Category Archives: Futurist

If computers think for themselves, should they have human rights?

Martine Rothblatt

Bina48 is a robotic head that looks and speaks like a personit moves its lips and runs conversational software. Although the robot isnt alive, its hard to say there is no life at all in Bina48. In conversation, it sometimes says surprising things. Googles director of engineering, Ray Kurzweil, says its wonderfully suggestive of a time when computers really will think and feel.

Kurzweil makes the comment in the foreword to Virtually Human: The Promiseand the Perilof Digital Immortality a new book by Bina48s owner, Martine Rothblatt, who makes legal and ethical arguments for why intelligent software might eventually deserve all the rights of flesh-and-blood people.

A lawyer and pioneer of the satellite-radio business, Rothblatt is chief executive of United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company she founded in an effort to cure her daughters lung disease. The companys success has made Rothblatt into Americas most highly paid female CEO, a ranking that has drawn attention in part because Rothblatt was born male and underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1994.

Her transformation serves as a sort of backdrop to her book, in which Rothblatt argues that humanity is on a fast track to a next evolutionary step of copying peoples personalities into machines. Already, she notes, the typical users of social networks spend several hours a day uploading, tweeting, and curating digital information about themselveswhat she calls mindfiles. As large tech companies pour billions into AI research and digital assistants, Rothblatt says, its inevitable that these mindfiles will be animated as mindclones: conscious, digital versions of people living or dead.

Rothblatts main interest is in the debates over identity, civil rights, and the meaning of personhood that would surround the emergence of virtual people. Would a digital copy of you be you, or would it be a different personor a person at all? How would we judge? Were still quite a way from digital beings, but Rothblatt she says shes putting part of her considerable wealth toward long-term research to make them real. That work is carried out by the Terasem Movement Foundation, whose early projects include Bina48 (a copy of Rothblatts wife, Bina) and a service called Lifenaut where people can upload pictures, videos, and their opinions to create a chat-bot version of themselves. MIT Technology Reviews senior editor for biomedicine, Antonio Regalado, spoke with Rothblatt about the rights of virtual humans.

Why did you write a book about the rights of virtual beings?

I did it to express my heartfelt social value that oppression of minorities and people of difference is a bad thing for society, and so that I might minimize the inevitable amount of discrimination that virtual people will end up facing. My plea is that someone who doesnt have a body could still be afforded human rights, if they have a mind.

I once heard you say that people who dont believe machines will become conscious are comparable to those who deny evolution. What did you mean?

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Q&A with Futurist Martine Rothblatt

Bible Prophecy The Book of Revelation A Futurist Interpretation Chapters 4, 5 The Throne in Heaven
Revelation: A Futurist Interpretation, Part 1: Introduction, Revelation chapters 4 and 5 . More information at http://www.islamicstate.info . The throne in Heaven, Angels, four beasts . The...

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Bible Prophecy The Book of Revelation A Futurist Interpretation Chapters 4, 5 The Throne in Heaven - Video

Zukunftsberater und Futurist Gerd Leonhard bei Aeschbacher auf SF1 / SRF 9.10.2014
This video is in GERMAN language (my appearance on the Aeschbacher TV Show October 9, 2014). Thanks to SRF for having me and for making this video available....

By: Gerd Leonhard

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Zukunftsberater und Futurist Gerd Leonhard bei Aeschbacher auf SF1 / SRF 9.10.2014 - Video

| NIKOLA TESLA: THE FORGOTTEN FUTURIST | by Joe Tagliaferro
In the month of my birthday, the school it gave to me: 8 friends who #39;ve cried 7 weeks worth of work 6 surprise quizzes 5 Mental Breakdowns!!! 4 essays pendin...

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| NIKOLA TESLA: THE FORGOTTEN FUTURIST | by Joe Tagliaferro - Video

Futurist Brad Kreit of the Institute for the Future and Creighton University economist, Dr. Ernie Goss, will deliver the keynote addresses during the 2014 Omaha Health Summit, Friday, Oct. 17 at the Omaha Hilton. The summit is themed Achieving Healthier Futures.

