电话用了75年的时间才达到1亿用户。手机用了16年，Twitter用了5年，Facebook用了4年半。Instagram花了2年时间，ChatGPT只用了2个月就获得了1亿用户。
在第四次工业革命中，举足轻重的科技正在改变我们的工作、思考和生活方式。这个大趋势的变革速度是惊人的。
在本世纪初，世界上仅有3%的人可以上网。目前约有三分之二的人上网，而2030年实现普遍上网是联合国可持续发展目标之一。
本世纪的发明清单十分可观：人工智能（AI）、先进机器人、无人机、智能设备、3D打印、云计算、区块链技术、虚拟和增强现实、应用程序APP和社交平台、商业空间技术，以及崭露头角的CRISPR和基因编辑。
生成式AI是下一个通用技术，与个人电脑、互联网和移动电话一样具有变革性。它将影响各行各业，那些能与生成式AI开展创造性互动的人将成为各自领域的领导者。
人工智能（AI）市场将在这十年中增长20倍，预计在2030年达到近2万亿美元。
举足轻重的科技也带来了重大的实操和伦理挑战:
大型科技公司控制着全球的信息流和通信基础设施，而它们应该如何被监管?
日益提升的产品和服务与我们的隐私权之间又该如何权衡取舍？
基因编辑有望成为治愈失明的一种手段，但我们能遏制住打造“完美”婴儿的欲望吗?
谁将会是自动化工作的赢家和输家?
政府、企业和领导人面临的挑战将是确保这些新兴科技既能发挥其潜力，又能具备可得性，且公平和对社会有益。
Kemp, S. (2023). Digital 2023: Global Overview Report, Data Reportal. Available at: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report
United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2022). ‘New UN Targets Chart Path to Universal Meaningful Connectivity’. Available at: https://www.itu.int/hub/2022/04/new-un-targets-chart-path-to-universal-meaningful-connectivity/
Thormundsson, B. (2023). ‘Global Artificial Intelligence Market Size 2021-2030’, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1365145/artificial-intelligence-market-size/
Hu, K. (2023). ‘ChatGPT sets record for fastest-growing user base’, Reuters 3/2/23. Available at:
https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/
Livemint (2023). ‘Chat GPT’s meteorical rise – 100 million users in 2 months’, Mint 5/3/23. Available at:
https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/chatgpts-meteorical-rise-100-million-users-in-2-months-11677997670518.html
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Archive
Fairness control for risky artificial intelligence decision making
Exploring the balance between AI decision-making and human ethics leads to a critical question: How can we ensure fairness in AI's life-altering decisions?
Is Now and Then really a Beatles song? The fab four always used technology to create new music
The Beatles have released a new track - using new technology to strip Lennon’s vocals out of an old demo casette tape. Will this be part of Beatles canon?
AI chatbots are coming to your workplace but are not necessarily coming for your job
Chatbots are proving to be productive and useful but they can be unreliable and make mistakes.
Technology is changing the lives of female lawyers, in ways that are bad as well as good
A new survey finds working from home is removing barriers for women, but also blurring the barrier between work and the “safe space” of home.
Your car is watching you. The implications are profound and immediate
The issue of privacy breaches by car manufacturers is often overlooked.
VR is transforming how buildings are made
We no longer need to rely on the individual capability of people to read plans or imagine the spaces based on the pictures or verbal descriptions.
Australian consumers support better protections for gig workers
What is the quality, rather than the quantity, of the jobs that we wish to tolerate as a society?
Online scams are about to get more sophisticated than Nigerian princes
ChatGPT’s “evil cousin” WormGPT will allow bad actors to more accurately mimic the real deal in attempts to swindle and deceive people.
Creative AI: The death of the author?
Nick Cave says that AI-produced songs lack authenticity. With algorithms churning out news and scripts, will human creatives become obsolete?
Dial AI for assistance: leveraging AI for supply chain resilience and crisis management
How can businesses better weather unforeseen challenges and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace?
Black mirror lawyering
Recent developments in AI have alerted lawyers that the environment in which they compete is changing.
Replacing news editors with AI is a worry for misinformation, bias and accountability
Unlike a human editor, AI cannot explain their decisions or reasoning in a meaningful way. This can be a problem in a field where accountability and transparency are important.
Low-code apps: not just for the IT crowd
The pandemic may have turbo-charged low-code awareness, but how will the market grow in the coming years?
Zoom fatigue: a laborious act, in two parts
Even a few video calls can leave us exhausted, so how do you weigh the potential return on investment of each virtual meeting?
Students know AI is here to stay and want unis to teach them how to use it
Students understand there are limitations with ChatGPT, but they know it will have a huge impact on their careers.
The future of generative AI
This week: the speed, visibility and hype of generative AI, and goodbye.
Is 13 too young to have a TikTok or Instagram account?
The US surgeon general says 13 is ‘too early’ to be on social media. But an expert on parenting and digital media cautions against a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
The future of seafood with Aryé Elfenbein
This week: we discuss lab-grown seafood and the future of fish with Wildtype Co-Founder, Aryé Elfenbein.
How to perfect your prompt writing for ChatGPT, Midjourney and other AI generators
Users are having a blast getting creative with AI generators – but your output is only ever as good as your prompt.
Generative AI and life advice for the future with Kevin Kelly
This week: we talk with Wired Magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly about artificial intelligence, group think, and excellent advice for living.
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare. If you’ve ever posted online, you ought to be concerned
ChatGPT is fuelled by our intimate online histories, yet users have no way of knowing which of their data it contains.
