Resistance is Futile (038)
Exploring many kinds of human-machine augmentation.
Happy Monday and welcome to another edition of Artificial Insights.
This week sees the release of an important new VR consumer device, or as Apple calls it: spatial computing. Whether we’ll all be wearing computers on our faces a decade from now remains unforeseeable, but it sure is exciting to watch a new industry unfold. I am especially interested in how GenAI will inevitably seep into products and user experiences. Chatting with GPT on text or audio isn’t necessarily immersive, but it can be compelling. Stepping into generative environments which respond to our input will probably the next iteration of this, and I’ll be paying close attention to what companies like Midjourney are up to in this space.
I still think augmentation of all kinds is the way forward. Humans are already molded around technology in ways that we barely comprehend and there is no imagining us without our technological superstructure. Everything that happens outside our minds is effectively mediated by some kind of technology - from our writing utensils to our staircases, shoes or sustenance. We are all centaurs already, there is no reversing the course, only a matter of how you embrace it and work with technology to help shape better futures.
MZ
From AI to Hybrid Intelligence
Insightful lecture by professor Catholijn Jonker of TU Delft at the Royal Institute. All about what she calls interactive intelligence (centaurs) and how machines can assist our cognitive processes and help us both as individuals and in our organizations.
AI as Augmentation (Davos 2024)
Great panel about the implications of an augmented society with:
Saadia Zahidi: Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, known for her work on gender parity and education.
Paul Hudson: CEO of Sanofi.
Nicolas Hieronimus: CEO of L'Oréal.
Joe Ucuzoglu: CEO of Deloitte US.
Francine Lacqua: Journalist and television presenter for Bloomberg Television.
Christy Hoffman: General Secretary of UNI Global Union.
Azeem Azhar: Technology entrepreneur and founder of the Exponential View newsletter.
AI research highlights from Microsoft
Microsoft comes across to me as the biggest tech company practicing public foresight. Each tech company of course has a unique approach to opening their respective research, but Microsoft stands out in how they have been publishing and promoting more experimental takes on potential technological futures for decades. I wish Meta, Google and others were equally ambitious in public.
What wearing a computer feels like
If you did not spend the weekend wearing a face computer, consider spending a few minutes listening to those who did. Joanna Stern, Canoopsy and Casey Neistat each wore the Apple Vision Pro both around the house and in out public, and share their experiences on YouTube. I can’t recommend these enough. While the $3.500 device still looks outrageous in the open, their insights about how it feels like living in the future are worth noting. To me, Vision Pro is like a paid R&D experiment. A premium product for Apple to start carving out a new market - bridging the gap from innovators and early adopters to a small majority to start taking these interfaces seriously. Others have tried, and will keep trying, but Apple has a track record of industry-making clout, which most other competitors dream of replicating. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
This commercial wasn’t filmed
Don’t miss this commercial by ASML generated entirely in MidJourney and RunwayAI. Read more about the production from ASML here. Learn more about RunwayAI from the Economist.
From Substack
Keep an eye on some of my favorite newsletters.
Why data visualization matters in foresight
Short and illustrated article by yours truly in L’Atelier des Futurs with a handful of concrete examples of how (and why) we at Envisioning incorporate data visualization in our strategic foresight approach.
Until next week.
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Artificial Insights is written by Michell Zappa, CEO and founder of Envisioning, a technology research institute.
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Thanks for the shout out, Michell! Great thoughts (and memes) as always. If anything, the Apple Vision Pro is a display of Apple's vision for what the future of computing will look like. They shipped an incredible piece of technology. Casey Neistat's video said it all, I think.