Editor’s Note: For the remainder of the summer, I am taking a sabbatical to work on a new book I am writing in collaboration with Arctic explorer, Will Steger. The working title is “Exploring Our Unknown Future: A Blueprint for Creators.” For the next few months, the newsletter will take on an abbreviated form as I focus more of my “thoughts” around the theme of the upcoming book.
Thought Leadership: What new words and concepts will exist in the future? The short answer is: I don’t know. Still, it is a question worth pondering because, as society continues to change and evolve, we will not only need new ways of knowing, seeing, and being, but we will require new words to capture and express these ideas.
I am only fluent in English, yet I’ve always enjoyed the depth and richness of other languages. The Japanese word “Kokoro,” for example, means mind, heart, and spirit and encompasses the idea that the three words can be melded into a concept that better expresses a deeper appreciation of the totality of the human experience. In German, Eisenbahnscheinbewegung, is a compound word meaning “railway illusion motion,” and it refers to the experience you have when sitting on a stationary train and seeing another train move past your window, creating the illusion that it is your train that is the one moving.
Of course, countless other beautiful and provocative words exist all across the world’s many languages, but have you ever stopped to consider how many words have been lost to humankind? In North America, prior to the arrival of European settlers, it has been estimated that upwards of 10,000 different languages were spoken on the continent. Within these languages, a host of insightful or profound words must have existed which could have provided us with clues into how these peoples understood themselves and their relationship to the world and the Universe.
As I contemplate the deep future, it is my expectation that future generations will rekindle and “rebirth” some of these long lost concepts, and it is my hope that these new words–and the enlarged vocabulary that they create–will provide the foundation for helping us construct a new and better of ourselves and our place in the world.
Think Smarter: I recently had the opportunity and pleasure of appearing on “12 Geniuses” – Don McPherson’s excellent podcast. We discussed the topic of “AI and Human Evolution.” A link to the podcast can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gGud79jb. (A shorter excerpt of our discussion on the topic of “The Internet is Broken” can be viewed on YouTube.) Below is a detailed description of our full conversation:
“It’s clear that artificial intelligence is going to be one of the most powerful forces shaping the future of humanity and the planet today and over the next two decades. Much of the AI discourse is negative or dystopian themed. Far too little AI news is highlighting how the planet’s problems and the challenges humans face can be solved.
In this conversation, futurist Jack Uldrich paints a picture of how we can collectively benefit from the advancements in artificial intelligence. Given the moving target of forecasting the future, Jack provides AI scenarios that he is 99% certain will occur, 75% certain, and 50% certain. He even provides a few scenarios that have a 25% — and even a 1% — chance of happening.
Jack says that we will see great leaps in diagnosing cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease sooner. He is optimistic that AI can be used to address the effects of climate change and greatly assist in the pursuit of nuclear fusion. In what is becoming known as the “compressed century” – where there will be a century’s worth of change in just a decade, Jack points out that “AI is doubling in capacity and capability every seven months” which means that the capabilities of AI in six years could be a thousand times more powerful than they are today.
Jack doesn’t see AI as a panacea. He points out that there will be job losses because of AI. He says that trust could be further eroded as a result of AI-generated deep fakes and fake news. He also points out that the “internet is broken” as we move from “social media to social production.” The conversation ends with Jack sharing his ideas around how purpose, faith, and trust will grow in importance to cope with the disruption AI is certain to bring.
Jack Uldrich is a well-recognized global futurist, speaker, and the author of thirteen books, including a number of award-winning best sellers. He is a frequent speaker on technology, change management and leadership and has addressed hundreds of corporations, associations and not-for-profit organizations on five continents. He regularly makes television appearances on PBS’s Frontline, the Science Channel, and the Discovery Channel, and is a frequent guest on major media outlets, including CNN, CNBC, Fox and National Public Radio.”
