“…today, the social media industry already has quite a few parallels to the oil, gas and coal business: while private make huge profits from extracting the ‘oil’ (i.e. user data), the external damage is left to society and governments to fix. This needs to change! In this keynote I make some precise suggestions as to how that could happen.”

» Too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing: Technology’s Future - Why we must act now to ensure that exponential technological progress remains a benefit for humanity and the planet.

It was a great pleasure to contribute a virtual keynote at the European Liberal Forum, on March 20, 2021 and today I am delighted to be able to share my new Policy Paper

Stream Humans Vs Machines Defining Our Digital Future. Gerd Leonhard Keynote At Sakharov Forum ‘21 . Video on YT.

“The combined market capitalization of the five largest US tech platforms – Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft – rose by $2.7 billion in 2020. Following the addition of Tesla to the S&P 500, the Big Six tech firms now represent nearly one-quarter of the index’s valuation. And with the spread of COVID-19, the leading digital platforms have become de facto essential service providers, enabling a mass transition to remote and isolated living.”

The bosses of Tesla and Amazon want to take humans to Mars and beyond – but won’t show basic humanity on Earth

Restaurants are struggling to hire people, so one Jersey Shore grill employed a machine. It confirms that humans remain indispensable.

Stream Audio Version of Gerd’s Keynote on Why ethics is existential by FuturistGerd from desktop or your mobile device

For many people, the encroachment of AI into the human sphere – and the rise of the new machine fueled by AI, algorithms, bots and big data – raises a discomfiting question: if machines can do everything, then how are humans going to make a living?

The creation of a “European Artificial Intelligence Board,” consisting of representatives from every nation-state, to help the commission decide which AI systems count as “high-risk” and to recommend changes to prohibitions

“If smartphone use is any indication, there is cause for worry. Nicolas Carr wrote in The Wall Street Journal about research suggesting our intellect weakens as our brain grows dependent on phone technology. Likely the same could be said for any information technology where content flows our way without us having to work to learn or discover on our own. If that’s true, then AI applications, which increasingly present content tailored to our specific interests, could create a self-reinforcing syndrome that not only locks us into our information bubbles through algorithmic editing, but also weakens our ability to engage in critical thought by spoon-feeding us what we already believe.”

Unlike for COVID-19, there is no vaccine for climate change. However, there is a treatment to prevent further damage – a circular economy that focuses on sharing, reusing and extending the life span of products rather than making mere profit, futurist Gerd Leonhard said in a keynote speech at H.eco Forum held Thursday. “We are going to have more money but there won’t be any planet to spend it on…*. Read this one, too.

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Turn on the fire-hose

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