The Futurists (Provoke.fm)

In this first episode of the Futurists we meet our hosts Brett King and Robert Tercek. We get right into why we created the podcast and why forecasting the future has never been more critical than it is today. As we launch this new podcast our intent is to seek out the world’s foremost thinkers, experts and visionaries building the future of tomorrow. Join us on this journey and we will see you in the Future!

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.

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 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 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.

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 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.

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?

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 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.

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 Episode #12 of The Futurists, our guest is longtime global futurist and author Rohit Talwar, who offers his perspective on the human side of the forecasting and planning process. Rohit explains how he uses a combination of commonsense psychology, simple but profound questions, non-violent communication techniques, and data-informed storytelling to open executives up to the process of envisioning multiple possibilities. Learn more about Rohit at www.fastfuture.com. https://fastfuture.com/team/rohit-talwar/

In this episode, Australian author, speaker and futurist Ross Dawson joins Robert and Brett to talk the path to the future. From tackling the qualities that make a strong futurist, to the tactical application of forecasting at a organizational level. Dawson is Australia’s leading futurist, but a globally relevant voice.

In Episode 14, our guest is John Smart, founder of Foresight University. John shares insights about the practice and practical application of foresight, the distinction between foresight and futurism and its relationship with complexity and human adaptability.  Our Book on Foresight:https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Foresight-Executive-Organizational-Adaptiveness/dp/1736558501Our Substack Series on the Biomimicry Future of AI:https://naturalalignment.substack.com/p/how-biomimicry-can-improve-ai

In this episode we learn from John Hagel, one of the prophets of digital transformation. For more than 30 years John has been guiding global organizations through the process of digital reinvention as a practice leader at McKinsey and Deloitte. Today he is focused on the emotional resistance to change and how to surmount it. His new book is The Journey Beyond Fear and web site is www.johnhagel.com. 

In this episode of the Futurists, OG of Web 3 Tony Parisi joins Tercek and King to talk how the metaverse came to be, and why Web 3 isn’t just about the metaverse but foundational for our Augmented future. 

In this week’s episode of The Futurists, Peter Hinssen joins the dynamic duo to talk the new normal of constant technology change and his new book The Phoenix and The Unicorn. A specialist in corporate forecast planning, Hinssen’s insights are compelling.

In this episode Robert and Brett talk to futurist, entrepreneur David Orban, who talks us through the early days of the internet and crypto to where he thinks we're going as a society with increasingly dense technology saturation and immersion. From his background as Singularity University and as the founder of Network Society Research, David has a uniquely philosophical approach to the application of technology in our world. David was an early bitcoin, ethereum and blockchain adopter, so we get into the future of crypto too.

In Episode 19 of The Futurists, David Brin expounds on the interplay between scientific research and storytelling in shaping society’s future. An astrophysicist, prolific science fiction author and the winner of many awards, Brin also writes non-fiction about social dynamics and politics and contributes to NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. In this playful and wide-ranging interview, Brin discusses all of his passionate pursuits. Brin sets forth the distinction between fantasy and science fiction, and he underscores the danger of romantic notions that inspire political movements.  He ends the episode with speculation about a universe filled with planets and teeming with life.

July 31, 2022 was the fictional birthdate of George Jetson, so we thought we’d take a look this week at how The Jetsons has stood up over time in respect to its vision of the future.  It’s just Robert and Brett comparing notes and debating what the Jetsons got right and what they got wrong. From smart watches and flying cars to household robots and 3D printers.  

In the digital domain, marketing is technology. Glenn White builds advertising systems for brand managers inside game worlds.  In this episode of The Futurists, Glenn explains the complex strategic decisions that govern how brand advertising will evolve in the Metaverse. 

In this week’s episode Brett King and Robert Tercek, Brett’s The Futurists cohost, interview two-time presidential candidate, entrepreneur, journalist and futurist, Zoltan Istvan. We dive into how the species might evolve to adapt to living with AI, a changing climate and even to life off-planet. It’s controversial, dynamic and the philosophy and ethics of humanity are front and center in the debate. We’ll see you in the future!

This week we speak to a NASA veteran Wanda Harding about the future of space exploration, human boots on Mars (and back on the moon, and educating people to be passionate about the universe and exploring our solar system. Will Musk beat NASA to Mars? This week on the Futurists.

Award-winning author and technologist Mark Pesce tells us about the deep history of today’s consumer technology in military R&D including the 30 year arc of the Metaverse which Pesce himself kickstarted in the early 1990s. Pesce points out how consumer technology has outpaced the defense innovation, and now has become a front for a new kind of warfare. 