Platform capitalism with Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin
This week: we interview Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow, authors of Chokepoint Capitalism, about how platforms capture value in creative markets.
AI might be seemingly everywhere, but there are still plenty of things it can’t do – for now
From ChatGPT to Lensa, it feels like AI is here to take over. But despite some impressive results, such systems still have plenty of limitations.
What maths can teach us about privacy
How can we future-proof privacy so that in years hence it is not violated when dissected by more powerful computers?
The business of staying alive
What does online shopping have in common with surviving a heart attack?
Hybrid work: the 9 things we have learnt
After the pandemic-induced experimentation with new forms of work – here is a checklist of nine things we have learnt about hybrid working (and what is, and isn’t, working).
ChatGPT and generative AI
This week: Our ChatGPT and generative AI special. What is it? How does it work? What to do with it? Where to next?
The ChatGPT chatbot is blowing people away with its writing skills. An expert explains why it’s so impressive
The newest OpenAI text-generator is a marked improvement over its predecessor – but it still has its pitfalls.
The 4-day work week with Juliet Schor
This week: what if we all worked four days a week? We talk with Professor Juliet Schor about her research into the 4-day work week and the trials happening around the world.
Best business books of 2022
This week: corporate self-help, pandemics, climate, toxic stuff and socio-tech broccoli: our 2022 best business books for your holiday reading list.
Only 15% of AI investments succeed. An AI translator could help the other 85%
Investments in AI technologies are accelerating worldwide, what could an AI translator do to improve the success of AI-led projects?
Temu – Chinese apps going global
This week: Pinduoduo’s Temu marks another high-profile entry in the e-commerce market from a Chinese tech giant.
Generative AI and creative work
This week: how generative Artificial Intelligence and synthetic media changes the business of creative work.
After the Optus data breach, Australia needs mandatory disclosure laws
Optus made a public announcement about its breach but was not legally required to do so. This needs to change.
The looming AI arms race in hiring
As organisations embrace AI hiring systems, how will they be gamed?
Art and the AI machine
Does AI-generated art deserve a place in the history of our art and times?
The narrow road to the deeper connection
Incremental additions to practical medical knowledge can be lifesaving, but how can that be achieved in remote parts of the world?
Data is not the new oil with Genevieve Bell
This week: our 300th episode. We’re joined by Professor Genevieve Bell to settle once and for all – if data is not the new oil, then what is it?
Turning greenhouse gas into clean fuel
In the quest to tackle excessive greenhouse gas output, is there a fuel where the only by-product can be used as food for farm animals?
State of the Digital in 2022 (and the future) with Simon Kemp
This week: don’t believe the hype – the surprising truth about what is really going on online.
Is using AI to create art cheating?
Artificial Intelligence has worked its way into our vernacular, but what if AI is used to create art? Is it then really art?
Weird new jobs
This week: the AI whisperer, AI artist managers, data detectives, metaverse supply chain strategy consultants, and more cool jobs in the digital era.
How to prevent success from breeding failure
What if innovation leads to corporate disaster?
The business of movies is changing with Mike Seymour
This week: the business of movies is changing, with Mike Seymour.
Instagram, are you TikTok?
This week: as Instagram tries to become more like TikTok, small businesses protest.
For the sake of the planet we need to rethink human-centred design
Consumer expectations are changing due to a growing awareness of our impact on the planet. What does life-centred design offer organisations?
If we only think in the present, how can we imagine our future?
We need a coherent, concrete vision of the future to spur innovation and productivity.
AI fluency in Australia with Kellie Nuttall
This week: a special on artificial intelligence in Australian organisations and AI fluency with Deloitte’s AI Lead, Dr Kellie Nuttall.
China’s big tech problem: even in a state-managed economy, digital companies grow too powerful
Like the EU and unlike the US, China is trying to rein in the power of big tech companies. Can we learn from these efforts?
Quantum: what you need to know
You don’t need to understand the nitty gritty of quantum theory to engage in the conversation.
Every move you make, every step you take
How do facial recognition systems work and what does it mean when anyone can access these artificial intelligence driven platforms?
Another delivery drone trial and food security futures
This week: delivery drones - where are they, and why are they taking so long? Plus fake milk discussions and food security futures.
‘Transparency reports’ from tech giants are vague on how they’re combating misinformation. It’s time for legislation
Recently, concerns have been raised over the harm caused by misinformation in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and federal elections.
Buy now, pay later and the evolution of innovation
This week: the evolution (or revolution) in the BNPL disruption story.
Facial recognition and public data
This week: all things facial recognition and the implications of using public data.
Bells and whistles: nudging for safer pokies
How do we equalise the playing field where design deficiencies and dark nudges are at play?
Big tech – how big is big enough?
How big can big tech be despite raking in some of their biggest ever annual revenue increases amidst the ongoing pandemic and market problems?
Can regulators think like Google?
People are looking to governments to protect them against the undemocratic power wielded by internet platforms.
Stablecoins, not-so-stable cryptocurrency
This week: as cryptocurrencies plummet, some stable coins are not so stable.
Unlearn music on The Future, This Week
This week: we’re on a break but we have something interesting in store for you, we discuss how the way we engage with music is fundamentally changing — from something we listen to, to something we create with.
Elon Musk buys Twitter… well, sort of
This week: it really is a Musk when Elon becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder and gets a seat on the board.
Agricultural productivity, sex education and gender equity: 5 times soap operas enabled social change
Soap operas, with their long and involved storytelling and large audience reach, can be uniquely positioned to enable narrative transportation.
