Topic: The Future

If you haven't heard about ubiquitous games yet, now is your chance to get ahead of the curve. Jane McGonigal discusses this new genre of game that integrates alternate realities with everyday life. For developers of ubiquitous games, increasing happiness and the quality of life is the top priority. McGonigal cites some examples to illustrate the concept and challenges the technology industry to evaluate their own work in terms of the happiness it generates.

In the quest for an artificial general intelligence (AGI), researchers should model their approach on human developmental psychology and neurobiology. Sam Adams of IBM Research led the development of an experimental AGI that would learn based on experience, bootstrap a mental model of itself and its environment, and cull associations that were poor predictors. He achieved impressive results by basing his architecture on the development of the human mind, the only successful path to human cognition so far.

How close are we to the era where intelligent machines will make decisions for us? As systems become ever more autonomous, machine decisions may outstrip our ability to predict them, creating the need for an artificial morality. Yale bioethicist Wendell Wallach takes the role of friendly skeptic in this deeply thoughtful and balanced look at the promises and perils of artificial intelligence, computational ethics and the singularity.

In his book, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, states that "our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail". He believes that niche items can now be more successful in the marketplace. Gerd and Glen discuss this concept, particularly as it relates to future developments.

The old-fashioned telephone continues to decline as a method of conversing. The digital native generation isn't even using email much. Instead, communications has become part of the multitasking environment. Gerd and Glen discuss how these changes will affect the future of communication and conversation. They talk about how texting and video communications will continue to create different ways to interact than older systems.

The internet has opened up previously unimagined space for innovation, but unintended consequences befuddle our ability to assess risks on the technological frontier. Denise Caruso and Clay Shirky launch Supernova with a lively rethinking of risk, serendipity, and the power of love in a socially networked world.

Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future of humanity and its ability to use social enterprise for productive purposes? In this University podcast, Larry Brilliant cites megatrends that are indeed cause for alarm. Yet his focus is the shining examples of altruism and philanthropy that inspire him ultimately to maintain faith in the ability of the human species to do good and overcome adversity.

Advertising has always been something we suffered through, particularly in such passive activities as television watching. On the other hand, online advertising has become more context sensitive. Glen and Gerd discuss how this new model will continue to grow in the future as a better way to reach consumers. They review some possible ways to do this, including how Google is already working to better get the advertiser's message across to the user.

In the keynote presentation from the 2007 Singularity Summit, Rodney Brooks, Panasonic Professor of Robotics at MIT, explores many possible singularity futures based on decades of experience researching, inventing, and commercializing robots. During this presentation Dr. Brooks examines why we need robotics and AI as well as how the singularity will not be like it is portrayed by Hollywood.

In general terms, Web 2.0 has been described as a more interactive, less passive form of the web. In truth, it is actually the culmination of ideas first proposed during the initial phase of the web. In this episode, Gerd and Glen speculate on what will be the next phase of web development. They look at how Digital Natives are not aware of a difference between online and offline and how this will help shape the web in the coming years.