Category Archives: Futurist

Technology illusion specialist Adam Trent is in New Zealand as part of The Illusionists 2.0 show and 3 News was invited to sit down with him and discuss magic.

Adam Trent's role in The Illusionists is as The Futurist.

"I'm trying to present magic in a way that I believe has not been seen before and the way it will be in the future," says Trent.

"Incorporating technology is a very big part of my show, I think the future of magic does lie in incorporating technological aspects. I have giant LED screens, I jump inside them, I smash into them, I clone myself on stage, I teleport across the stage. There's a bit of everything."

Check out a taste of The Futurist here.

"You're seeing thousands of faces, hearing gasps, hearing laughter and applause - that feeling as a magician is addictive," says Trent.

"It's like a comedian how they have a strive for laughter, for a magician you want to hear people gasp and see that 'oh!' expression on their faces. It's an amazing feeling."

More information on Trent is available on his official website and more information on The Illusionists 2.0 is available on the Auckland Live website.

Watch my video interview with Trent - and a couple of his tricks.

3 News

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The Illusionists - a conversation with The Futurist

Future of business, technology, app economy. Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at CAExpoAU
This is a video of my keynote at CA Technologies #39; 2014 Expo in Sydney, Australia, see http://www.ca.com/au/lpg/ca-expo-2014-australia.aspx for more details and http://gerd.fm/CAExpoAUS for...

By: Gerd Leonhard

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Future of business, technology, app economy. Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at CAExpoAU - Video

Brittany Hillen

Our robotic future, so full of promise, could be our undoing. So says futurist and CEO of Poikos, Nell Watson, who recently spoke at The Conference in Sweden about all things robots. The issue lies in artificial intelligence and a robot's acquisition of knowledge, and the lack of understanding about ethics that are present in both.

Watson talks about the nature of intelligence as it relates to robotics, and goes on to describe ways they've already been implemented into our lives -- as well as ways they will start replacing so-called menial jobs in the near future. Artificial intelligence will eventually provide robots with a sense of intuition, and even, she says, with a degree of self-awareness.

Jobs with emotional components will be "safe for now, but not forever" -- nursing is used as one example. Watson says robots will one day be better at understanding humans than humans themselves, however, and that will present some unique challenges. She goes on to discuss things like "triggers" and how robots are better at understanding them than humans, in the sense that robots can make the pragmatic choice whereas humans are influenced by their emotional components.

This all leads into a bigger issue, one that has been at the heart of ethical discussions for decades: "When we start to see super-intelligent artificial intelligences, are they going to be friendly?"

Yes, if we make them that way, but says Watson, even if robots are friendly, it won't be enough. Future robots could decide that "the kindest and best thing for humanity is to end us," she warns, leading into a call for the need to make sure robots can understand ethics from a human perspective, not merely from a pragmatic one.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard concerns raised about the future of possibly lethal robots. Back in May, for example, an informal UN meeting took place to discuss the topic of autonomous robots capable of killing, and the ethical questions at play. At the heart of that discussion was a similar issue: how much an intelligent robot understands about the nuances of its decisions.

VIA: Gizmodo

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Futurist warns robots may one day kill us all as an act of kindness

Futurist at Ford Motor Company | Sheryl Connelly | TEDxOaklandUniversity
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Sheryl provides ideas on how we can learn how to think about, and e...

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Futurist at Ford Motor Company | Sheryl Connelly | TEDxOaklandUniversity - Video

Sheryl Connelly A Ford Futurist Gives Perspectives On The Female Frontier
Sheryl Connelly, Global Trends and Futuring Manager at Ford, explores why women are reaching new levels of achievement, shifts in society and the female frontier. Friendly Ford Geneva Rte...

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Sheryl Connelly A Ford Futurist Gives Perspectives On The Female Frontier - Video

Nell Watson is an engineer, a futurist, and the founder and CEO of Poikos. As such, she knows a lot about the machines we use today, and the ones we're planning for tomorrow. And she's worried that the artificial intelligence of the near-future might decide the most benevolent thing to for mankind is to destroy it.

