Technology

It is precisely because of all those years of anticipating and designing for failure that they are alive today.

Canadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander

If Leonardo Da Vinci could somehow be transported to the present, he would be blown away by the level of knowledge that's available to all of us by a simple press of a key. It follows that we all have the opportunity to be on the level of Da Vinci or Franklin because we all have access to so many different forms of knowledge.

Author of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist

When you have an unlimited view into every awful thing that's happening in the world, as well as every minor thing, you can become paralysed. It's hard to know what to spend time and energy on.

Author & Stoicism Expert; Marketer & Media Strategist

Screens are weapons of mass distraction, and as audiences we have to listen and give speakers a chance.

Curator of TED Talks & Author of "The Long Tail

Machines are pushing people to new frontiers, and teach us that complacency and the status-quo are not working.

World Chess Champion & Political Activist Against Russian Authoritarianism

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.

World Chess Champion & Political Activist Against Russian Authoritarianism

You cannot genuinely connect with another human being through technology. You can only connect with other human beings through the mind, and through love, but technology can serve the process.

Author of "A Return to Love" & Spiritual Activist

In rich countries, 'innovation' often means finding a better way of doing things. But in developing countries, it can mean finding a way to do things at all.

Co-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate

If technology is just for the privileged few, then it will concentrate power in the hands of those who already have it.

Co-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate

We have a growing inequality of rationality. At the top, we've never been so rational – we've accomplished technological miracles, sequenced the COVID-19 genome in days and deployed vaccines in under a year. At the same time, we have pizzagate, QAnon, chemtrails and 9/11 truthers.

Cognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature

There's no question that Facebook could have done much, much more in the last few years to address the problem. I don't think we can inoculate people against crazy ideas, they will always have takers- but we can certainly improve the way that platforms like Facebook operate because they don't have any incentive at the moment to restrict the spread of harmful content.

British historian and author specializing in financial and military history

We've built two great contagion machines. Firstly, international travel which has enabled vast numbers of people to fly over great distances. Secondly, the internet – and in particular, the way the internet has evolved... it became a machine for disseminating contagious ideas.

British historian and author specializing in financial and military history

Today's civilisation is more fragile as a result of its complexity. We've created an astonishingly networked world in which we communicate and travel in ways which were unimaginable for most of human history... but at the same time, we have made ourselves more vulnerable to certain kinds of disaster, and even invented new forms of disaster that didn't' exist before.

British historian and author specializing in financial and military history

I think the democratisation of the image is probably one of the most important things that's happening right now. Everyone's a photographer now, everyone's got a camera, everyone's taking pictures. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean we have to be more critical about what we're looking at.

Scottish photographer and filmmaker known for provocative social documentary work

We must never confuse the pipe with the content. Today, we are fascinated by the pipe and nobody thinks of what is within. There is a pipe full of intelligence, and a pipe full of shit. You have to choose the good one, not the fascinating one.

Renowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design

From a global point of view, we are currently in the middle of a technical revolution similar to what our grandparents experienced when everybody switched their horse carts for cars. The same is happening now and it is a phase of transition for many businesses.

Former Formula 1 World Champion, won 2016 title with Mercedes