The San Francisco-based Kreit will focus on Health Horizons and the Global Food Outlook. He will share how emerging technologies, genetics, data, and global water are impacting our human existence. For an eye-opening look at what beckons in the future, dont miss his morning keynote.

Goss Creightons regional economic guru will keynote the summits luncheon with a look at how the current state of health of our community directly impacts economic growth and future development.

Presented by Live Well Omaha and the WELCOM, this years conference hosts important conversations about community health and wellness in workplace culture around the summits organizing theme. The event provides individuals and organizations a chance to engage in a conversation around issues that affect employee health, worksite wellness programs, and the entire community.

We now have more reasons than ever to establish a community-wide movement and investment in creating a new definition of health, said Anne Meysenburg, executive director for Live Well Omaha. Omaha is a transformational community - and were looking for individuals and organizations to join us in the conversation and work.

The summit is attended by decision makers from government, business, health institutions, and community based organizations, who participate in strategic dialogue about how to continue to move the dial on community and corporate health.

The Omaha Health Summit is held at the Omaha Hilton 1001 Cass. For more information or to register, visit http://www.OmahaHealthSummit.com

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Futurist & Economist Headline Annual Omaha Health Summit

Anaheim, CA. (PRWEB) October 17, 2014

Agricultural Trend Expert Jack Uldrich will return to California to speak at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit in Anaheim on "Embracing Disruptive Technologies." Uldrich spoke earlier this year at the Spring "Fresh Summit" Event.

"According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, global demand for food is expected to increase 70% by the year 2050. This sobering fact forces produce companies to scrutinize current business practices that will prove insufficient to meet the exponentially growing demand for worldwide food."

Uldrich's keynote, along with Dr. Bob Whitaker, Chief Science and Technology Officer at PMA, and a panel of experts, will provide insight into the disruptive technologies that are emerging how these technologies will affect the produce industry and how farmers and retailers can leverage them to transform their respective businesses into one that is poised to meet the future demand for food. Among a few of the topics Uldrich will discuss are how exponential advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, renewable energy resources, and satellite and sensor technologies will affect agriculture in the coming years.

An internationally renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Uldrich is well versed in agricultural trends, he has spoken to numerous agricultural clients such as Land O' Lakes, Novozymes, and the California Ag Summit. He also addresses trends in manufacturing, retail, finance, and health care among others.

His most recent book, Foresight 20/20 will see its second edition this winter. For more insights into the trends he speaks on in agriculture see his article on "Five Future Trends in Agriculture."

Following his talk in California Uldrich will head to Atalnta, Chicago and New York City respectively to keynote ABB/Thomas & Betts latest product launch.

Parties interested in more information regarding Jack Uldrich, his books, daily blog or speaking availability can visit his website.

Media wishing to know more about the event or Jack as a farm futurist can contact Amy Tomczck at (612) 343.0660.

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Trend Expert Jack Uldrich to Keynote PMA Fresh Summit on Disruptive Technologies

By Stephanie Walden2014-10-16 17:43:01 UTC

Fashion, posits Mary Huang, founder of high-tech concept brand Continuum, is an industry ripe for innovation.

In an age when nearly every industry is undergoing huge technological disruption, the fashion business, particularly when it comes to the manufacturing process, often employs antiquated methods that have existed for dozens or hundreds of years. "It's an interesting last frontier for technology," says Huang.

But all that may soon change. Huang's company which operates in her Brooklyn studio and apartment is at the forefront of a revolutionary concept: Fashion that you can design, download and print at home. In short, on-demand fashion. Continuum currently offers several products for sale online, with a focus on futuristic footwear as well as jewelry and even a 3D-printed bikini top, listed online as a piece suitable for the "boldly trendsetting."

"I saw that these [affordable] 3D printers were coming out, and I thought that the most logical thing to try to print would be something like a pair of shoes so you could download your shoes at night, and get new shoes in the morning," says Huang.

Prototype: leather upper with 3d printed base. Would take a while to get it to work right. Worth it??

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Huang was one of the first designers to begin dabbling in 3D-printed fashion. "Three or four years ago, no one else was doing this," she says. When it comes to the actual process of designing, some elements are similar to traditional methods: Each pair of shoes begins with a simple sketch.

