I just came up with the concept “non future optimal”. I googled it and some variants with zero results so it seems like a fresh idea. Let’s dig into it what it could mean. A starting point is Bryan Johnson’s decision to live his life entirely in accord with a longevity optimizing algorithm he calls […]
After chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was first beaten by a computer he introduced what is often called “centaur chess“, in which humans and machines collaborate, historically often beating either humans or computers on their own. A centaur is half-human, half-horse, but importantly the head and torso are human and the body is horse, giving agency […]
On 1 May 2023 we were one-third through the 2020s, one-third of the way to 2030. In January 2020 I was intending to write a blog post saying that most people had no conception how different the world would be by 2030. I’ve been kicking myself that I didn’t get around to it, given that […]
Is the new generation of AI conscious? Or at what point might it become conscious? To answer this we need to have a clearly defined theory of consciousness. We will never ‘agree’ on the best theory or model, but if we have a set of contenders that are well articulated we can debate with some […]
What are our distinctive human capabilities, the ones that distinguish us from machines for the longest? I believe that is perhaps the single most important question we face. If we understand that we can redesign work, focus on developing our unique capabilities, and best complement ourselves with machines.
I had lunch today with my old mate Phil Morle, Partner in deep tech venture capital firm Main Sequence Ventures. We talked about how to take entrepreneurs and leaders into thinking beyond obvious linear extrapolations from the present. We agree that even the next few years, let alone the next decade, are likely to be […]
“Future lift” is a concept developed by Ross Dawson that refers to the ability of a technology, business, or idea to improve the future. He visualizes it as an upward lift or force that elevates the trajectory of the future. Some examples of things that provide future lift include: • Technologies like artificial intelligence and […]
We have irreversibly shifted into an era in which remote and hybrid work are the norm. Every organisation needs to transition their working practices to succeed in this new environment. Large corporations move slowly yet are used to embarking on change initiatives. The challenge is very different for small & medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which can […]
What if technology could help you discover what you found most attractive, in people, art, or your environment? In Alfred Bester’s SF novel The Deceivers, Demi Jeroux evolves her appearance to match what her lover finds most attractive. Now existing in real life, a recent paper Brain-computer interface for generating personally attractive images describes the […]
ChatGPT is on everyone’s lips, but the issue that has brought perhaps the most controversy is its impact on education. Articles such as Will ChatGPT Kill the Student Essay? and ChatGPT Will End High-School English point to essays written out of class no longer being a viable teaching tool or assessment of capabilities. ChatGPT is […]