Encanto, TikTok and the art of social storytelling: why music is not just for listening anymore
TikTok trends and challenges rely on music to help tell a social story, collectively told across many videos - which in turn is helping songs go viral.
New York Times gets Wordle
This week: we discuss the economics and business behind the New York Times’ decision to buy popular internet game Wordle.
Fake fact-checking and disinformation
This week: fake fact-checking videos take disinformation to a different level.
Facebook: a troll’s paradise
What does it mean when a social network's algorithms favour anonymous groups bearing propaganda and misinformation?
Cybersecurity and women with Meraiah Foley
This week: on International Women's Day why cybersecurity needs more women and what we can do about it with expert Dr Meraiah Foley.
The future of higher education with Mark Scott
This week: what is the future of universities? As the sector navigates disruption and uncertainty, special guest Professor Mark Scott joins us to discuss the future of higher education.
Unlearn automation on The Future, This Week
This week: we’re on a break but we have something interesting in store for you, and it’s not about our longitudinal auto ethnographic research on leisure time but rather, how automation will make your job harder.
Extra: a music deep dive on The Unlearn Project
In this extra episode, we take a deep dive into the history of the music industry.
Eyes wide open, the best business books (lists) for 2021
We have curated the various lists of Best Business Books for 2021 and sorted them according to our (more helpful) categories.
Best business books of 2021 on The Future, This Week
This week: corporate self-help, schadenfreude, tech broccoli, and real eyeopeners: our 2021 best business books for your Christmas list.
Love it or hate it, TikTok is changing the music industry
Creator culture on TikTok is changing the way hits are made, how music is promoted, and how the world discovers music, even for those artists who choose not to engage with it.
Professor Daniel Kahneman is sometimes wrong. And that gives him joy.
Five learnings in one hour with Nobel Prize winner Professor Daniel Kahneman.
Facebook relaunches itself as Meta in a clear bid to dominate the metaverse
Facebook’s parent company is now called Meta, as part of its move to embrace the metaverse.
Meta and the metaverse on The Future, This Week
Rebranding the company and the metaverse play: we discuss the Facebook announcements, meta and verse.
What Spotify is doing to podcasts on The Future, This Week
The podcast about podcasts: how Spotify’s ambitions might change podcasts forever.
Why music is no longer just for listening: unlearn music
We discuss how the way we engage with music is fundamentally changing - from something we just listen to, to something we create with.
Squid Game and the future of content on The Future, This Week
This week: Squid Game, the biggest hit in Netflix history is re-shaping the future of movies and television.
Crowded skies
Satellites are already blocking out stars for astronomers, but will the crowded skies lead to more issues?
Unlearn computers on The Future, This Week
This week: We’re on a break but we have something interesting in store for you, and it’s not just Mr Goxx the cryptocurrency trading hamster.
Ray-Ban Stories let you wear Facebook on your face. But why would you want to?
Facebook is adamant its new “smart glasses” won’t be a privacy nightmare. But it is clearly bidding to normalise the use of wearable tech.
Why automation makes your job harder: unlearn automation
We discuss why it’s no longer true that automation and AI will make all our jobs easier.
#BreakUpBigChicken on The Future, This Week
This week: we’re back and what does #BreakUpBigTech have to do with your chicken?
Here’s what the High Court decision means for your favourite Facebook pages
Today’s ruling may inspire many social media account managers to more tightly restrict comments — or, where possible, switch them off completely.
Why the unlearn project, and computers
We set out to unlearn old wisdoms and discover new ones, starting with computers.
Chinese companies win clean sweep of smart city awards
The Chinese Government declared it wants to be the world leader in AI, how has that impacted the AI City Challenge?
Who’s afraid of GM crops?
While bans on GM crops are being lifted across mainland Australia, consumer hesitancy lingers.
Facebook’s failure to pay attention to non-English languages is allowing hate speech to flourish
What does Facebook need to do to strengthen enforcement of their community standards to protect persecuted minorities?
Facial recognition for gamers, app store bans for Didi: what’s behind China’s recent crackdown on big tech?
With the recent travails of Didi, and the emergence of Tencent's facial recognition feature, China's tech sector is undergoing major upheaval.
Still zooming on Corona Business Insights
As remote work continues for many people, what is Zoom fatigue and what to do about it, and how are videoconferencing platforms adapting their services to the hybrid future?
TED Talks and science on The Future, This Week
This week: what if the science behind your favourite TED Talk was wrong?
Smart street furniture in Australia: a public service or surveillance and advertising tool?
The data collection and surveillance capabilities of smart street furniture raise a number of concerns.
Predicting fashion and replacing solar on The Future, This Week
This week: how COVID-19 reveals how the fashion industry predicts trends, and why the success of solar becomes a problem.
Breaking the internet (badly)
Fastly and Akamai are major internet companies most of us don’t need to know about, but what happens when they go down?
Breaking the internet, and the scientific paradox on The Future, This Week
This week: what we saw when the internet went down and changing minds about the scientific paradox.
Emerging innovation with cabbages, eyes, cows and EVs on The Future, This Week
This week: what do cabbages, eyes, cows and electric vehicles have in common? Stories of innovation and emerging industries on The Future, This Week.
All work and no play in the future of virtual reality
Does treating VR only as a gaming technology underestimate its potential impact on society?
In Elon Musk – the man most likely to be an alien – we trust
A time traveller, a stranded alien from Mars, or a Quixote with money who likes to make stuff? Just who is Elon Musk?
