Future Tense

Historian and economist, Marc Levinson, argues we’ve entered the fourth age of globalisation. An era, he says, that will be driven by the movement of “bits and bytes, not goods”. Also, should fintech companies be marketing their wares to children as young as six? And why is NASA planning to open fire on a pair of asteroids?

The technology sector has a long history of designing devices to lock in customers and accelerate consumption. But “planned obsolescence” as it’s called is facing a push-back. We also speak with Margaret Mitchell, who helped set up the AI ethics group at Google, only to find she was shown the door when the company’s bosses didn’t like what she had to tell them.

Simon Chesterman argues for a new global agency to regulate the development of artificial intelligence. One that would also ensure an equitable distribution of its benefits. Professor Chesterman, the Dean of the Law at the National University of Singapore, says discussion around AI has been dominated by the US, Europe and China, but smaller Asian nations also want a seat at the table.

If you think coal is controversial, spare a thought for nuclear energy. It may not be everybody’s choice as a replacement for fossil fuels, but the technology is evolving, new reactors are being built and researchers are working on making them smaller and mobile. In this episode we give an overview on the size and scale of the nuclear energy sector - and the changes and challenges it faces.

Surveillance has become mainstream in the 21st century. It’s now so ubiquitous that many of us no longer notice its intrusion in our personal lives. But not all forms of monitoring are designed to exploit and/or contain. In this episode we look at several interesting monitoring technologies designed to assist and heal.

Google has affirmed its decision to ban all third-party cookies from its popular Chrome browser by the end of 2023. Cookies have long under-pinned the business model for online marketing. Some analysts are predicting a “cookiepocalypse”.  But others say that’s hard to swallow. Also, the world is currently facing a global shortage of computer chips. We examine why that’s occurred and when the blockage is likely to shift.

We all know the value of planning, but in a complex, complicated and often confounding world it can be difficult knowing how to start. Scenario Planning is planning tool for uncertain situations - find out what it entails and how it might benefit organisations and businesses.

The big traditional religions of the world are losing followers, but not just, as is commonly thought, to atheism and secularism. Religion as such won't die any time soon because human beings are “hard-wired” to believe in the religious and the supernatural. Some analysts say the world is experiencing a shift toward individualistic spiritual expression, including a return to paganism.

The terms “sustainability” and “sustainable development” are now so commonplace as to be meaningless – according to the sceptics. Worse still, a focus on sustainability, they say, can actually mask the very real problems we have in dealing with climate change and managing the world’s diminishing resources.

Facebook’s CEO has spoken about changing the social media platform into a “metaverse” company and he’s pledged billions to the cause. The metaverse is a term Silicon Valley uses for the next stage of the internet: a world in which all activities are conducted in an immersive Virtual Reality environment. But would Zoom-weary humans want to live in such a world? And is it really just a cover for surveillance capitalism?