Category: Technology and Humanity

Uber and the Ongoing Erasure of Public Life (good read via The New Yorker)

“Cities struggling to keep subways and buses running are being drained of revenue by tech companies and a reserve army of cars. These cars, in turn, coagulate the arteries of the city, blocking the remaining fleet of buses, causing a downward spiral of decreasing ridership and growing traffic. Despite all of this, Uber claims to support … Continue reading "Uber and the Ongoing Erasure of Public Life (good read via The New Yorker)"

Gerd’s Digital Ethics newsletter #6 has been published: AI versus human creativity, big tech engages with ethics… and more

Read the latest edition here (and yes… sign up!) Welcome to the sixth issue of our Digital Ethics Newsletter. In this week’s edition, we look into what matters most: what it means to be human, and how to remain human. Not exactly an easy question! We found some good articles balancing efficiency and creativity, and also … Continue reading "Gerd’s Digital Ethics newsletter #6 has been published: AI versus human creativity, big tech engages with ethics… and more"

New podcast: Gerd Leonhard and Peter Van on Chapter 3 of “Technology vs Humanity: The Megashifts”

A good talk! New podcast on the key themes set forth my book Technology vs Humanity, chapter 3, entitled The Megashifts”. The Megashifts include digitisation, automation, datafication, virtualisation, robotisation, and others (for a total of 10), and understanding them is the ticket to future success. This includes questions such as “What are Key Human Indicators?” and “What is … Continue reading "New podcast: Gerd Leonhard and Peter Van on Chapter 3 of “Technology vs Humanity: The Megashifts”"

Complete video and audio recordings of my keynote at BuildingTheFuture Lisbon January 2019: technology and humanity – the future

This is the complete recording of my keynote of the Building The Future / Microsoft Ativar Event in Lisbon Jan 30 2019 see http://buildingthefuture.pt  Topics in my talk included technology vs. or with technology, the #hellven of exponential technological progress, the future of work, automation, AI, digital ethics and much more Find the original video at https://youtu.be/eAhSUTlAocc … Continue reading "Complete video and audio recordings of my keynote at BuildingTheFuture Lisbon January 2019: technology and humanity – the future"

A philosopher argues that an AI can’t be an artist (Sean Dorrance Kelly) #manmachine

Sean Dorrance Kelly is a philosophy professor at Harvard and coauthor of the New York Times best-selling book All Things Shining.  In this lengthy but very worthwhile piece in MIT Technology review he shares some really powerful thoughts on the differences between humans and machines. “Claims like Kurzweil’s that machines can reach human-level intelligence assume … Continue reading "A philosopher argues that an AI can’t be an artist (Sean Dorrance Kelly) #manmachine"

‘Our minds can be hijacked’: the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia (via TheGuardian)

No sugarcoating – this is Surveillance (says Apple CEO Tim Cook at an EU commission event)

Extract from Tim Cook’s keynote address to the European Parliament in October last year. We are delighted to hear Tim be that clear on privacy and ethics. “We shouldn’t sugarcoat the consequences… This-Is-Surveillance… and these stockpiles of personal data serve only to enrich the companies that collect them.”

AI is supervised learning (says Ginni Rometty, CEO IBM)

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty explains the benefits of Watson and AI in general. Very astute and sometimes equally worrying. “This is supervised learning: Watson has been trained by the best oncologists, he is been trained by the best people in risk and financial services, he is been trained by teachers for teachers,… this type of … Continue reading "AI is supervised learning (says Ginni Rometty, CEO IBM)"

Amazon acquires Eero – why that is that worrying?

Amazon has acquired Eero, the mesh-Wifi company. What is mesh-Wifi? The Verge has some critical reflections on why this is worrying. The concerns are articulated under three headings: Consternation, concern, and exhaustion: Consternation: “Specifically that an independent company was once again snapped up by one of the big tech giants. We all feel trapped — or … Continue reading "Amazon acquires Eero – why that is that worrying?"

Leading into the Future: a compilation with slides on #transformation and #techvshuman

Here is a brand-new compilation of my key themes from the past 3 months: technology vs humanity, exponential change, digital ethics, leadership and .. how to DO the future. Download the PDF: Leading into the future Gerd Leonhard Futurist 2019 Keynote Themes Technology vs Humanity Leading into the Future: the most important things you need to … Continue reading "Leading into the Future: a compilation with slides on #transformation and #techvshuman"

Only 17% Of Consumers Believe Personalized Ads Are Ethical, Survey Says (via Forbes)

“A massive majority of consumers believe that using their data to personalize ads is unethical. And a further 59% believe that personalization to create tailored newsfeeds — precisely what Facebook, Twitter, and other social applications do every day — is unethical. At least, that’s what they say on surveys.” Only 17% Of Consumers Believe Personalized Ads … Continue reading "Only 17% Of Consumers Believe Personalized Ads Are Ethical, Survey Says (via Forbes)"

New podcast! Comments on Chapter 4 of FuturistGerd’s book “Technology vs. Humanity”: The automation of society.