In this week’s episode of The Futurists, bestselling author of MOVE and futurist Parag Khanna joins us to talk about climate migration, geopolitics, real-estate and agriculture in a world impacted by climate change. Khanna is the founder of futuremap and climate alpha, and has worked with the US government, World Economic Forum and others on climate change adaptation strategies and policy. 

Real-time 3D computing is vast, but most people are not aware of it. RT3D tech powers online and mobile games, digital twins, industrial simulations and the much-ballyhooed Metaverse. And it has important implications for training machine learning and autonomous systems. This week’s guest expert, technology innovator Sylvio Drouin, has been working at the forefront of RT3D for decades. Join us for a tour of the emerging 3D future. 

In this week’s episode of the futurists, award winning British Science Fiction author Gareth Powell joins the duo to talk far flung futures and creating epic space operas from scratch. Powell talks through his process as well as discussing the possible future of humanity, and where we might go next. 

In this week's episode of the Futurists, top-ranked Female Futurist (Forbes), science fiction author and TV presenter Elina Hiltunen joins us to talk her unique brand of futurism from Finland. Elina takes us through some of her more concerning forecasts on potential climate collapse, and the role that futurists have to play in setting policy responses, galvanizing public opinion, and helping us navigate the unknowns of the future. 

In this week’s show futurist, digital analyst and anthropologist, along with being a Global Innovation Evangelist for Salesforce, Brian Solis joins us to talk adapting to life in the future. As a renowned specialist on engagement, CX and digital transformation, Brian discusses what it’s like to be a futurist at one of the worlds largest tech companies that is increasingly mission focused. And we get into the implications of his book Lifescale as we emerge from the pandemic. 

Thomas Frey is who you will undoubtedly find when you do a Google search on “futurist speaker”. Having shared the stage with many A-listers, Frey has earned that moniker. But his true skill demonstrated repeatedly in this week’s episode is taking an event or innovation and the extrapolating the future. In this episode we see him do that in real time. It’s a unique glimpse into the futurist process.

Who owns your streaming TV service?  A computer maker, a retailer, or a search engine?  This week on The Futurists we learn about the never-ending cyclone of disruption that has been tormenting the media industry for years. Our guest is Jeffrey Cole of the Center for the Digital Future, a longtime advisor to the major motion picture studios.  https://www.digitalcenter.org/jeffrey-cole-director/

Gerd Leonhard, renowned Futurist and Humanist, bestselling author and thought leader joins The Futurists this week to talk a positive future. Like many of our previous guests Gerd is an optimist, but warns us that we need a new mission for humanity writ large. One that is inclusive, sustainable and purpose driven. We dive into his new “Good Future” project as well as talking his books, the future of capitalism and the planet.

This week on The Futurists, HG Wells, Philip K Dick and Prometheus award wining author and Singularity University faculty Ramez Naam talks the future of the world’s energy systems, and how the Russia-Ukraine conflict has had an accelerating effect on systemic energy thinking. Beyond that we get into sci-fi, multi-generational systems thinking, large scale systems design of the 21st and the incentives and levers in the system for leading humanity to a world of free energy and abundance.

In this weeks episode of The Futurists, cognitive scientist and AI researcher Ben Goertzel joins the hosts to talk the likely path to Artificial General Intelligence. Goertzel is the founder of SingularityNet, Chairman at OpenCog Foundation, and previously as the Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics he helped create Sophia the robot. Goertzel is on a different level, get ready to step up.

Australia’s foremost trainer of futurist leaders, Zoe Routh, shares practical insight into her business. She explains how senior executives can improve the entire organization when they master the skill of foresight. Zoe is the author of five books about futurism and leadership.  https://www.zoerouth.com

The future of healthcare and machine intelligence, featuring Dr Phillip Alvelda, the founder and chairman of Medio Labs.  The pandemic accelerated the introduction of direct-to-consumer healthcare with clinical grade accuracy. Phillip explains how AI will amplify this process by reducing cost to scale. But the prospect of constant surveillance raises other concerns, and that leads to a lively Futurists debate about China’s advances in AI and a new round of US export controls. 

In this week's episode we talk to Dave Birch, the author of "Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin", The Currency Cold War, and Identity is the New Money about all things identity, digital assets and the future of Crypto. Dave is one of the world's preeminent experts on payments tech globally as well. But when we get into how AIs will make payments and hold bank accounts, it gets very interesting indeed. 

