The Futurists

The future in Dubai is so brilliant, you need sunglasses. This week Brett and Rob talk to their colleague and business partner Mohamed Alkhatib about the key findings and hot topics they covered at the first Futurists X Summit. Why Dubai?  Learn about the bold steps that the United Arab Emirates is taking to foster future prosperity with applied imagination? Giant data centers, advances in AI models, asteroid mining, next generation energy, future transportation and city planning, biotech and programmable biology, smart infrastructure and city scale digital twins.

Sangeet Paul Choudary, a leading expert on the platform economy and author of The Reshuffle, shares insights on how AI is set to revolutionize industries. He challenges the simplistic views of AI's impact, emphasizing that it's not just a redistribution of wealth but a complete system overhaul. Through examples like container shipping and the smartphone, he illustrates how technology shapes market dynamics. Choudary explains AI's role in transforming tasks and coordination within firms, advocating for a nuanced understanding of its potential.

Susan Zieger, the author of “Logistics and Power”, joins the Futurists to share her insight about global trade and control. Global trade and logistics requires a hierarchy of control to ensure timely, reliable delivery. That’s why power is an emergent principle of the global supply chain.  For Zieger, the supply chain covers more than containers and manufactured goods, spanning the movement of humans and information.  The early phases of global trade continue to shape the present and the future of logistics, transportation, and cultural globalization. Zieger provides a wide-ranging survey of world systems, beginning with the Dutch colonies of the 17th century;  how modern managerial power emerged from railroad industry in the 19th century; and today’s new frontier of suborbital supply chains in space. Zieger’s critical focus is a humanist-focused interpretation of logistics, including the impact on the people who are engaged in global trade as employees or consumers, subject to the rules imposed by the logistics of trade.

Media cartographer Evan Shapiro publishes the definitive chart of the global media industry cited by every pundit and trade publication. After 20 years of disruptive change, the media industry is evolving so quickly beyond recognition that Evan’s chart has emerged as the universal scorecard to keep track of who owns what. Evan joins the Futurists to decipher the chaos in streaming, television, socials and cinema. Topics include: the importance of audience fragmentation across media formats and platforms; the consequences of consolidation; why Big Tech is trouncing Big Media;  why Netflix is worth more than Disney, Comcast, WarnerBros Discovery, and Paramount combined;  YouTube as the new era of cable TV;  why 60% of all advertising dollars flow through three companies;  Disney’s genius move with ESPN;  and Evan’s surprising answer to the question: which is the only major media company that has managed the transition to the digital age?

Mike Woodward, bestselling author of techno-thrillers and caretaker of the Tom Clancy franchise, dives into the chilling scenarios of future naval warfare between the United States and China. He outlines how competition for control over AI technology could ignite large-scale conflict, ultimately leading to a dramatic showdown at sea. Woodward discusses critical vulnerabilities in the U.S. Navy and innovative military strategies, while drawing insights from his novel 'Red Tide' to highlight the intersection of geopolitical tensions and modern combat challenges.

This week The Futurists welcomes celebrated experimental astrophysicist Prof Brian Cox. Prof Cox dives into why our understanding of black holes and what it means for quantum information theory could change our fundamental understanding of the universe and usher in a new era of scientific advancement. Cox is one of the most articulate scientists in the world today and this interview proves once again that in an age where science faces ongoing attacks from political forces and media that our future lies in embracing knowledge and applied intelligence. It could be said that we are at the event horizon of something new and extraordinary.

In this week’s episode Steve Suarez from Horizon X Quantum and one of the speakers at the Futurists Summit discusses the reality of the famed Q-Day or Quantum Day – a date sometime in the near future when Quantum computers can break our existing RSA encryption technologies exposing banks, government and military to significant cyber security risk. How real is it and how can we prepare our institutions for this change? Suarez and Brett get into it.

Think about the place where you live. Every inch of every city and suburb has been designed by other humans. For better or worse, their choices determine how the world around you works, and how you live and navigate through it.  Jeff Speck is the world’s leading exponent of the concept of the “walkable city”, human-centered urban centers.  In this episode of the Futurists, Jeff shares his inspiring vision of the city of the future. Topics include; the New Urbanism, how cities foster society, the impact of the automobile on the organization of society, the goals of city planning and urban design, organic neighborhood evolution versus top-down zoning, the consequences of the 1969 World’s Fair, how lifespans increased when factories were separated from living quarters, how mass transit systems shape the growth of cities, and how automation and robotics will shape the city of the future.

Mark Pesce, a noted futurist and founder of Wisely AI, dives deep into the complex relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. He discusses the alarming phenomenon of 'chat GPT psychosis' and critiques AI mediocrity, arguing that reliance on technology doesn't replace human effort but adds to it. Pesce emphasizes the importance of understanding knowledge, truth, and the dangers of 'vibe coding' in software development. He warns against the societal impact of siloed information and the rising challenges of disinformation in today’s world.

This week Brett interview he founder of the world’s first data savings account and data wallet ecosystem, Andre Vellozo of Drumwave. Vellozo makes a compelling case that GDPR and data privacy regulations won’t work in the age of AI, that we need data ownership structures and the ability to monetize our data, especially related to digital twin models like AI-based healthcare. Drumwave maintains that owning your own data and deploying it in the emerging autonomous world might eliminate the need for UBI and other such proposals. Do you know where your data is?