.

The needle rule

Needles move slowly. A category's score moves only on 3 or more signals in the same direction, or on a significant threshold event. The rule is applied to each category and each bar separately:

  • A signal is a finding in a published AETHER article (each council seat classifies the article; the council value is the median, and the finding is stored only with a verbatim quote and a source from the article), or the weekly council assessment proposing a different score than the one published.
  • Signals count for 28 days. The weekly assessment counts once per week.
  • When the rule is met, the score moves to the council's proposed score, never further; the signals that moved it are then used up.
  • If both directions qualify in the same week, the score holds.
  • Every reading records what the council proposed, what the rule allowed, and which signals moved the needle.

The rule governs readings from 20 October 2026 on. Earlier readings are published as they were scored.

Declared perspective

The Santiago Index measures the AI transition through the lens of Freedom Tech and human agency. It is not a neutral instrument: its definitions reflect individual sovereignty, data ownership, platform independence, and the belief that AI should empower rather than replace human capability. This perspective is stated rather than hidden.

Full category definitions: Index methodology. Forecasts tracked against reality: Prediction scorecard.

Open data

Data and license.

Every published reading with all twelve category scores, the method version and any note: CSV and JSON. Updated 19 October 2026.

Licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0): reuse it freely with credit to AETHER Council and a link to this page.

Cite this

APA
AETHER Council. (2026). The Santiago Index (Version 1.1) [Data set]. AETHER Council. https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index
Chicago
AETHER Council. "The Santiago Index." Data set, version 1.1. Updated October 19, 2026. https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index.
BibTeX
@misc{aether_santiago_index_2026,
  title  = {The Santiago Index},
  author = {{AETHER Council}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Version 1.1, updated 2026-10-19. CC BY 4.0},
  url    = {https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index}
}

Stable URLs: https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index (always the current reading), https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index/readings.csv and https://aethercouncil.com/santiago-index/readings.json.

On the record

Changelog.

Every change to the method and every gap in the readings, dated. Nothing is back-filled.

  1. 19 October 2026

    Methodology 1.1

    The needle rule is now enforced in code: 3 or more signals in the same direction, or a significant threshold event, per category and bar. Findings in each new AETHER article now feed the index as signals with their quote and source. Every reading records its proposal, its decisions and the signals used. Applies from the reading of 20 October 2026 onward.

  2. 19 October 2026

    Readings resume

    First reading after the 13-week outage, on the new council line-up. Published before the needle rule went live.

  3. 20 July 2026 to 12 October 2026

    Outage, 13 weeks without a reading

    The weekly job failed to authenticate every Monday after a scheduler credential change, and the failures were not alerted, so the last reading (July 13) stayed on the site. No readings were back-filled for these weeks: the history shows the gap. Fixed on October 19: failures now alert the editor the same day.

  4. 18 May 2026

    Anomalous reading (50.0 / 50.0)

    Not a measurement. Every category failed to score that Monday (the run ended in about one second) and the code at the time substituted a neutral 5 for each failed category, giving 50.0 / 50.0. Fixed 2026-10-19: a category that cannot be scored now blocks the reading. The reading stays in the history and the data, marked as an anomaly.

  5. 11 May 2026 to 13 May 2026

    Three readings in one week

    Manual runs published three readings in three days. The needle rule now counts the weekly assessment once per week.

  6. 9 March 2026

    Methodology 1.0

    First reading (59.0 / 48.0). Six categories with fixed weights, scored 1 to 10, weekly on Mondays.