A look at the trends that will shape the workplace of the future: flexibility, the expanding 1099 workforce, the Great Resignation, the gig economy, telework, remote collaboration, placeless employment, automation, robotics, the rebound in union membership, breaking social contract. Wither the American Dream? According to Future of Work expert Sophie Wade, humans need more autonomy and empathy in the workplace order to achieve their best. In this episode we explore how technology might make that possible. Sophie Wade, Work Futurist, Flexcel Network Website: https://www.sophiewade.com/ Website: https://www.flexcelnetwork.com/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Wade Twitter:  https://twitter.com/asophiewade

This week we interview the phenomenal Aubrey De Grey, the world’s foremost authority on longevity and developing strategies to slow or eliminate aging altogether. The author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (1999) and Ending Aging (2007), De Grey is probably best  known for the concept of Longevity Escape Velocity, a view that soon medical technology will enable human beings to prevent age-related deterioration, and eventually eliminated aging entirely.

In this episode we ask one of the OG's of crypto, Bill Barhydt, to join us on The Futurists to talk the 2022 crypto collapse, the merits of crypto and blockchain for the future-world, and how crypto, stablecoins, tokens, NFTs and CBDCs will ba battle it out for the emerging monetary rails of the 21st century. We also debate who Satoshi Nakomoto was, why 'he' created bitcoin, and what the collapse of FTX and other exchanges mean for the principles of decentralization that the crypto community holds so dear. https://www.linkedin.com/in/billbar

In this episode, David Mattin, creator of New World Same Humans, talks to the Futurists about his simple but phenomenally powerful technique for forecasting: he uses fundamental human needs as the lens that brings emerging technology and behavior trends into crisp focus. Our discussion topics include: generative AI, the value of human creativity, virtual humans, digital companions, large language models, Meta’s struggle to control Galactica, storytelling and trend forecasting, the four big story templates that describe the future, and the eternal quest for status as a driver for human behavior. Learn more at New World Same Humans https://newworldsamehumans.com/

This week on The Futurists our hosts interview Charlie Melcher, the founder of The Future of Storytelling.  Charlie recounts the many ways that the ancient practice of storytelling is evolving in an era of immersive and interactive media. He is also a book publisher who uses innovations in printing technology to reinvent the 5000-year-old medium for contemporary audiences and he speculates about the future evolution of the craft of meaning-making.  Web site: Www.thefutureofstorytelling.Org

This week Brian Solis joins Brett in the hosting chair as Srujana Kaddevarmuth from Walmart labs joins the Futurists to delve into the future of in store and online interactions for the retail giant. From future store design, warehouse robotics through to data science and AI, we cover the gamut of possibilities of 21st century commerce.

In the past, innovation in agriculture lagged behind consumer electronics and telecoms. Today, that's changing. As food futurist Tony Hunter explains, food is technology. In this episode, Hunter shares his view of tech-fueled advances in food production and distribution around the world. Topics include: supply chain disruption, new tech for farming, strategies for waste reduction, changes to food supply caused by the pandemic, the distinction between food security and food sovereignty, alternative proteins like lab-grown meat, vertical farming using hydroponics, genomics, microbiome, cellular agriculture, synthetic biology, plant molecular farming, how computing technologies like artificial intelligence accelerate innovation.   If you’re interested in the future, then you really must tune into the changes afoot in the food industry. As Tony explains, food and drink  are the only absolute non-discretionary items for daily human needs.  https://www.FuturistForFood.com

In this episode, creative technologist Roger Holzberg recounts his personal career journey from the Imagineering studio at the Walt Disney Company, where he devised and built original theme park rides, to his second career as where he applies immersive technology to health care and healing, first at the National Cancer Institute and now as a med tech innovator at Reimagine Well.  Roger explains the subtle art of balancing new technologies with real world events and the ever-evolving customer experience. Discussion topics include: designing deep futures, the use case for virtual reality and augmented reality, dealing with animated dolphins, lessons from Walt Disney’s Imagineering, visualization tech in cancer treatment and research, the use of distraction therapy, healthcare by design, teaching the art of world building, turning students in Imagineers, environmental sustainability.   https://reimaginewell.com/

Anders Sorman-Nilsson is a Swedish futurist living in Australia, but he believes that humanity is on the cusp of a new renaissance where humanity finds purpose beyond consumption and market profit. He calls out human systems that are coming to a natural conclusion due to this emerging thinking, including the damage that fossil fuel companies and others have done to our ecosystem in the name of profits. Ultimately, Anders is an optimist but he thinks that human behavior and technological leaps and bounds don't necessarily align, but it's navigating the conflict between our long-held traditions, global conflicts, and climate disasters, along with our rapidly advancing technical capabilities that will define humanity for centuries to come. We get deep on this one...