That's the concern Watson raised at The Conference, an annual gathering in Sweden focusing on technology and human behavior. In her talk, "Helping Computers to Understand Humans," Watson brings up a terrifyingly interesting point: The machine learning powering the artificial intelligence we have right now can't learn the nuanced lessons of human ethics.

You should really watch Watson's entire talkat just under 17 minutes long, it's jam-packed with insights on the current and future state of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Here, you don't even have to go anywhere:

Here's the brunt of Watson's argument, in case you can't watch the video for some reason:

When we start to see super-intelligent artificial intelligences, are they going to be friendly, or are they going to be unfriendly? [. . .] Having a kind intelligence is not quite enough, because to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, "any sufficiently benevolent action is indistinguishable from malevolence." If you're really, really, really kind, that might be seen as really evil. A truly kind intelligence might decide that the kindest and best thing for humanity is to end us.

Yeesh. Maybe Kubrick was right about HAL-9000 after all.

It's not all doom and gloom though (that would be a real downer of a lecture!). Watson ends her talk by issuing a challenge, saying "perhaps the most important work of all of our lifetimes may be to ensure that machines are capable of understanding human values."

Better get to work, engineers. We haven't got much of a head start. [The Conference; Wired via CNet]

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Top Engineer and Futurist: Tomorrow's Robots Might Mercy-Kill Mankind

Sheryl Connelly, Ford futurist, looks into her crystal ball on Driving the Nation
http://www.drivingthenation.com/?p=4207 Sheryl Connelly, Ford futurist, looks into her crystal ball on Driving the Nation.

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Sheryl Connelly, Ford futurist, looks into her crystal ball on Driving the Nation - Video

Futurist Flight Radio #13
The Next Edition of Futurist Flight, and this is a Special Edition for to things: first, 13 is a lucky number for me; and because we #39;re acompaning the launch of the new massive music playlist,...

By: DJ Night Eagle

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Futurist Flight Radio #13 - Video

Alliance Manage Like a Futurist Promo
Manage Like a Futurist is not a sit-and-listen event. It is a highly interactive workshop where you and your team will learn and apply the tools and methods ...

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Alliance Manage Like a Futurist Promo - Video

Nashville, TN (PRWEB) May 22, 2014

Verizon Wireless is making waves with their Connected Technology Tour--crossing the nation with informative seminars that are showing people how to transform their businesses and agencies with Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions. And they are utilizing futurist Jack Uldrich's expertise as a keynote speaker to engage their clients and prepare them for the tides of tomorrow's change.

Selected as a keynote speaker for twelve of Verizon's Tour events, Uldrich is traveling across the U.S. delivering his address entitled, "How the Internet of Things will Transform Business."

Uldrich says, "A common and popular vision of the Internet of Things,"which he loosely defines as the connection of billions of physical objects to the Internet through the use of low-cost sensors"is the example of an alarm clock smart enough to read your daily schedule, review the latest traffic and weather reports and then communicate this information to your coffee maker in such a way that youll be able to maximize your sleep while still getting to work on time with a piping hot cup of java in your hands."

While Uldrich states that this vision of the future is entirely possible, he also says it sells short the true potential of the Internet of Things (IoT)." Hence Uldrich's passion for speaking on the subject and helping his audiences to embrace the immense change coming our way. For more of Uldrich's ideas on the Internet of Things, check out this article.

Uldrich regularly addresses thought leaders in all industries-- utilities, agriculture, manufacturing, finance, insurance, retail, hospitality, healthcare and government, to name a few. Recent engagements include the PMA Tech Knowledge Symposium in San Diego, the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company in Marana, Arizona, and the Utility Supply Management Association in Nashville.

Parties interested in learning more about him, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

Uldrich is a renowned global futurist, best-selling author, editor of the monthly newsletter, The Exponential Executive, and host of the award-winning website, http://www.jumpthecurve.net.

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Futurist Jack Uldrich Returns to Nashville to Keynote Verizon Wireless' Connected Technology Tour on May 22nd