Think: What comes after the internet? This is a very interesting question which most business leaders are not spending enough time thinking about. As a futurist, I believe you are going to be hearing more and more about Web3. These two articles are good primers —Web3 and What is Web3?

Think Hard: MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel, light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. The material has the potential to serve as an ultralight coating to protect cellphones, metal in cars, and steel structures.

Think Harder: Yesterday, I delivered the opening keynote at the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s annual summit. During the question and answer session, I had a question about the Metaverse. I have been encouraging readers to spend more time thinking about this topic and this recent announcement by Walmart offers further evidence that many businesses are taking the trend seriously. For those of you wanting to get up to speed on the Metaverse, I recommend these two articles: The Metaverse is Coming and It Is a Very Big Deal and this article by Kevin Kelly.

Think Even Harder: The Pentagon wants AI to predict events before they occur. Personally, I am still thinking about this article. As a former naval intelligence officer and Pentagon policy analyst, I am pleased the Defense Department is aggressively pursuing artificial intelligence, but national security leaders need to seriously consider unintended consequences and they need to make sure that AI can explain to us humans why it is making the recommendations that it is making.

Think Faster: 5G connectivity is changing a lot of things, including health care. Combine advances in 5G with advances in artificial intelligence and suddenly new things become possible — like remote surgery. However, the advances won’t stop there. The world is currently experiencing a shortage of capable surgeons. In the near future, virtual surgeons will be able to join operations anywhere.

Afterthought: “One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light. It is necessary, while in darkness, to know that there is a light somewhere, to know that in oneself, waiting to be found, there is a light.” James Baldwin