Dear Futurists,
The future is changing. Compared to years gone past, the kinds of conversations we futurists need to catalyse have become more urgent, and also more diverse. In fields as wide as politics, technology, psychology, and philosophy, we can no longer be so confident about many of the assumptions that used to be reliable guides for our decisions. More than ever, we need to be ready to set aside at least some of our existing convictions and thought patterns, so that we can fully assess the disruptive new possibilities that are rapidly emerging in our midst.
In short, 2020 foresight is no longer fit for purpose. We need 2030 foresight – the sooner, the better.
For some examples of these new possibilities – and where you can become involved – please read on.
1.) Three Deep Dives, with Jerome Glenn and Rohit Talwar
One of the world’s most thoughtful futurists, Jerome (Jerry) Glenn, is making a flying visit to London during the weekend of 14th June.
Jerry has been a full-time futurist for longer than many members of London Futurists have been alive, but he frequently update his views, is heavily engaged in a number of ground-breaking projects, and has his finger on the pulse of many conversations within the corridors of global power.
He is the founder and Executive Director of The Millennium Project, a highly respected global participatory think-tank, which has a network of over 60 nodes around the world. The UK node is jointly chaired by Rohit Talwar of Fast Future (who was recently ranked as one of the Top 3 Global Futurists for 2025) and myself of London Futurists.
To take advantage of Jerry’s visit, three separately bookable sessions have been arranged on Saturday 14th June, addressing different aspects of what could lie ahead.
The sessions will be jointly facilitated by Jerry and Rohit, and kindly hosted at the International Centre for Sustainability in their beautiful City of London venue.
Places for each session are strictly limited, so early booking is recommended. A small fee applies, to help cover costs. You need to book each session separately. The sessions are:
- 10.00-12.00 – State of the Future 20.0
- 14.00-16.00 – The Future of AI: Issues, Opportunities, and Geopolitical Synergies
- 17.00-19.00 – The Future – Where Next?
In between these sessions, there will be opportunities to eat, drink, and network with fellow futurists at locations nearby.
For more information, and to book tickets while they are still available, click here.
Note: a small number of places will be available free of charge for volunteers who are able and willing to assist with the admin for the sessions on the day. Reach out directly to Rohit to enquire about this.
2.) AI for Longevity – Summit and Hackathon
Until recently, the idea that AI could enable significant extensions in healthspan and lifespan within just ten years, was widely derided as a naïve fantasy. But not any more:
- Because AI has proven itself remarkably helpful as a tool in the hands of knowledgeable researchers
- Because numerous credible damage-repair interventions have been proposed, that have the potential of reversing the cellular and biomolecular damage that we call aging.
The weekend of 30 May to 1 June features an AI for Longevity Summit and Hackathon (tagline: “because aging isn’t waiting”) at the London Euston Impact Hub. It is co-hosted by London Longevity and GetSeen Ventures.
Here’s an extract from the booking page:
What if we could decode aging itself? Targeting aging is now a sci-fact. Today, AI algorithms are predicting biological age, identifying novel longevity pathways, and revolutionising how we approach the greatest challenge in human health.
The AI for Longevity Summit and Hackathon brings together engineers, biologists, doctors, founders and innovators for an intensive 3 days collaboration. Build AI-powered solutions from scratch that could transform our understanding of ageing processes, disease prediction, and targeted interventions.
You can choose just to attend the talks taking place on Friday 30 May, from 17:30 to 21:30. Or you can apply to join the hackathon, taking place on the Saturday and Sunday.
3.) PauseAI conference in London
As just mentioned, AI might save huge numbers of people from dying from age-related diseases. But there’s also the possibility that, if AI is developed and deployed in a hurry, it could lead to any of a wide variety of catastrophes – at the hands of people who are malevolent, or at the hands of people who are over-optimistic yet out-of-their-depth, or at the hands of AI itself, that has been jailbroken into an out-of-control state.
Concern about the possibilities of catastrophe (the creation of what I have called CGIs rather than BGIs) has led to a growing coalition of activists who are determined to find ways to alter the trajectory of the development and deployment of advanced AI.
One organisation, PauseAI, puts it like this:
- Don’t let AI companies gamble with our future
- We risk losing control
- We risk human extinction
- We need a pause
- We need to act right now.
PauseAI is organising a training conference in London over the weekend of 27-30 June. You can find more details here.
Guest speakers and trainers will include:
- Connor Leahy, Founder of Conjecture
- Joep Meindertsma, Founder of PauseAI
- Robert Miles, YouTuber
- Kat Woods, Founder of Nonlinear and Charity Entrepreneurship
- David Krueger, Assistant Professor at the University of Montreal
- Tara Steele, Director of The Safe AI for Children Alliance
You can apply to attend here. You may find it a life-changing experience.
4.) CFO 4.0
Another sign of the change in public mood is that relatively mainstream channels and podcasts are giving a lot more attention to potential radical near-future scenarios.
As an example, you may enjoy this video of me being interviewed by Hannah Munro for the CFO 4.0 podcast. I drop several major disruptive possibilities into the conversation, but Hannah takes them all in her stride.
5.) Top futurist podcasts?
I’ve just noticed a listing, by Anuj Agarwal of MillionPodcasts, of what he says is “a hand-curated database of amazing podcasts across various categories”.
This includes a chart of what is described as the top 70 futurist podcasts. It’s pleasing to see London Futurists Podcast featured as #6 in this list.
Here’s a brief visual reminder of our eight most recent episodes – each with their own flavour of profound conversation:
You can find all our episodes here, or in your favourite podcast app.
6.) Inventing and building abundance
For anyone who missed the fascinating discussion at our recent “In the Pub” gathering, on the subject of “Abundance delayed – and how to accelerate it again” – and for anyone who wishes to refresh their memory of some of the points raised – here’s a link to the slides that I presented there.
This slide had the five takeaways that I emphasised at the end of my remarks…
…and this slide expanded on the idea, from the final chapter of the book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, that we are on the cusp of a new political order:
As often happens in London Futurists discussions, I ended the meeting with more questions than when I entered it:
- To what extent does rapid improvement in technology (e.g. NBIC) alter the scenarios outlined in the book?
- Instead of the ‘A’ (“abundance”) future advocated in the book -with the emphasis upon inventing and building that abundance – is what we need to discuss with the public an ‘A+’ future (not just an “abundance” but a superabundance)?
- In such a future, it’s not just that people can expect to work many fewer hours in each week, but most people should anticipate not working at all; how can we prepare the general public for that larger disruption, without society going mad as a result?
My own forecast: this is a subject to which we’ll surely be returning. After all, there’s a vacuum of compelling large ideas in today’s political dialog, and the consequences of this vacuum are truly frightening.
// David W. Wood
Chair, London Futurists
London Futurists 