Co-hosts Brett King and Rob Tercek speak with medical futurist Dr. Daniel Kraft on the topic of exponential health care. Kraft reports that we’ve entered a decade-long era of rapid innovation that began with the pandemic. Covid-19 accelerated progress in health care from incremental to exponential, including: vaccines derived from messenger RNA, consumerized health care and home diagnostic kits, loosening of regulation to allow telemedicine, and innovation in payments. What’s next: hybrid care, AI medical chatbots, the “mediverse”, advanced sensors, DNA sequencing, the Big Data shift from quantified self to quantified health, advances in wearables, “predictalytics", the advantages of crowdsourcing actionable data, democratization and equity in global health care, medical tricorders, 3D printed medications and foods, “humanized” pigs. Daniel extends an invitation to listeners to visit his event www.NextMed.Health and to access the free resources at www.Digital.Health  https://danielkraftmd.net/

Co-hosts Brett King and Robert Tercek interview journalist Dean Takahashi, who has been covering innovation in the game industry for three decades. Dean gives The Futurists a post-CES roundup of new trends and genres that span a dizzying array of evolving technologies.  Games have expanded beyond a niche category of entertainment to dominate mainstream media. Games now foster new story franchises that attract tens of millions of fans daily. Dean explains how game tech is blurring the boundaries between the classic game industry and other media, such as motion pictures and television series. He tells us why game developers are most likely to lead the way into the metaverse. And he anticipates interoperable game economies where any player can also be a creator of generative worlds that are photorealistic. Topics include: core gamers, casual games, free-to-play, cloud gaming, blockchain games, VR and AR, Roblox, Fortnite, PUBG, digital twins and game communities.  Websites:  @DeanTak on Twitter GamesBeat.com VentureBeat.com

In this weeks episode of The Futurists we talk to author Gunjan Bagla, a leading figure in India-US trade relationships and commerce. Bagla argues that while China is seen as a massive threat to the US, India is a natural ally of the west having supported outsourcing over the last 4 decades, and being more aligned on policy. But like China, India has big ambitions and will overtake China as the most populous nation this decade. Will that translate into economic growth or does India need infrastructure investment to level up as a global economic powerhouse? 

What happens when society is subject to accelerated change? Now we know: uncertainty and widespread panic. March 2023 was the month when the old systems began to collapse and entirely new systems were launched. In one month we experienced a viral run on banks, the launch of AI superpowers, and the exposure of systematic deceit at a major news publisher. In this special edition of The Futurists, co-hosts Brett King and Robert Tercek review current events through the lens of the future. Who profits from uncertainty and confusion? How do the merchants of doubt leverage social and traditional media to undermine faith in conventional norms and governance?  Can the trustworthiness of machine learning systems be certified?  By whom?  Discussion topics include: democracy versus autocracy in a time of rapid change; the business of social inequality; the failure of Silicon Valley Bank; lies and manipulation at Fox News; the false dichotomy of political parties;  the inaccuracy of ChatGPT; the advent of robotic corporations in the clouds; why it’s more profitable to break consensus than to build it; and the greater chaos is yet to come. 

Chief Futurist for one of the largest consulting practices on the planet, Kasey Lobaugh joins the futurists this week to talk about the building blocks for the worlds of tomorrow. While at Deloitte, Kasey has spearheaded research into the next level of disruptive innovations and technologies that are reshaping business. When talking AI Kasey maintains that this is unlike any other innovation wave we’ve ever faced and that large scale technounemployment is a real possibility.

Julian Bleecker of the Near Future Laboratory has developed a novel way to forecast: he constructs prototypes, products and artifacts from future scenarios. Then he designs the marketing material, including ad campaigns and brochures and catalogs, to interrogate the wider impact on consumer society and human behavior. These techniques are set forth in Julian’s book, The Manual of Design Fiction: A Practical Guide to Exploring The Near Future.  https://www.nearfuturelaboratory.com/

This week on The Futurists we get into the future of cybercrime and personal security in the smart world with renowned “security guru” Bruce Schneier. The author of over a dozen books (his latest bestseller being “A Hacker’s Mind”), Lecturer on Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, Congressional advisor and Media personality. Will AI and Quantum kill passwords? How secure will your DNA records be? The answers might surprise you. https://www.schneier.com/blog/about/

This week on the Futurists we catch up with Fox/CNBC tech commentator Shelly Palmer as we dive into the implications of ever pervasive technology in our lives. Shelly, has been following consumer trends for 2 decades and is a mainstay at events like CES, but he says AI is a different sort of beast. We dive into how technology will augment and change our lives moving forward.

