Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, has published several lists of lessons he has learned over his lifetime.  One of the most interesting lessons was, "Forget trying to predict the future, we are still trying to predict the present."  As a Futurist I understand Kelly's point!  Perhaps it is time to create the role of Presentist. As we have all experienced with the global COVID-19 pandemic, it is all but impossible to understand or predict something while you are in the midst of it.  It takes distance, it takes hindsight.  Small changes to the COVID-19 virus can result in variants that exhibit different levels of severity and transmissibility.  Scientist don't know the future until both time and data reveal the patterns. Along this line, Winston Churchill once said, "The further backward you look, the further forward you can see."  Another voice of experience suggesting it takes a different perspective, often involving both time and

"When the ship was invented, so was the shipwreck."  This statement from urbanist and cultural theorist Dr. Paul Virilio, is important for all of us to ponder.  All successful inventions, according to Professor Virilio, include a guaranteed accident/failure.  Invention and accident are inseparable.   The key to a better future is knowing which inventions and innovations are valuable enough to withstand and persevere through the inevitable accidents.  It is also necessary to consider which accidents are so costly that developing the invention or innovation might not be justified.  The atomic bomb is an example of this debate.  It is an invention that has lead to the wide proliferation of atomic weapons by both friend and foe.  That was not the intent.  It was the accident. Implementing new policies, laws, processes and regulations also come with a costs in terms of unintended consequences and guaranteed accidents.  For example, repeatedly data has shown that when abortion is

A series of recent developments in AI has revealed the truth in the concept that things move slowly, then fast.  Today it was reported that General Motors is now charging for rides in its new fleet of driverless Cruise model robotaxis in San Francisco.  During the trial period the rides were free, the cars had manual controls and there were humans in the driver's seat for safety.  The big developments in this report are the drivers are gone, the manual controls including steering wheels are gone, and now riders must pay for rides.   The fact that GM can now charge for rides means their business model can now be executed, the cost of drivers eliminated, revenue will start to flow, the cost of insurance will likely go down, as autonomous self-driving cars are far safer than human drivers, and they can start to scale across other cities. "It’s a Wright Brothers moment," said Cruise Chief Operating Officer Gil West in an interview with Bloomberg. It's an important moment

My guest today is Steve Adler, CEO, and Founder of Ocean Data Alliance. Steve has served in many leadership roles over his career including being IBM's Chief Data Scientist. Today, he is focused on using his expertise, his connections, and data to make the world and the world's oceans cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable through the capture, collection, and analysis of data.  This is not easy.  You have audiences that don't believe in science. You have politicians that don't believe in open data or appreciate facts. You have humans that are notoriously bad at understanding risk, especially future risk. You have countries without the leadership or infrastructure to effectively capture and use data.  Even with all of these challenges, Steve Adler is championing global efforts to better understand our world and our world's ocean environments for the purpose of improving our future and that of our children's. *****************************************************

What reality do we live in? That’s a hard question to answer, because often people aren’t sure. This is, however, a question worth asking, because there are growing numbers of sophisticated cyber-influence campaigns that are being directed at our brains by all kinds of different special interest groups for the purpose of influencing our perceived reality. Reality is complex. There are many different definitions for it, but most are similar to, “The state of things as they exist, not some imagined state.” Herein lies the challenge with reality. All of us interpret what we see differently. The same for all our senses. What tastes good to me might be revolting to you. The same exact item is labeled in our minds differently giving us two distinct realities. Our senses also aren’t always capable of showing us what exists. Try to imagine reddish green — something that is somewhat like red and somewhat like green. Or, instead, try to picture yellowish blue. Humans can’t do it. Even though tho

I work on the Future of Business team at TCS.  As part of our routine we track hundreds of emerging trends across seven domains; science, technology, societal, economic, geopolitical, philosophy and environment.  Our future is guaranteed to be influenced by a mixture of converging developments across all of these areas, with an occasional catalyst (historic transformational event), thrown in to super change them.  One of those catalyst was the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed millions and changed the way the world works, educates, lives, etc. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us many things. It taught us that ingenuity, expertise, governments, science and very smart and hardworking humans all collaborating together can deliver lifesaving vaccines in record times.  This is how Science.org describes it, "Amid the staggering amount of suffering and death during this historic pandemic of COVID-19, a remarkable success story stands out. The development of several highly efficacious vaccine

For most of recorded history not many things were dependable.  Crops were not dependable. Communications were not dependable.  Transportation was not dependable.  Logistics were not dependable.  Income was not dependable. Health was not dependable.  We had yet to domesticate the gods of science and nature to serve our ends. Today, we can routinely move through complex environments with dependable transportation systems that involve millions of moving parts without so much as spilling our coffee, looking up from a game of Wordle, or being late to a meeting.   This amazing accomplishment, and others like it, have freed up our brains and provided us with the luxury of focusing our attention elsewhere - and elsewhere is an important place.  It's where the future is made. Our mental "elsewhere" can be a place of hope, joy, compassion, peace, beauty, love, generosity, community, creativity, innovation, trust and exploration.  It can also, depending on our circumstances, be a pl

If you have never read a book by or listened to a presentation by Futurist Byron Reese you have missed out.  He is a popular speaker and holds several technology patents, he has started and sold multiple companies, including two NASDAQ IPOs.  He has authored 4 books: Infinite Progress, The Fourth Age, Wasted, and his newest book that will be available in August of 2022 - Stories, Dice and Rocks that Think, and he has another in development.   I love the work Byron does.  He is bold, deeply insightful, humble, immensely creative and shares his contagious sense of humor with all of us on the program today. Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Dice-Rocks-Think-Future/dp/1637741340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PODGJKLWX8FT&keywords=byron+reese&qid=1654809999&s=books&sprefix=byron+reese%2Cstripbooks%2C189&sr=1-1 ************************************************************************

In this episode of my podcast, former IBM Chief Storyteller, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author, and Documentary Filmmaker Steve Hamm joins us to share his experiences collaborating with scientists, technology leaders, governments, and captains of industry to save the planet.  In fact, he wrote a book about it, The Pivot: Addressing Global Problems Through Local Action.  Steve also shares his experiences meeting with and interviewing technology leaders including Marc Benioff, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, the Dalai Lama, and more.  We also talk about his career transition from focusing on emerging technologies to investing in saving our children's future.  Join us! I think you will like it! ************************************************************************ Kevin Benedict Partner | Futurist at TCS View my profile on LinkedIn Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence ***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is si

We are excited to release the first episode in our new HLTH FORWARD series hosted by myself and healthcare expert Smriti Kirubanandan.  Our guest for our first program is healthcare expert Stuart Gilchrist.  He brings with him 37 years of experience working on all aspects of healthcare.  He shares his journey and how the healthcare industry has evolved over his career, what it means to be an industry leader today, and where healthcare is going in the future. ************************************************************************ Kevin Benedict Partner | Futurist at TCS View my profile on LinkedIn Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence ***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.