In a talk from his book, “The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity,” futurist, author, and technologist, Byron Reese identifies these as fundamentally philosophical, not technical, questions. Instead of telling the audience what he thinks, he teaches them how to apply their own beliefs and values to them to come up with their own answers.
Byron then proceeds to tell the story of technology over the last 100,000 years, focusing on three times in the past when we created a technology so profound that it permanently altered our bodies and minds, changing the trajectory of human history in a dramatic way. Byron believes that humanity is about to be so transformed a fourth time, due to artificial intelligence and robots.
This talk overflows with reasoned optimism and is suitable for all audiences, as its focus is not specific technologies, but how to think about technology.
This talk overflows with reasoned optimism and is suitable for all audiences, as its focus is not specific technologies, but how to think about technology.
As a lifelong entrepreneur with multiple IPOs and successful exits under his belt, Byron frequently speaks to business audiences on how to excel in the world of tomorrow, and how to deploy technology successfully.
He states: “Technology multiplies human ability. That’s its trick. It magnifies us. We can move more bricks with a forklift than we can on our backs. Technological advancement is not to be feared, rather it should be welcomed, for by enhancing human ability, we enhance our productivity and therefore our standard of living. This is the entire reason why we live so much more lavish and prosperous lives than did our great-grandparents.
An hour of our time is vastly more productive than was an hour of theirs.”
Byron has addressed hundreds of corporations and professional organizations on almost every continent and reports that he is open to traveling to Antarctica to round it all out.
On this topic, Byron demonstrates how current technological changes will ultimately bring about the end of poverty, disease, hunger, ignorance, and war. Additionally, Byron explores how these historical problems of humanity are fundamentally problems of technology, and thus will have technological solutions, solutions we will find much sooner than is commonly believed.
Attendees can expect to learn:
Why the gloom and doomers always get it wrong
How technology will transform the world
What is needed to end misery and want; disease and death
What to expect from the coming golden age of humanity
How will automation change the workplace? Will robots take all the jobs?
In this disruptive period, how can we embrace change in business?
How is education being changed through technology? How will it?
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