Future generations will call today the beginning of a radical social, technological and economic revolution. Erik Brynjolfsson, renowned MIT professor and leading authority on how businesses can leverage emerging technologies, concludes that harnessing advances in artificial intelligence (AI) is the grand challenge for our society…
Robots are revolutionizing how humans go about their daily business. Amazon’s robotic “personal assistant,” known as “Alexa,” may be the first of the new personally relatable machines. Rachel Botsman introduced her three year-old daughter Grace to Alexa, and what ensued was an experiment in how the upcoming generation will relate to machines.
At MIT’s Center for Extreme Bionics, Professor Hugh Herr and his team of researchers are working miracles. Through his own determination and scientific prowess, Herr overcame the loss of his lower legs after a tragic 1982 climbing accident. Today, he’s abolishing the debilitating physical and neurological handicaps afflicting humanity.
Imagine a new technology that, within only a few years, revolutionized everyday life while rendering obsolete nearly all assumptions about leading companies and planning for future growth. At the beginning of the last century, that technology was electricity. Today, it’s artificial intelligence (AI)….
Envision this: free of the 9-to-5, more of us are “micro-entrepreneurs” who set our own hours and incomes, empowered to profit off our own assets and time without traditional employers. It’s not a far-fetched scenario; in fact, it’s the future of work…
Immersive technology is having its moment. After decades of development, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) are finally catching on – with businesses. Wal-Mart’s announcement last week that it plans to make…
Emotions influence every aspect of our life – how we learn, communicate, make decisions. Yet, they’re missing from our digital world. The devices and apps so ingrained in our day-to-day routines have had no way of knowing how we feel. Until now…
We’re well on our way to a future of self-driving cars – but uncertainty still paves the road ahead. When a driverless car crashes, who’s at fault? And who pays for the damages? Likely not the driver…
In this episode, leading robot ethicist and researcher at the MIT Media Lab, Kate Darling, talks to Minds Worth Meeting about AI’s role in business and how new technologies will…
In 2017, a plethora of changes are approaching the world of education: a new American presidential administration is bringing new policies to K-12 schools, universities are reconsidering graduates’ need for a four-year degree, and modern technology is increasingly altering the times and places of instruction delivery.
Amy Webb, futurist and bestselling author, is concerned. The recent comments by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin about the effect of artificial intelligence and automation on the job market (“…not even on my radar screen… 50-100 more years.”) indicate to her that the administration is not up to speed on the latest developments in the field. In response, Webb looks at the state of artificial intelligence and its potential to replace human jobs in a Los Angeles Times op-ed.
Despite what workers may think, findings show almost every job will be impacted by robots. Rapid leaps in artificial intelligence (AI) are putting entire professions and industries on the chopping…
Credit card fraud cost the U.S. retail industry $32 billion in 2014. One of the easiest ways for a scam artist to gain access to credit card information is a “skimmer,” a small device illegally installed on an ATM. Now several banks are going for a technical fix: cardless ATMs. Anindya Ghose, the foremost authority on mobile economics and author of the groundbreaking “Tap: Unlocking the Mobile Economy” (MIT Press, April 2017), details the ways these new mobile-phone-based systems will make retail banking more secure.
Fifty years ago, Moshe Safdie was a recent architecture graduate, intent on realizing the ideas explored in his thesis project at McGill University: a three-dimensional model for urban housing. Sandy VanGinkel, one of his professors, recruited him to help design the master plan for the World Exposition in Montreal. Safdie agreed to join the effort, with the caveat that he could continue his exploration into housing as a potential entry for the Canadian pavilion.
(Photo credit: Timothy Hursley)
Are you preparing today for tomorrow’s global trends? In other words, are you thinking like a futurist? Amy Webb’s “The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe is Tomorrow’s Mainstream” (PublicAffairs, 2016) has revealed her methodology for answering vitally important questions about the future, and earned the 2017 Axiom Business Book Gold Award in the Business Technology category.
Around the world, trust in our institutions is collapsing. More than a trend, this is a profound shift changing politics, business and social norms. Trust once reserved for respected institutions and brands, we now bestow on complete strangers through digital platforms such as Airbnb and Uber. The shift isn’t just about the failure of institutions; technology is rewriting the rules of trust.
More than one million refugees arrived in Europe last year. Alexander Betts, an Oxford University professor and foremost expert on immigration and refugees, thinks that the West has some room for improvement in its reception, and perception, of those million people.
The transportation industry is changing. Vehicles are getting smarter and smaller, environments are being designed on a more human scale, and companies are rushing to innovate in the face of these changes. Or as Jeffrey Schnapp, of Harvard’s “idea foundry” metaLAB, describes it: “a sense that the world of mobility is undergoing a significant transformation.”
Africa’s economic slowdown, triggered by a plunge in commodity prices, has raised lingering questions about the continent’s future: Is Africa’s population boom more of a curse than a blessing? Can its economies generate the jobs necessary to employ a workforce projected to reach 830 million people by 2050? Will its leaders deliver the education and infrastructure required to unleash the productivity of its people?
The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation hopes to answer these questions and more through the work of its new research division focused on global prosperity. Led by researcher Efosa Ojomo, a champion of creating economic prosperity through disruptive innovation, his team will examine how emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and Asia can create prosperity by focusing on innovations that build new markets and spur long-term economic growth and employment.
Kevin Kelly with advice for confronting a future filled with AI, robots, and constantly upgrading systems.
In Rwanda, more than 80% of the population lives in homes with a dirt floor. In India, only 25% of the population can afford a refrigerator. Such poverty-stricken countries are not markets for business – or are they?
Abuse on social media is terrible for victims and can even hurt your business. We need “rules of the road” for social media just like we need them for highways.
What does trust mean in this new world and how can you build it with people?
Like it or not, at some point in your life, you will live with a robot, says Guy Hoffman. And that’s why the renowned robotics expert is on a mission to make robots more fluent, more engaging, more graceful, and well – more likeable.
The nature of how we work and develop talent is forever changed at the hands of the internet, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics–and it’s only the beginning. What does this mean for the corporation forced to evolve with the times?
Yes, virtual reality (VR) can make you more empathetic. And, according to renowned VR guru Jeremy Bailenson, it can also cut business costs, boost employee productivity, help you save money…
What if we could grow delicious, nutrient-dense food, indoors anywhere in the world? Caleb Harper is doing it. Food is in crisis. By 2050, the world won’t have enough food…
Are we making computers that are smarter and better than us? Will algorithm-enabled machines and ubiquitous tracking eventually win, taking over our jobs, our lives and eventually the world? This…
Our cars are getting smarter. They dictate (and recalculate) directions, sync with our phones, help us park or switch lanes, and brake if we don’t before it’s too late. The…
Businesses can’t predict the future, but they can – and should – be better prepared for it. With disruption and uncertainty our “new normal,” leaders are challenged to accurately decipher…
There is perhaps no greater force for change than a powerful idea. Thousands of such ideas have come to life through TED, commanding the attention – and inspiring action –…
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