This week on the Futurists, Dan Jeffries, Managing Director of the AI Infrastructure Alliance and CIO at Stability.AI talks the doomsayers attacking ChatGPT, and the overblown fear over AI. Jeffries argues there are historical precedents for human adaptation to the disruptive technology of AI, but that learning to live with another intelligence might be a bit more challenging.

Theo Priestley is a Futurist based in Scotland and he's mentored Silicon Valley startups, has written hundreds of articles on AI, IoT, Web3, Metaverse, Fintech and he's the author of "The Future Starts Now" . He has a habit of making some big bets on the future, but also he's not afraid to put out his thoughts on the future as they develop. Priestley is a contrarian at heart though, and his futurist lens comes from the conflict between technological advancements, policy development and human nature. It's not always clear which of these will win out as the future unfolds, and Priestley is not afraid to play off this uncertainty.

Society has grown more complex and more polarized. That increases the likelihood of complicated disputes. How is the legal industry evolving to deal with hyperconnected society?  Dr. Cain Elliott tells the Futurists how the legal profession is digitizing to move faster and operate more efficiently. But the motivation to change is coming from clients, not from attorneys. Topics: the broken business model of legal services, the political and regulatory barriers to change, the transformative potential of legal tech.

This week The Futurists speak with Jennifer Pahlka, the founder of Code for America. Jennifer served in Barack Obama's White House as the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer where she launched the US Digital Service. In this episode, Jennifer reveals the tactics to surmount the myriad obstacles that thwart government agencies when they seek to deploy digital technology to improve the delivery of services to citizens. 

Legendary sci fi author, astrophysicist, and NASA advisor David Brin rejoins the Futurists for a special first anniversary show. Topics include: Wall Street’s insatiable AIs, Karl Marx and capitalism, the magic of competition, Hollywood tropes, self-preventing prophecies, the flaw in Asimov’s laws of robotics and hope for a positive sum game. 

On this weeks futurist we have the return of New York Times Bestselling Author, Kevin J Anderson. In this week’s episode Kevin takes on a journey as to how technology has dramatically changed his connection with his readers for the publication of new books, including multiple very successful Kickstarter campaigns. We talk writing for the Dune and Start Wars Universes, and dive into Dan Shambles, the detective every zombie needs.

This week on The Futurists we are joined by renowned journalist and a true renaissance man, Monty Munford. Monty has appeared on the BBC, written for Forbes, The Telegraph and contributed to TechCrunch, Mashable, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Wired, MIT Technology Review, The Independent, The Guardian, Financial Times, and The Times of India. He explains why he's had to become a futurist to do his day job better, and why tech continues to be so disruptive to our social order. 

AI researcher Monica Anderson guides the Futurists beyond first principles to the zeroth level of science, which is epistemology.  Monica argues that science suffers from a kind of cognitive dissonance, relying upon a reductionist approach instead of holistic principles. In this episode, Monica explains why: AI alignment is trivial; malevolent behavior must be intentionally programmed; all problem-solving methodologies break down into two categories; complex problems differ from complicated problems; small syntax models outperform large language models; AI may be more impartial than a jury in court; AI will be required for licensed professions; home-schooled AI will be trained on your home computer; and a lot more.

Michael Margolis, founder and CEO of Storied, is an expert in constructing intentional narratives about the future. The stories Michael tells are not about people but, rather, about products and technology. He has developed a unique approach to navigating digital transformation and change management. This inspiring and provocative episode covers a broad range of topics including the fundamental human need for narrative structure in industry, politics, technology, mass media, machine intelligence, and more. Michael reveals the hidden dynamics of narrative structure that frame our understanding of the world and our shared perception of reality. 

Jim Rutt solves complex future problems by taking action. When we say complex, we mean very complex!. A pioneer of networked society since 1980, Jim launched the world’s first online community, and later led Network Solutions and the Santa Fe Institute. In this episode of the Futurists, the discussion moves fluidly from theory to practice as Jim explains his Game B initiative with colorful language and fresh insight. Topics include: complexity science, applied artificial intelligence, the importance of the number zero, the failures of governance mechanisms, the doom loop of money-on-money return, and why we need a system that is focused on optimizing human wellbeing within planetary limits. 