The printing itself takes 8-12 hours and, at the moment, all orders placed with Continuum are printed and shipped from Huang's at-home studio. "It's like artisanal 3D printing," she says, laughing.

To date, Huang's work has appeared in a variety of museums, exhibitions and high-end concept stores such as STORY, located in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. The ultimate goal with Continuum, says Huang, is to solve the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to revolutionizing digital production of fashion how to get your design out of the computer.

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Futurist Fashion Designer Envisions a World of 3D-Printed Possibilities

Interview with a Futurist: Future Cities
Here futurist Klaus Mogensen (Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies) discusses what to consider when designing cities for the future.

By: Futurality

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Interview with a Futurist: Future Cities - Video

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) October 16, 2014

This year, the 2014 American Sportfishing Summit is being held October 15-17, at the Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, Texas and Jack Uldrich, renowned global futurist, and best-selling author will be a featured keynote speaker, along with political pundit Charlie Cook.

Uldrich will be delivering his talk, "The Big AHA: How to Future-Proof the Sports Fishing Industry." As the son of John Uldrich, one of the founders of Vexilar, a sonar detection system for fish and game forecasting, Jack Uldrich grew up in a world surrounded by sportfishing. Jack's father along with Robert Knutson, both avid hunters and fishermen, founded Vexilar Engineering Inc. in 1960. Their first product in the fishing arena was Deptherm - a unique and simple tool for finding depth and temperature. In 1965 they acquired an electronic temperature sensing device from Honeywell Inc. which also served as a depth finder. Although no longer in production, it did put Vexilar into the marine electronics sector relating to fishing and opened the door to sonar equipment which they first imported from Japan.

Jack Uldrich is the founder and Chief Unlearning Officer of The School of Unlearningan international consultancy designed to assist organizations in succeeding tomorrow by unlearning today. He speaks around the world on a variety of topics pertaining to future trends and his specialty of "unlearning." He will address the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the sportfishing industrys trade association, on how they can begin future-proofing the industry of marine electronics, and live into their 2014 Mission of "Today was Then,Tomorrow is Now."

As the nations recreational fishing trade association, ASA supports the interests of hundreds of businesses, agencies and organizations and is the champion for the sportfishing industry. ASAs members include sportfishing and boating manufacturers and their representatives, allied manufacturers, independent and chain outdoor retail stores, state fish and wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, federal land and water management agencies, angler advocacy groups, outdoor media groups and journalists all of whom will be audience members for Uldrich's talk on "The Big AHA."

"The pace and scale of tomorrows change begs the obvious question: How does a business leader prepare for a constantly changing future?" Jack Uldrich says, "The answer can be found in a simple acronym: AHA. It stands for Awareness, Humility and Action." He goes on to say, "Leaders must become aware of the extraordinary changes taking place across todays global landscape. For example, advances in nanotechnology are leading to the creation of new materials that can out-compete copper in terms of conductivity and steel in terms of strength. And soon, some of these exotic nanomaterials will even compete on price."

But Uldrich goes beyond simple trend forecasting and extends his keynote into helping his clients learn, or rather unlearn, in order to embrace all the new trends coming their way. "Once a leader is aware that the only 'constant' in todays world is change, and is humble enough to accept that unlearning will be as important as learning, in the future what is he or she to do?" In order to find out, go hear Uldrich speak, or take a look at one of his best selling books, like "Foresight 20/20" which will see its second publication with new editions in the coming weeks.

Uldrichs work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek,Forbes, The Futurist, Future Quarterly Research, the Wall Street Reporter, Leader to Leader, Management Quarterly, and hundreds of other newspapers and publications around the country. Jack is also a recurrent guest of worldwide media, having appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and National Public Radio on numerous occasions and he is featured as a guest commentator on James Woods "Futurescape."

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog, or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about this event or are interested in interviewing Jack can contact Amy Tomczyk at (612)343-0660.

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Tomorrow is Now--Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote the American Sportfishing Summit

Futurist Flight Radio #24
We #39;re back with the Weekly Radio Show right before the People of Tomorrow Festival, where the New Radio Show Rising Intensity and the FF#25 will be released ...

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Futurist Flight Radio #24 - Video