Category Archive

What is Blockchain? To be Future Fluent, another term we need to understand is “Blockchain.” Blockchain is best known as the backbone technology for the digital currency bitcoin; it is an encrypted, digital ledger of public records organized into groups of data called blocks and distributed over networks. Blockchain is a type of decentralized database that allows everyone in a … Read More

We have looked at the CRISPR gene editing revolution and gene editing in food, but we can’t leave this topic without exploring the real ethical concerns that come with CRISPR. (For an animation which depicts the CRISPR-Cas9 method of genome editing, see this YouTube video created by the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pp17E4E-O8&feature=youtu.be CRISPR creates cuts in … Read More

More on CRISPR—This time we’re looking at gene editing in food. Recent research involving CRISPR gene editing demonstrates how we can make tomatoes more nutritious and flavorful, the groundcherry a more commercially viable crop, and optimize the taste of your favorite beer. Globally, plant scientists are aiming to bring back the nutritious and delicious tomatoes of the past. Turning to … Read More

If you do not know about the revolution that CRISPR has ignited, you should.  CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a relatively recent discovery in the history of biotechnology. But, not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium … Read More

To end the week, we are moving from AI and Bias to the other side of the coin: AI for Good. Altruistic applications of AI are emerging in multiple sectors including education, health, law and the environment. AI’s main advantage over humans is its ability to detect incredibly subtle patterns within large quantities of data and to learn from them. … Read More

As we discussed in earlier trends, a number of industry leaders and scientists believe the biggest risk tied to artificial intelligence is the downfall of humanity. But as DEI practitioners, we also need to be part of addressing two more tangible risks: AI created with harmful biases built into its core, and AI that does not reflect the diversity of … Read More

Recently, we looked at the trends related to the “Singularity” and we start this week exploring the implications of ESIs (Enhanced Singular Individuals) joining our workforce. The Singularity presents both an existential threat to humanity and an existential opportunity for humanity to transcend its limitations. To see a visual infographic of the Dawn of the Singularity, go to the Futurism … Read More

This week, we will look at the trends related to the “Singularity” and ESIs (Enhanced Singular Individuals). The term, Singularity,  has different definitions depending on whom you ask, and it often overlaps with ideas like transhumanism. But the broad idea is that the rate of technological progress is accelerating exponentially, and will continue to do so, to the point where … Read More

This week, we have put the two other megatrends together from the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds report. In addition to the two trends we summarized last week: A Dramatically Different World and Diffusion of Power, the Council predicted increased Individual Empowerment, a Growing Middle Class and Demand for Food, Water and Energy. Individual Empowerment Over the … Read More

This week, we have put the two other megatrends together from the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds report. In addition to the two trends we summarized last week: A Dramatically Different World and Diffusion of Power, the Council predicted increased Individual Empowerment, a Growing Middle Class and Demand for Food, Water and Energy. Individual Empowerment Over the … Read More