Crime and punishment on The Future, This Week
This week: the future of crime and punishment, we discuss the high cost and low returns of punishing white collar crimes with special guest Clinton Free.
AirTags and suburban retrofitting on The Future, This Week
This week: Apple’s AirTag release raises platform competition issues, and the trend of suburban retrofitting changes what suburbs are for.
Unpacking the gig economy impact on The Future, This Week
This week: as the world sets out to regulate gig work, we look at its surprising consequences and wider impact.
A better deal for Uber drivers in UK, but Australia’s gig workers must wait
Uber has been forced by the UK courts to treat its British drivers as workers. It will probably require legislative change for Uber's Australian drivers to be treated as employees.
The creator economy and mixed realities on The Future, This Week
This week: What Roblox teaches us about the creator economy and we’re talking about AR and VR yet again.
NFTs and Gamestop on The Future, This Week
This week: we discuss how digital ownership through NFTs creates value and new kinds of assets, and what the GameStop saga reveals about new forms of spontaneous digital organising.
5 ways to help prevent AI from deepening social inequality
If the historical data used to train an AI system disadvantages certain minority groups, the system can be swayed to follow these patterns in its own decision-making process.
Facebook and the media code on The Future, This Week
This week: we’re back with a breaking news special as Facebook goes nuclear, banning all news from its Australian platform.
How a Chinese joke about singles triggered an e-commerce revolution
Is Double 11 a showcase of China's private consumption power, or is it highlighting the shift from bricks-and-mortar to mobile commerce?
Business models and big tech on The Future, This Week
This week: reducing the reliance on ad revenue, reducing the reliance on external partners: how big tech companies evolve their business models.
Data, privacy and tracking on The Future, This Week
This week: we dive into the complex shadow world of trading location data from innocuous apps.
Hats and fly swatters: big data and audience profiling are changing elections
The data gathering inside political merch allowing politicians to peer inside voters’ brains
Double 11, singles’ day and supply chains on The Future, This Week
This week: Kishi Pan helps us unpack the world’s largest shopping event, China’s singles’ day, 11.11.
Misinformation, fake news and elections on The Future, This Week
This week: Jevin West joins us to discuss disinformation in social media in the wake of the US election.
Autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars on The Future, This Week
This week: after a flurry of contradicting announcements, we discuss if self-driving cars have finally arrived, or what it would take to get them here.
CRISPR and Nobel Prizes on The Future, This Week
This week: we finally discuss gene editing and CRISPR, as the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes the women behind its development.
Design and design thinking on The Future, This Week
This week: we talk about design and design thinking in an uncertain world, as we problem-solve our way out of the pandemic.
The Social Dilemma and platforms on The Future, This Week
This week: The Social Dilemma, our first movie review on The Future, This Week. We bring in everything we’ve learnt about social media over the past three years.
Facebook’s virtual reality push is about data, not gaming
Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 headset is the latest step in the construction of a 'mirrorworld' built on high-tech surveillance and targeted advertising.
Xiaohongshu (Little RED Book) and social commerce on The Future, This Week
This week: in a special on social commerce in China, we talk to our guest Kishi Pan about the unique experience of Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book.
GPT-3 AI and clean meat on The Future, This Week
This week: the media hype around AI writing essays, and how to make clean meat innovation palatable.
Epic, Apple and Fortnite on The Future, This Week
This #Fortnite: the epic #Epic #Apple battle.
TikTok, WeChat and the fragmented internet on The Future, This Week
This week: banning TikTok and WeChat, and the fragmented internet.
Apple, Google and Fortnite’s stoush is a classic case of how far big tech will go to retain power
There has been a clash of clans in mobile gaming, with angry birds Apple, Google and Epic Games in a saga over in-app payments.
How the shady world of the data industry strips away our freedoms
In the past decade, the Australian government has commissioned data analytics projects worth more than A$200 million. We have little information about what they involved.
Curb your screen time and you improve mental health
Our ever-expanding online lives are putting our brain health and broader well-being at risk.
#VanLife, cashless society and facial recognition on The Future, This Week
This week: #vanlife during the pandemic, going cashless and no more facial recognition.
Innovating through the crisis with IBM’s Bob Lord
How has global tech giant IBM responded to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Returning to work and AI confusion on The Future, This Week
This week: will Silicon Valley finally move online? And AI is confused by our weird behaviour.
Moving with technology
How mobile technologies are not just portable computers – they change how we see and act in the world (and even shape it).
Live-streaming, Zoom dating and dropshipping on The Future, This Week
This week: farmers live-streaming, singles Zoom dating, and dropshipping.
Emergency adoption of remote working: beware of productivity implications
With the COVID-19 lockdown has come a sudden and somewhat forced shift to remote working and adoption of digital collaborative work tools. Companies, wherever possible, are trying to move work online.
Airbnb and travel bans on The Future, This Week
This week: as travel stops, Airbnb and its ‘super hosts’ struggle for survival.
Contact tracing and surveillance during COVID-19 on The Future, This Week
This week: contact tracing with Apple and Google, and the big picture of surveillance during the pandemic.
Internet culture and AI struggles on The Future, This Week
This week: the internet made old again, and why AI struggles with the new.
The conversations hidden by coronavirus: space, tech and climate on The Future, This Week
This week: the conversations gone missing during COVID-19: space, tech and climate.
Big tech and automation during COVID-19 on The Future, This Week
This week: big tech in the time of corona, and why robots are not taking your job.
What’s the secret of TikTok’s success?
The video-sharing platform may connect to our innate mental systems for physically copying one another.