Josh Bernoff’s entire career as an analyst and author has been focused on the future. In this episode The Futurists discuss forecasting: What is the difference between strategic insight and tactical decisions? Why is is so difficult to predict the timing of forecasts? Why organizations have a bias towards the status quo, and why futurists have a bias towards change. Josh explains how summarizing "What It Means" can bring a liberating clarity to forecasts and strategic plans. 

This week on The Futurists we get to engage with one of the world's foremost experts in hydrology, the study of Water, and the relationship of water to emerging climate change. Gleick is considered one of the world's foremost experts in the arena, and while things look bleak in the medium term, we get solidly into the long future of water and the tools at our disposal for water mitigation and geo-engineering. We also check out Peter's latest book the Three Ages of Water BIO - https://www.gleick.com/#about 

On this weeks episode of The Futurists we engage with Metaverse futurist Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld all the way from Switzerland. Robert and Martha get deep into the debate of what is the Metaverse, and where do we go after lackluster performance from the likes of Meta. Brett tries to play referee.

In this week's TF we interview a key attorney representing AI companies in current copyright battles taking place in courts in the US and around the world. Amir Ghavi is an Intellectual Property and Tech attorney for Fried Frank. We get into policy, precedent, and the likely future of AI from a legal perspective. It might surprise you.

This week journalist and bestselling author of The Guttenburg Parenthesis, What Would Google Do? and Geeks Bearing Gifts, Jeff Jarvis joins us to talk media and content in the AI age. Jarvis is considered one of the Top 100 most influential media leaders (WEF/Davos). He believes AI’s impact on our society will be as impactful as the printing press, and helps us understand how institutions and society will likely adapt. We forget the lessons of the past at our future’s peril.

This week Marc Buckley joins Brett for a fireside chat on the role regenerative techniques hold for the future of the planet. As a member of the World Economic Forum and the UN advisory panel,  trained by Al Gore on climate response, Marc has a big role globally in policy setting for the emerging future. But Marc also emphasizes the role that each of us has in creating a sustainable world.

In this weeks show we visit with Eric Edmeades, a philosopher, student of evolutionary biology and a former top 10 ranked professional tennis player. We delve into the habits of tribes in Africa and the Amazon and why their dietary habits show good habits we’ve lost as a result of modern lifestyles, and we debate how tech and science might change human biology over the coming decades. 

As AI continues to develop at an unprecedented rate, the laws and regulations surrounding the technology have seemingly fallen behind the times. But can governments be trusted to keep AI in check?

Brett and Rob on the latest moves against Big Tech. The Writers Guild strikes a blow against imposed AI. Organized labor versus EVs. The US government brings antitrust suits against Amazon and Google. And a look at what the infamous “Pause AI” petition did and didn’t accomplish. 

Cathy Hackl provides strategic insight about virtual fashion to major brands Nike, Louis Vuitton, Clinique, Walmart and more. She tells The Futurists about the latest trends in spatial computing, immersive 3D entertainment, virtual worlds and the digital style preferences of Gen Alpha. Digital fashion is way, way bigger than buying skins on Fortnite.

In this week’s show, we’re joined by Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist at Futurist.com and author of Facing Our Futures: How Foresight, Futures Design and Strategy Creates Prosperity and Growth. We discuss what inspired Nik to become a futurist, what’s ahead for professional futurism, the backstory of Futurist.com, protopia and futures thinking towards 2100 and beyond.

Former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame exposes the future of espionage and spy craft. The advent of artificial intelligence, especially deep fakes and a flood of disinformation, has made the task of  gathering reliable intelligence exponentially more difficult, with big implications for democracies. Listen to this episode to learn about the 17 US intelligence agencies, how 9/11 changed spy craft, the impact of disinformation on civic society and government, how undercover agents cultivate sources, and how artificial intelligence raises the stakes in the effort to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

This week we talk to Alex Tapscott about his new book Web 3, then the hosting team (Rob, Brett and Katie) talk about some of the macro changes within the Web3 & Web3D/Spatial computing space with Meta’s new RayBan smart glasses. 

The hosts of the #1 Futurist Podcast THE FUTURISTS are back to talk emerging Artificial Intelligence regulation from Biden's latest executive order, the UK and EU positions, and China's take on AI. We also discuss Marc Andreessen's TechnoOptimist Manifesto and why the Tech Giants aren't necessarily the best people to be defining AI regulation.

Tracey Follows, the author and podcaster of The Future of You, explains how your digital identity will evolve. Custodial or self-sovereign? Centralized or Web3? Big Brother-style surveillance capitalism or liberty? What do we mean by digital identity when there is no government-issued credential?  

