Jack Uldrich’s “Friday Future 5:” April 21, 2023
Futurist Jack Uldrich's weekly newsletter is designed to help leaders think about the future.
Futurist Jack Uldrich's weekly newsletter is designed to help leaders think about the future.
Think Cheaper: Advances in battery technology continue to drive down the cost of electric vehicles. The vehicles are not yet "cheap" by most people's standards but the falling price suggests that they will soon be more affordable than conventional internal combustion automobiles. Think in Questions: A new robotics startup, Figure, is attempting to create the [...]
Think: Here's what I am trying to spend more time thinking about: What does it mean to be human? In today's world of artificial intelligence and rapidly accelerating technologies, the question is going to take on even greater importance. We must, of course, cultivate curiosity and creativity but how do we do this? The best [...]
Think: Researchers at Michigan State University have made a solar cell that could make every window in your house a power source. Meanwhile, Heliatek, a company in Australia, is busy trying to make the exterior of every building a solar panel. The future is looking bright but there is a dark side--how will society dispose of [...]
(Editor's note: As a futurist, I am comfortable with uncertainty but I will admit that the dizzying advances in artificial intelligence have left me grappling to understand the implications of this technology. I fear that no one--not even the developers of AI nor the world's brightest people--understand where all of this headed. It may not [...]
Think: "I think it is the beginning of a paradigm shift. I think this technology is very suitable for the legal industry." This is just one quote from this informative article, Generative AI is Coming For the Lawyers., which I encourage everyone in the legal industry to read--and think about. (The situation for lawyers is [...]
Think: As long-time subscribers know, I am a big proponent of "thinking exponentially." In this visually stunning article, Our World in Data, the author demonstrates how quickly the world can (and is)changing--and this is something we all need to spend some time thinking about. Think: I know I keep harping on artificial intelligence, but that's [...]
Think: Does the world hold massive amounts of hidden hydrogen? It is an intriguing question and if the answer is yes, as this highly informative article in Science suggests, it could truly be a game changer. For another informative "primer" on hydrogen, I recommend this MIT Review article, When Hydrogen Will Help Climate Change--and When It [...]
Think: It goes without saying that the world is a risky place. Still, few leaders spend much time thinking about these risks. This report on the biggest global risks in 2023 is a good place to start. Be forewarned, however, since the report was issued, we have already witnessed how a horrific earthquake in [...]
Think in Questions: In today's rapidly changing world one of the greatest mistakes I see all of us make (and I definitely include myself in this accusation) is that we do not spend enough time asking questions. To this end, I enjoyed this short post from one of my favorite thinkers, Seth Godin: Reimagining [...]