Moore’s Law and startup deflation on The Future, This Week
This week: Moore's law no more, and Silicon Valley's startup deflation.
Tesla’s computing advantage and Italy’s population crisis on The Future, This Week
This week: Tesla’s computing advantage, Italy’s population crisis and gravitational batteries.
Virtual prisons and satellites on The Future, This Week
This week: virtual prisons, blinded by satellites, and robots in love.
Predictions and global megatrends on The Future, This Week
This Week: we look back at 2019 and forward to 2020, and reflect on how we connect tech and business trends with global megatrends
Coming soon: The Future, This Week Season 7
Season 7 of The Future, This Week is almost here. Join Sandra Peter and Kai Riemer as they sit down to rethink and unlearn trends in technology and business.
Calling bullshit and algorithms on The Future, This Week
This week: calling bullshit, sexist credit cards and death predictions with Jevin West.
Halloween with beer corpses and zombie bots on The Future, This Week
This week: a Halloween special with beer corpses, zombie bots and connected birds
Might consciousness and free will be the aces up our sleeves when it comes to competing with robots?
We are far from defenceless against the rise of robots, although they'll take many of our routine jobs. Our special strength is our ability to apply rules that don't exist.
Seeing in colour with Alvy Ray Smith
What is the history of digital colour? How did Moore's Law shape computer animation? Mike Seymour talks with Pixar co-founder, Dr Alvy Ray Smith.
Data analytics on The Future, This Week
This week: part two of a special with Simon Kemp on data analytics.
Why don’t we have electric aircraft?
Unlike a car, you can't just stick a battery-powered engine in a plane and expect it to fly. Despite that, small planes might be the future of electric flight.
The state of digital on The Future, This Week
This week: part one of a special with Simon Kemp on the state of digital.
Chicken wars and ring my bell on The Future, This Week
This week: chicken wars – don’t be chicken, eat the balls; and ring my bell.
Myspace and consumerism on The Future, This Week
This week: preserving our digital heritage, and the national identity crisis caused by consumerism.
Our fake future
There is fake news, fake videos (deepfakes) and even cheap fakes.
Size matters and what the tech on The Future, This Week
This week: size matters when there’s scarce abundance, and what the tech?
The influencer strikes back
Social media has offered a new weapon to brands, the influencer.
YouTube fame and ghost kitchens on The Future, This Week
This week: welcome to Season 6, with hidden YouTube fame and ghost kitchens.
Is FaceApp hoarding our data?
Is FaceApp amassing a database of user-submitted images for political purposes, under the guise of a light-hearted game?
ACCC has let us down and it’s let Google and Facebook off the hook
The Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its report into digital platforms and their effect on traditional media, and it's good news for Google and Facebook.
Talk, not text: the shift from typing to voice assistants
With 25 per cent of Australian searches now being done via voice, the search battlefield is shifting from typing to talking.
The Future, This Week 19 Jul 19: #DeepFakes, #DigitalHumans, #WillSmith
This week: deep fakes, digital humans and a young Will Smith in our Vivid Ideas Special.
Why the ‘molecular scissors’ metaphor for understanding CRISPR is misleading
The idea of CRISPR as scissors ignores an entire ecosystem of moving parts that are crucial for understanding the awe-inspiring, crazy thing scientists are trying to do when they attempt gene editing.
The Future, This Week 7 Jun 19: #DigitalMarketing, #Apple, #TheNorthFace
This week: Apple's privacy push cuts out marketers, marketing to the algorithm and robot furniture
The Future, This Week 31 May 19: #MonaLisa, #Platforms, #Competition
This week: Mona Lisa’s fake smile, more Digital Humans, and missing platform competition.
Should Facebook be broken up?
One of Facebook's founders says the company is too big and powerful. Kai Riemer speaks with Kia Handley on ABC Radio Newcastle.
Vivid Sydney: Love/Machine
AI is creating digital people – will they (be) like us?
Future Fintech: Who will the odds favour?
“From a customer point of view consolidation is not actually such a bad thing."
The Future, This Week 3 May 19: #OldTownRoad and #Microbiome disruption
This week: wonderful country-trap, weird bacteria innovation, and Elon’s leaf-blower.
The Future, This Week 19 Apr 19: #996, #futureofwork, #GOT
This week: #996 working long hours, predicting work and who dies on Game of Thrones.
The Future, This Week 12 Apr 19: #TechLash
This week: the #TechLash bandwagon: companies, people and governments
The Future, This Week 5 Apr 19: #ChinaTech: chatbots and #TikTok
This week: A special on #ChinaTech, with chatbots and the TikTok phenomenon
The Future, This Week 29 Mar 19: It’s all #AppleNews
This week: a lot of #AppleNews, platforms and piracy.
The Future, This Week 22 Mar 19: More #BreakUpBigTech
This week: the five conversations at the heart of #BreakUpBigTech
The Future, This Week 15 Mar 19: #BreakUpBigTech
This week: big tech breakup, Amazon power and a Facebook rethink.
Giving the world a better face
What happens when technology has a human face? In the future digital assistants will not just be disembodied voices: soon we will be gazing into an emotionally rich, apparently human, 3D digital face.
The Future, This Week IWD edition: women, automation and work
This week: women, more automation and the future of work.
The Future, This Week 1 Mar 19: data is not oil, dangerous AI, and robo-monk
This week: why data is not like oil, dangerous AI, and a robot that gives sermons.
The Future, This Week 22 Feb 19: predictions, predictions and more predictions
This week: looking ahead, looking back and looking to see what looking means.
Changing nature of the campus
Why disruptive business education models are originating from academics sensing opportunities beyond the classroom.
