At the end of last year, I was asked to write a few thoughts on the most important, most disruptive technological milestones for each year of the last decade that will continue to have an impact in the future of the decade to come. Here follows the original version of that article, before it was edited … Continue reading Trend retrospective, a decade in the rearview mirror
The Brave New World conference took place in the Netherlands this week. One of the biggest ideas on display was that of bio-organic, 3D printed body parts. Yes, 3D body parts have been around for a while. The list of replacement cells, arteries and organs scientists can design and manufacture is an impressive, growing one. The … Continue reading Build Your Own Body Parts – A Brave New World Indeed
Generation Alpha: The generational cohort born from 2011 to 2015. Generation Alpha are the children of the Millennial generation. Weened on cellphones, raised by robots, they are mommy's little cyborgs. I'm a Millennial. I have a Generation Alpha daughter. As such, I am partly responsible (that is to blame) for both the way Generation Alpha … Continue reading Raising Generation Alpha
Following on from Sapiens, Homo Deus is as illuminating as its predecessor. This volume looks at transhumanism, that is the evolution of homo sapiens (that's us) into an entirely new species: Homo Deus, the first terrestrial species to emerge to have created itself, though a combination of biological, genetic engineering and technological enhancements, rather than to … Continue reading Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow
"Amortal: Unable to die from disease or age." Amortality: A dream that could become reality in our lifetimes. Google has invested $1.5Bn in its strange and secretive project Calico, which has a mandate to “kill death” and stop human aging. Mark Zuckerberg's also invested $3Bn in projects to eradicate human diseases before the end of … Continue reading Amortality and the right (or demand) to die
They say that if you want to be a good futurist, you should read science fiction. It is hard to argue that forward thinkers like George Orwell and Margaret Atwood and called a lot of things right in Animal Farm, 1984 and the Handmaids Tale. The Tin Men was written in the mid-20th century and … Continue reading The Tin Men
Cyborgs already walk amongst us. Actually, this is nothing new. For decades already we have been able to upgrade our frail human bodies with a pacemaker to keep our hearts pumping, hearing aid implants to help us regain our sense of sound, and metal plates and screws to hold us together when our hips and … Continue reading Of Machines and Men
It appears academia is split. The brightest minds of our time cannot agree whether Artificial Intelligence is the best thing to happen to humanity yet - or our worst nightmare. Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook is on the pro AI team. He is exacted about all the cool technology we will soon be playing with. Yey! … Continue reading Is Elon Musk a Luddite?
