From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
If Russia or China try to fly a plane into the United States, they'll be shut down by a USAF F35 that we spent a trillion-dollars developing. Meanwhile, if they try and fly an information plane into the United States they're met with Facebook and Google algorithms that run an auction to enable them to get the maximum audience, for the cheapest price. They're met with a white glove that takes them directly to their target.
We're living in a world of increasing, exponentially growing computational power. Technology is always on, always available, and we're now moving into the quantum computing era – these exponential technologies are enabling artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, synthetic biology, augmented reality, blockchain and allowing these technologies to converge, creating new business models.
This historical and cultural trajectory, while understandable, seemingly dismisses the idea that computers can serve as invaluable complements to human cognition. We ought to look beyond mere abstract potentialities of human capabilities and consider the tangible ways AI can assist when humans interact with their environment.
If technology is just for the privileged few, then it will concentrate power in the hands of those who already have it.
We need to be saying, '…fuck you! Stop pouring itching powder over me!' It's like someone is pouring itching powder over us, all day, every day. The same person pouring itching powder over us is also the person saying, 'mate… try this meditation app….'
I don't believe social media has transformed the essence of our social dynamics; rather, it has introduced a novel arena for the age-old status games we've always played. Human social interactions are fundamentally structured around three types of status games: dominance, virtue, and competence.
Social media has been a wonderful thing; it allows celebrities to bypass the middle-man. Many celebrities have also been able to monetise their social-media and make extra money, often very serious amounts. Crucially, social media gives celebrities the opportunities to speak for themselves and set the record straight.
The workplace of the future is hard to predict specifically, but one thing we can predict is that we will increasingly rely on human intelligence and creativity as opposed to human capacity to perform repetitive tasks.
Yahoo Inc. is aligned with Google in condemning the kind of cyber attacks that Google Inc. said Tuesday it experienced from China.
Our vision is something we call 'SETI of the mind.' The goal is to treat the DMT space and other altered states as novel domains to be explored, much in the same way we treat outer space. It is a completely new frontier inhabited by beings that we treat as potential intelligences with whom we can establish a two-way relationship.
We quickly adopt technologies we see potential in and dismiss those that don't seem promising. Over the last five years, we have heavily invested in Artificial Intelligence, which has brought immense benefits to us and our clients.
We cannot think about technology in confrontational terms. There is no race against the machines, there is no fight, no war. We have to end this long, historical confrontational narrative.