In this week’s podcast, we talk through Chapter 4 of my book Technology vs Humanity, entitled “Automating Society”. This chapter includes questions such as, ‘what is the future of work?’ and ‘what should be automated?’ – or, more accurately, ‘what should NOT be automated?’ We’ll also take a deep dive into the 5A’s: Automation, Assentation, Abdication, … Continue reading "New podcast! Comments on Chapter 4 of FuturistGerd’s book “Technology vs. Humanity”: The automation of society."

AI is incredibly smart, but it will never match human creativity (says Alex Wulff – would love your take on this!)

I really enjoyed a short piece today by Alex Wulff on The Next Web titled, ‘AI is incredibly smart, but it will never match human creativity’. Wulff explores the modern misconception that machines are actually creative (in the human sense). He looks to horror movies and Google’s Deep Dream Generator as examples of modern narratives perpetuating the … Continue reading "AI is incredibly smart, but it will never match human creativity (says Alex Wulff – would love your take on this!)"

IBM’s open letter to the tech industry (yes, it’s a mixed bag)

Guest post by The Futures Agency content curator Petervan “Dear Tech…” is the opening sentence of a new IBM commercial, a video that pens an open letter to the tech industry. Obviously, this is a highly commercial – and at times a touch cheesy – production that comes laden with all of today’s buzzwords. We hear … Continue reading "IBM’s open letter to the tech industry (yes, it’s a mixed bag)"

Is a kind of ‘awesome abdication’ our future? Google gets ready to ‘do it’ all for us. #hellven

Guest post by The Futures Agency content curator Petervan Remember when the world’s most famous brand catchcry was ‘Just Do It’ from Nike? Those days are over. In 2019, brands aren’t interested in encouraging you to do anything – they are vying to do it for you. In fact, Google has just released a new … Continue reading "Is a kind of ‘awesome abdication’ our future? Google gets ready to ‘do it’ all for us. #hellven"

The Troubling Trajectory Of Technological Singularity (good read via Forbes)

We’re hurtling towards the future at an alarming pace. As I like to say, humanity will change more in the next two decades than it has in the previous 300 years. The technological singularity is set to change everything –  but should it change who WE are? I was reading Jayshree Pandya’s piece, ‘The Troubling Trajectory of … Continue reading "The Troubling Trajectory Of Technological Singularity (good read via Forbes)"

Please sign up for my Digital Ethics newsletter – this is the #1 technology topic in 2019

Go here to read the latest edition and sign up for this weekly summary of the best #digitalethics (the ethics of exponential technological change) finds and morsels.  And please spread the word via Twitter and LinkedIn etc. Thanks ! Digital Ethics by Futurist Gerd Leonhard: my latest findings from the intersection of humanity and technology, focusing … Continue reading "Please sign up for my Digital Ethics newsletter – this is the #1 technology topic in 2019"

From greenwashing to “machine-washing” (a good comment on tech companies and AI, via the Boston Globe)

Guest post by TFA Curator Petervan Some technology companies are starting to go the extra mile in their corporate communication strategies in order to manage the perception that they focus on being sustainable, caring for the planet and society in general. On the other hand, some of them have also become very good at “greenwashing” … Continue reading "From greenwashing to “machine-washing” (a good comment on tech companies and AI, via the Boston Globe)"

About Digital Pollution (Washington Monthly #mustread)

In the slipstream of exponential change… read this great posts on why the world is now choking on digital pollution (Washington Monthly).  Now that “data is the new oil” (one of Gerd’s favourite memes – watch this video from 2012 😄), we also have “spillage” in the form of data pollution. The first time I heard about … Continue reading "About Digital Pollution (Washington Monthly #mustread)"

Nick Cave on why composing awesome music will remain a human-only occupation

A guest post by Peter Van Nick Cave has an opinion on the capacity of AI to write a good song. In this wonderful article, he replies to a Slovenian fan named Peter. As somebody using myself music and soundscapes in my performances and immersive learning experiences, it felt like he was addressing me directly. … Continue reading "Nick Cave on why composing awesome music will remain a human-only occupation"