In this episode, journalist, technologist and entrepreneur Marshall Kirkpatrick joins hosts Brett and Brian to discuss the way AI might change our lives, thinking and philosophy as a species. Marshall dives deep into the way we are learning to integrate AI into our conscious processes, and where it might be useful, and where it might be contentious. In the midst of arguments about the safety of AI and the role it will play in our society, this is a fascinating debate on how your personal AI might change your world.  Bio https://marshallk.com/about-me

In this weeks episode we are joined by Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at John Hopkins - Dr Sabine Stanley - to talk planetary science and her new book. We take a tour though the solar system and then get into the numerous surprises that have unfolded with our recent discoveries of exoplanets outside our solar system. We explore what we might find in a stellar backyard, but more importantly we talk about what we yet might learn about the earth and how planetary systems themselves work. 

Tech entrepreneur Byron Reese has a pragmatic approach to the future. He has launched several startup companies, exiting three via M&A and two via IPO. He’s also the author of several books, including his newest, Agora. Byron spoke to the Futurists about superintelligence, collective intelligence, super organisms, and emergence. What can human organizations learn from bee hives?  The conflict between AI Doomers and the Accelerationists. Why humanity is going to be all right!

Boaz Ashkenazy is the CEO and founder of Simply Augmented. He’s on a mission to equip small and medium sized companies with AI superpowers. Boaz talks to the Futurists about the prospect of fully automated corporations, digitally augmented workforce, and how every company can get started on the process of AI reinvention. 

Are you certain that every attendee in your Zoom meeting is the person they claim to be? Deep fakes have improved. VFX expert Carl Bogan demonstrates to The Futurists how easy it is to fabricate a persuasive fake persona. Politics and remote work will never be the same again. 

2023 was the hottest year on record in terms of temperature. ESG, sustainability, clean tech / green tech and corporate responsibility have been hot topics. Are we at war with climate? This week we feature Brett King’s recent sit down in Bangkok, Thailand with former banker, fintech investor and now venture capitalist, Paul Ark, with The Radical Fund, an early-stage VC fund investing in founders who are delivering climate resilience for Southeast Asia. Where are investment dollars going? Climate mitigation (how to prevent the world from getting warmer) and climate adaptation (dealing with a warmer world) and what it means for infrastructure resilience and food insecurity, to name some areas of concern, are top of mind. Climate is a complex systemic issue and requires a buffet of technologies to address, improve and help us reclaim our environment. It’s an enlightening conversation with The Futurists!

Mark Pesce returns to The Futurists with a report about weird and wonderful discoveries at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show. Every year, 200,000 people converge at CES in Las Vegas to get a glimpse of the near future. Mark pushes far beyond mainstream press coverage to tell us about bleeding-edge progress in memristor chips, brain-computer interfaces, long-range drones, olfactory sensors, and the emerging category of “age-tech”.  If you are interested in knowing where the puck is going next, this episode is for you!

What’s next in robotics with Marc Theermann, the Chief Strategy Officer of Boston Dynamics. Known as "the Bell Labs of robotics”,  this firm is famous for its mechanical menagerie of legged robots that includes Spot, Atlas, Stretch.  These autonomous robots can go anywhere a human can go, and to many places humans cannot, including mine fields. And now they are equipped with artificial intelligence. Autonomous robots are beginning to develop a semantic model of the world.

In this weeks TF, Brett King interviews Swedish Biohacker and Futurist, Hannes Sjoblad. The two futurists get into the evolution of biohacking and longevity treatments, the merging of man and machine through implants, neural/brain control interfaces and advanced robotic prosthetics. This is advanced application of technology for the future of health and life span.

Capitalism is dead, according to Yanis Varoufakis, the author of Technofeudalism. This week on The Futurists you’ll learn about the dramatic reconfiguration of the global economy, whereby profit has been replaced by rents and a flood of central bank money, leading to bigger bubbles and worse crises than ever before. Yanis calls this new system Cloud Capitalism.  Find Yanis Varoufakis on the Web: Yanis Varoufakis home page: https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/ Follow Yanis on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/yanisvaroufakis?lang=en Read Yanis’s Articles on The Guardian:  https://www.theguardian.com/profile/yanis-varoufakis

Dr. Markku Wilenius is the Unesco Chair in Learning Society and Futures Education. This week on The Futurists, Markku shares his global perspective on emerging trends and regional conflicts, including the fate of the EU, the newly-active BRICs, Chinese military projection, the end of US hegemony, the emergence of new trade blocks and what lies beyond the limits of global society.  Dr Markku Wilenius on the web: https://www.markkuwilenius.net/

This week The Futurists hosts Brett and Rob host a guest that NY Times calls "one of the world's most acclaimed living science fiction writers" - Kim Stanley Robinson. We dive into the Mars Trilogy and interplanetary colonization and exploration, we tackle climate shift and the economics of the world of the future. We get some background on his early career in sci-fi, we delve into KSR's world building and how real world places influenced story settings, his interest in fields like terraforming, geology and even genetics. This is part 1 of a two part special episode. You're going to love it, we did!