Coming soon: The Future, This Week Season 5
Season 5 of The Future, This Week - stay tuned.
The words that ate 2018
Each year the Macquarie Dictionary Committee choose a new word that represents the year gone by. Drawn from a short list, the words selected are both innovative and highly topical: so it’s no coincidence we have delved into some of the issues underlying these evolving words.
The Future, This Week 21 Dec 2018: coffee, chickens, and fake food
This week: a food Christmas special with coffee, chickens and a fake food future.
The Future, This Week 14 Dec 18: fake restaurants, fake news, and monsters
This week from San Francisco: a fake special with restaurants, reviews and monsters.
Our must-listen podcasts from 2018
To celebrate the milestone of producing our 100th podcast and the closing of a successful year, here is a collection of our favourite podcast interviews from 2018.
The Future, This Week 7 Dec 18: tasty app, fish faces, and car data
This week: food flavours, fish faces and China’s car data collection.
The Future, This Week 23 Nov 18: patents, co-housing, and dangerous questions
This week: disturbing patents, smart housing, and asking a dangerous question.
The Future, This Week 16 Nov 18: AI puppets, fake stuff, and cashless
This week: puppets reading news, fake stuff, and Sweden’s out of cash.
The Future, This Week 9 Nov 18: satire, science, and bio bricks
This week: satire sells science, rats are not human, and bacterial bio bricks.
Programming for obsolescence
If the reward for employee efficiency is job loss – what’s the incentive to improve jobs and organisations? Let's take a look at Amazon
The Future, This Week 2 Nov 18: work weeks, faxes, and AI art
This week: work week wishes, fax-free futures, and AI art.
Purchasing privacy
Is privacy now a luxury only the rich can afford?
The Future, This Week 26 Oct 18: dead stars, undead CEOs, and disappearing objects
This week: casting the dead, boss forever, and things that vanish.
The Future, This Week 19 Oct 18: beds, streaming, and the end of the world
This week: sweet dreams, lots of streams, and the end of the world.
The Future, This Week 12 Oct 18: Nobel, Facebook, and cost per ‘gram
This week: Nobel interventions, now I see you, and cost per 'gram.
Automated vehicles may encourage a new breed of distracted drivers
Humans are poor at remaining vigilant over time. That's bad news for the safety of partially automated cars, which sometimes need the person behind the wheel to quickly take over control.
The Future, This Week 5 Oct 18: self-automation, minimum wage, and lettuce
This week: programming for obsolescence, raising minimums, and lettuce-loving robots.
Mind the fake news
In this podcast, we talk with Professor Alan Dennis about the fake news phenomenon.
What’s in a museum?
Virtual museums: indestructible, shareable, the way of the future. Why not?
The Future, This Week 28 Sep 18: space measurements, liveability, and privacy (not)
This week: measure from space, liveable cities, and privacy is not the issue.
The Future, This Week 21 Sep 18: privacy, measurements, and ad poetry
This week: selling privacy, for good measure, and automated advertising poetry.
The ‘sleeping beauties’ of science
Scientific ideas can get lost in forests of words that lack structure and overuse complex language. Just like Sleeping Beauty, they need rescuing.
The Future, This Week 14 Sep 18: monopoly platforms, sci-fi, and fishy fashion
This week: platform monopoly, tech between science and fiction, and skinning fish for fashion.
‘Google it’ at your productive peril
Are we heading into a future where workers will have their daily work practices dictated by an algorithm?
The Future, This Week 7 Sep 18: museums, words, and ancient blockchain
This week: what's in a museum? Give us words, and ancient blockchain.
The Future, This Week 31 Aug 18: not-so-obvious, skimming, and excess stuff
This week: that’s obvious, skimming is the new black, and mountains of stuff.
The Future, This Week 24 Aug 18: hype cycles, leadership, and failure
This week: It’s hype time, fast and agile leadership, and the business of failure.
The Future, This Week 17 Aug 18: productivity, food crisis, and changing stories
This week: Googling productivity, placing weight on calories, and changing stories.
The Future, This Week 10 Aug 18: demographic time bombs, death, toddlers and aliens
This week: Populous time bombs, disrupting death, and toddlers and aliens.
What we’ve learnt from 100 podcasts
Celebrating 100 podcasts by Sydney Business Insights.
The Future, This Week 3 Aug 18: meat-free, flat hierarchies and robituaries
This week: When your boss has a beef with meat, flat hierarchy facade, and sad robituaries.
Coming soon: The Future, This Week Season 4
Season 4 of The Future, This Week is coming this week!
What if the companies that profit from your data had to pay you?
Personal data is sold, bought and traded among companies all the time. But what if the companies profiting from your data had to pay you a share of that earning?
Digital humans special on The Future, This Week
A Vivid Ideas special debate with Rachel Botsman and Mike Seymour: Can I marry my Avatar?
TFTW on: Why aren’t we prepared to rethink prisons?
Perhaps it's time we looked at alternatives to the traditional ways in which we incarcerate people.
Cathy O’Neil and weapons of math destruction
This week: a special edition with mathematician and data scientist Dr Cathy O’Neil.
Event recap: Mummy, can I marry my Avatar?
Experts call for regulation of avatars and artificial intelligence.
The Future, This Week 06 July 2018
From Sydney Business Insights, this is our 100th podcast! This week: AI matters, hail the rides, and flying snake bots.
The Future, This Week 29 June 2018
This week: Intrapreneurship, marshmallows and why it's hard to recall an idea.
