I am intrigued by the fear of a potential technological revolution. Will technology steal away my livelihood? Will it mean we are devoid or lacking of skills required to fully embrace new technology?
Opinion pieces are vastly different and I favour the futurist perspective. First, let’s explore the concept of what if. What if you had more time than ever before to create meaning in your life? Your work? And what if menial tasks were a thing of the past.
This futurist perspective means we create more meaning in our lives. In ‘Back To The Future’, Marty and Doc travel from 1985 to 2015. Yes, there were hover boards and numerous other predictions that we have not seen in reality. However, what is not so far-fetched is the notion of robotics, artificial intelligence and other new technology working its way into our everyday lives.
To put this into perspective, where blue collar work is often delivered by machine, this technology trend is emerging for white collar workers. And as Futurist and TEDx speaker Anders Sorman-Nilsson describes, “just like our brawns have been digitised, so will our brains.”
So are you a futurephile? Someone who is excited and open about technology in the future or a futurephobe? Someone who is frightened of it.
I believe it is an exciting time, not only for communications, changing business models and emerging technology, but it is a time for all of us to put forward our vision for the future and own our part in what this should look like.