We're back this week with the final part of the amazing interview with world-leading futurist and science fiction legend Kim Stanley Robinson. We delve into generational thinking around economics and why the Martians of KSR's space opera series have largely abandoned capitalism and traditional 20th century industrial thinking. We return to the topic of climate adaptation, and generally discuss the future of human society. Our favorite episode of the year with Brett and Rob hosting.

For decades, we cursed at evil cable and satellite TV companies. Now TV has been “unbundled.” Streaming on-demand video is available on every device. Surprise, surprise, nobody is happy. The cost of television has skyrocketed, audiences are fragmented across hundreds of services, and it’s a pain to find what we want to watch. Veteran TV analyst Alan Wolk of TV REV tells The Futurists about the chaos in the TV industry and the future conflict between Big Tech, Big Media and Big Retail to control the digital living room.

This week we get into AI in health care, generative and personalized medicine, the cure for cancer and why CoVID helped supercharge that and how AI is helping us live longer, healthier lives. Alex Zhavoronkov, the founder of AI-MedTech player Insilico joins us on TF to talk how health care is going to radically change over the next decade or two. An amazing deep dive. Don’t miss it!

What’s next for retail shops and shopping malls? The previous decade was excruciating for national retail chains. Steve Dennis, the author of Remarkable Retail and Leaders Leap, explains how shopping will evolve in the aftermath of pandemic, e-commerce and the "collapse of the middle”. Why Amazon gets too much blame and the real reason why differentiation is the key to success. 

AI safety pioneer Roman Yampolskiy believes that artificial intelligence presents a challenge unlike anything humanity has ever faced. He says we have just one chance to get it right. A single AI model can cause an existential crisis, and there are already more than 500,000 open source AI models available. In his view, the AI arms race is creating an infinite range of possibilities for catastrophe. Roman returns to The Futurists to share perspectives from his new book, "AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable" delivering a devastating critique of the current state of safety in AI and an urgent call to action.

In every work environment, from factories, hospitals, retail shops to elder care homes, the future workforce will include robots. Dr Harry Kloor, the founder and CEO of Beyond Imagination has blazed a trail toward building reliable, strong robots that can operate safely alongside human workers. Harry tells the Futurists how to design a robot for a variety of workplaces at an affordable price, and what type of artificial intelligence is best for autonomous robot workers. Harry also answers key questions: why insurability for robot co-workers is a challenge; how to create a friendly-looking robot;  the best places to put robots to work; why legless robots are superior;  robots for elder care; how hydraulic robots compare to electronic systems; and why it’s so difficult for a robot to open a bottle of soda. 

In this week's show returning guest Shelly Palmer (CNBC, CNN, Fox5) dives with Rob and Brett into what it will take for corporations to stay relevant in the AI-age. This is a wide ranging discussion on the way AI-based commerce, agency and automation will disrupt many of our current industries and institutions. Not one to be missed! Shelly's BIO - https://shellypalmer.com/shelly-palmer-bio/

In this special edition of the Futurists, media expert Peter Csathy debates with Rob about copyright and generative AI. It’s a preview of their upcoming live debate at the Streaming Media summit in New York. Peter and Rob discuss the major issues in copyright, the most contentious lawsuits, and the most relevant precedents. If you are interested in the future of gen AI for storytelling and entertainment, this episode is essential. Topics include: copyright lawsuits brought by the New York Times, Getty Images and artists; how recent rulings on fair use may affect these cases; the evolving definition of “copying” in the digital domain; why some precedents will matter more than others; why Big Tech is in hot water; and how copyright is a tax on future innovation.  

In this weeks episode Brett King is in London talking the future with renowned OG futurist JP Rangaswami. JP was the Chief Scientist for Salesforce and the Chief Data Officer for Deutsche Bank, way back before that was a thing. In this interview he talks about the philosophy of the future that is redrawn by AI and technology. A great discussion from a great learned mind and a modern philosopher. Bio - https://confusedofcalcutta.com/about-me/