Daniel Flynn on social entrepreneurship
Thankyou's Daniel Flynn shares his thoughts on keeping up with experimentation in business, the role of technology, and changing consumer preferences.
We don’t own data like we own a car
People find data difficult to own – and things we don't own, we tend not to protect.
The Future, This Week 22 June 2018
This week: entertaining mergers, long haul economics, and the next social network wants your DNA.
TFTW on: Owl thieves in cashless Sweden
What crimes are Swedish thieves up to now that the banks are cashless?
The Future, This Week 15 June 2018
This week: winter is coming, Uber knows you're tipsy, and take the call.
The Future, This Week 08 June 2018
This week: face recognition for a noble cause, the capability to find you in a crowd and DNA predictions.
TFTW on: I’m, um, a bot
Can Google's new talking AI assistant, Duplex, pass the Turing Test?
The Future, This Week 01 June 2018
This week: putting solar on the map, batteries have a dirty secret, and buses.
New AI computing paradigm needs new quality thinking
The old rules do not apply to deep learning artificial intelligence.
The extraordinary power of China’s corporate ‘mega ecosystems’
Companies like Didi and Meituan are increasingly coming into competition.
The Future, This Week 25 May 2018
This week: why it's too early to certify AI, and phantom traffic jams and fungi sandals in other news.
Feeling lonely
Employee loneliness hurts companies.
The Future, This Week 18 May 2018
This week: owl thieves in cashless Sweden, DNA gone public, and this week in tech 20 years ago.
The Future, This Week 11 May 2018
This week: I'm um, a bot; sexist spaces; and Japan making stuff in other news.
The Future, This Week 04 May 2018
This week: chickens of tomorrow, prison business, and the rise of the digital humans.
Shooting for the moon is surprisingly hard
One small step for man.…does not necessarily make good business sense for mankind.
The Future, This Week 27 April 2018
This week: what we learn from digital business, feeling lonely, and making rain the size of Spain in other news.
The Future, This Week 20 April 2018
This week: talking to books, bots and pods; echo chambers; and fish tanks and Musk's couch in other news.
A bumpy road ahead
Fatal Uber crash highlights both AI and non-technical questions about autonomous vehicles.
The Future, This Week 13 April 2018
This week: big ships, rockets vs. cars, fake videos, Zuck's cushion, and climate change in other news.
Universities on knowledge and how it matters
It’s time to (do more than) talk about knowledge. Universities must take leadership in helping develop students capacity to recognise different kinds of knowledge and work flexibly.
The Future, This Week 06 April 2018
This week: unpacking inequality, why shooting for the moon is hard, and cars demanding attention in other news.
The Future, This Week 29 March 2018
This week: a bumpy road ahead, missing out on AI glory, and long haul just got longer in other news.
Cambridge Analytica is not the real story
Facebook and its business model are the real issue in the Cambridge Analytica saga.
The Future, This Week 23 March 2018
This week: Cambridge Analytica is not the real story, backchannel gig chats, and a fading giant.
Cambridge Analytica scandal is not a ‘breach’. It is Facebook’s business model in action
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is not a breach of Facebook but the very business model on which it's built, and our democracy and privacy suffer.
Banks must lift their branding game
Banks were originally businesses based on customer trust. Today that trust has diminished as they juggle their priorities between the customer, employees, community and shareholders. It's the focus on the latter that has diluted that sense of trust the most.
The Future, This Week 16 March 2018
This week: fixing the web, the farmer wants a bot, and big gigs and solar in the rain in other news.
Gig platforms’ claims over worker chat groups: fraught territory indeed
Could an employer or platform claim copyright in a chat group? We’d first have to accept that conversations in a chat group are protected by copyright.
Lawyers v. AI
AI fought the lawyer, and the AI won.
The Future, This Week 09 March 2018
This week: facing the fake food future, big data big brother, and space junk and cloning voices in other news.
Tesla’s ‘virtual power plant’ might be second-best to real people power
Our energy system puts consumers more or less at the mercy of business and regulators. What if the future of energy meant putting the power back in the hands of households?
The Future, This Week 02 March 2018
This week: lawyers v. AI, logos all the same and ring my bell.
Classy Facebook
Facebook patents an algorithm that determines social status: your class is its business.
Where cars are going…
Driving to the beat of an unknown drum: navigating towards the autonomous car future – put yourself in the driver’s seat.
Predictive algorithms are no better at telling the future than a crystal ball
Business managers often rely on predictive algorithms to make recruiting decisions that affect a company's bottom line. But these kinds of algorithms aren't really "predictive" at all.
The Future, This Week 23 February 2018
This week: where cars are going, banking on automation, and Apple glass, Facebook torture and robots in other news.
The Future, This Week 16 February 2018
This week: classy Facebook, the end of the internet, and China, crypto and space stations in other news.
The Future, This Week 09 February 2018
This week: what's up with universal basic income, fiduciary moats, and cars in space in other news.
I spy with my data eye…
Strava snafu exposes the risk of big data.
The future of banking
We talk to Dr Iikka Korhonen from the Bank of Finland and Mr Aidan O'Shaughnessy from the Australian Bankers' Association about the challenges of the international banking system.
The Future, This Week 02 February 2018
This week: break-in-news, I spy with my data eye, and fashion out of fashion.
We need to talk about AI
If we are to ensure new technologies benefit human functioning and wellbeing we must move beyond the current focus on apocalyptic messages.
Coming soon: The Future, This Week Season 3
Season 3 of The Future, This Week is coming next week!
