The Futurists

This week we interview Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, a renowned specialist in Artificial Intelligence. We delve into the likely path that AI will take over the coming years, and how Artificial General Intelligence and then Super Intelligent AIs might change the course of human history, and life on our planet. How far away are AIs that would be as capable and as intelligent as humans? It may be much closer than you think.

In this weeks mashup Breaking Banks and The Futurists podcasts, we interview pioneering technologist Brad Templeton. In a discussion ranging from the creation of the commercial internet,  the battle for our future, to ethical AI and the likely roll out of autonomous vehicles, we cover a lot of ground. But at the heart of this discussion is how technology is reframing society and why those looking to the past are likely to be left behind.

Advertising industry legend Rishad Tobaccowala shares his perspective on the future after 30+ years as head of strategy at globe-spanning agency Publicis. In the next phase of digital transformation, he envisions marketing and design encompassing every aspect of a business, from product to store to customer experience, because “everything else will be highly automated.” Check out this energetic dialog for insight about how organizations and markets will evolve.  You’ll also learn Rishad’s technique for forecasting long-term trends. Visit rishadtobaccowala.com , join his newsletter https://rishad.substack.com/ and follow him on Twitter @rishad.   

In this week’s show Robert Tercek joins Brett King and Richard Petty, the authors of a new book titled The Rise of Technosocialism, to discuss how 21st century economics will be reframed by inequality, automation and climate change. Right now inflation is a massive issue, but it’s just the start of some seismic changes to core economics set to hit humanity over the next few decades. Which future scenario is likely? Luddistan, Failedistan, Technosocialism or the US’ Neo-Feudalism?

In Episode #7 of The Futurists, we explore the future of the company. Professor Wulf Kaal is an expert on managing community-led Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. He explains how DAOs differ from corporations, achieving consensus without a top-down hierarchy or executives. The DAO token economy provides reputation incentives and identity to participants. DAOs are the most exciting business innovation of the decade: according to Kaal, there are 50,000 active DAOs in operation today. Visit www.wulfkaal.com for white papers and more.

PJ Manney is the author of the bestselling and Philip K. Dick Award nominated Phoenix Horizon trilogy, (R)EVOLUTION, (ID)ENTITY, and (CON)SCIENCE. She is on the board of directors of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, is the futurist, media consultant and writer/producer for the Human Energy Project, runs The New Mythos Project and is the former chairperson of Humanity Plus (H+). She worked in motion picture PR at Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures and wrote as Patricia Manney for the critically acclaimed hit TV shows Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess. She will get you thinking about the course of Silicon Valley technology bereft of ethical foundations. 

In this week’s episode of The Futurists we delve into the world of synthetic and programmable genetics with one of the world’s foremost experts, Dr. Andrew Hessel. We also discuss his latest book The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology and how computing advances that led to gene sequencing are now allowing us to think about editing genetics in the same way we program computers. What are the implications for humanity as this allows us to radically adapt our biology for new purposes and new futures? Join us to find out.

In episode #4 of The Futurists, Regina Joseph talks us through the mechanics of the methodology known as Superforecasting. From her work with Pytho, Sibylink, the National Science Foundation, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and beyond, we learn how forecasting extends well into the future through human collective intelligence techniques and statistical analysis. What does it take to see the trends of the future emerging as the world seems chaotic, disruptive and unpredictable?

In this week’s episode of The Futurists Dr. Harry Kloor talks us through the process of working with Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis and others in creating Beomni – a remotely teleoperated, AI-enhanced humanoid robot built for semi-autonomous operation. Kloor has consulted on the X-Prize, written for and directed sci-fi series like Star Trek Voyager, and worked with world changers like Elon Musk. 

In this week’s episode of The Futurists legendary Science Fiction and New York Times bestselling author Kevin J Anderson. He takes us through the workings of his latest Dune novel – The Lady of Caladan, and he then takes us into the creative process of working in the Dune universe. Recorded prior to the recent Oscars success of the latest Dune Movie. From the worlds of Star Wars to Dune, along with his own very successful sci-fi and fantasy landscapes, what is the process a world-class author takes in stepping into these epic worlds. A phenomenal first guest on The Futurists.