The Future, This Week 19 January 2018
This week: Instagram is loving nature to death and a recap of last year’s Instagram stories.
The Future, This Week 12 January 2018
This week: how bots use us to make money online and a recap on algorithms.
Engineers, philosophers and sociologists release ethical design guidelines for future technology
A report released today by the world’s largest technical professional organisation is designed to help humanity avoid a robot apocalypse.
The Future, This Week 22 December 2017
The Future, This Year: the most interesting, the weird and the wonderful, what's in store for 2018, and a Christmas story.
The Future, This Week 15 December 2017
This week: the battle of the giants, what's up with Bitcoin, and avocado innovation.
Building the Digital Silk Road
China’s 'One Belt, One Road' program now has a digital map.
The Future, This Week 01 December 2017
This week: cities creating real kerb appeal, Meetup at work, and quantum bits.
Turnbull’s government must accept responsibility for delivering an equitable NBN for all Australians
The NBN has to be equitable to be a truly nation-building platform. As long as it is failing some, it is failing us all in Australia.
The Future, This Week 24 November 2017
This week: is the ivory tower asleep at the wheel, city experiments, and Uber...again.
Watson’s health problems
IBM’s medical artificial intelligence program Watson for Oncology is merely rudimentary.
The Future, This Week 17 November 2017
This week: re-cycling data, Watson’s health problems, and shop the look on Spotify.
Are we living in an alien’s computer game? Elon Musk thinks it’s probable
Elon Musk reckons it’s probable that humans are just characters in someone’s computer game.
Predicting is creating in the science of fashion
If algorithms are taking the art out of fashion, what role is science playing in creating consumer tastes and driving business trends?
AI can’t see my cat
Adversarial examples reveal AI weakness in machine learning process.
The Future, This Week 10 November 2017
This week: AI can't see my cat, predicting is creating, and it's a Musk.
CEO Insights: Andrew Baxter on marketing and robotics
How is marketing being transformed by machine learning and robotics and what does this mean for the consumer?
The Future, This Week 03 November 2017
This week: electrify everything, crows nipping butts, and ethical German cars.
The myth of the thinking machine
Why do we believe in the existence of intelligent machines? Why do we believe that computers can do inherently human activities, such as decision-making, better than we do?
The Future, This Week 27 October 2017
This week: scary tales about superhuman robots, a global waste blockage, and tricking cars.
What businesses can learn from sports about using algorithms
There are good reasons why business has not been as successful as sports teams at implementing algorithmic decision-making.
The Future, This Week 20 October 2017
This week: why exponential growth is big, remember eBay? and is Uber changing cities.
The motor car: love in a digital age
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault–Nissan Alliance and one of the world’s most influential business leaders, predicts what we can expect from the future of the automotive industry.
Why marking essays by algorithm risks rewarding the writing of ‘bullshit’
Our politics, businesses and media are already flooded with empty arguments and jargon. Let’s not reward the skill of writing it.
The future of work for Gen Y & Z
We must equip millennials with the ability to think critically and to evaluate new situations, new information and new environments, in order to prepare them for tomorrow’s jobs.
The Future, This Week 13 October 2017
This week: nudge nudge Nobel Prize, the internet of creepy things, and Facebook enlists Wikipedia.
How China’s AI experts can beat Google and Microsoft by 2030
China is more than capable of reaching its goal of global AI leadership, but it will require a change in mindset to carry out and support groundbreaking research, not just follow existing technology.
Reimagining the digital workplace
Both technology and people change alongside one another, so how do you successfully reimagine the digital workplace?
The Future, This Week 06 October 2017
This week: the algorithm is innocent, Australians in space, and the licence to watch.
The answer to VUCA is SLAC: how businesses and individuals cope with disruptive environments
How then can we prepare for life and work in a VUCA world?
The Future, This Week 29 September 2017
This week: ATMs free at 50, animal tracking and big data, and science fiction.
Do innovation centres undermine innovative thinking?
Separating innovation from the rest of the business to keep it safe may be the best way to undermine it.
The Future, This Week 22 September 2017
This week: when intuition saves the world, the data science of winemaking, and robolawyers...again.
World-first microchip: ‘storing lightning inside thunder’
As we churn through more data, cloud computing centres are overheating. Photonic chip technology offers a way forward for our insatiable appetite for information.
Coworking: from digital den to executive establishment
Coworking comes in all shapes and flavours, and caters to a diverse range of needs.
The Future, This Week 15 September 2017
This week: update my car, your phone will see you now, and power to the hackers.
The Future, This Week 08 September 2017
This week: pay with a smile, fake reviews and regulating AI.
The Future, This Week 01 September 2017
This week: privacy (what privacy?), mind control games, and boring innovation.
Hype and cash are muddying public understanding of quantum computing
Quantum computing is being described as "just around the corner". Is it?
The Future, This Week 25 August 2017
This week: what's up with the hype, computer says no, and the power of playlists.
A future of automation with Hugh Durrant-Whyte
What does automation mean for the future of mining, agriculture, cities and the future of jobs? A discussion with Hugh Durrant-Whyte, Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Ministry of Defence.
Value of creativity in marketing cannot be underestimated
Innovative ways of communicating brands to the consumer is what drives real growth.
The Future, This Week 18 August 2017
This week: the myth of the lone genius, can life compete with Instagram, and is coal still cheaper?
Our lifestyle, not our innovation, attracts US investment to Australia
As innovative and business-friendly as Australia has become in its short history, what makes Australia stand out to international workers is its quality of life.
6 jobs you’ve probably never heard of
The jobs of the future will be very different from today.