Future Today #143 - Robots · Gen AI · Fallacies · Greenwashing · Capital Trends · Nvidia

?? Welcome to Future Today! A newsletter for those curious about social innovation, disruptive technologies and futures studies. In it I share weekly articles, reports and interesting links, and recommendations of books, movies, series, events and courses. We are already more than 15,000 people! Do not hesitate to subscribe!

?? At Innuba, we design positive futures from complex presents . We've been helping organizations and leaders for over 8 years to understand the complex present, imagine positive futures, and make them a reality, through disruptive innovation, collaboration ecosystems, humanist technology, and new narratives. Shall we talk? Leave me a message!

???? La edición en espa?ol la puedes leer en Substack

?? 2024 Global Human Capital Trends . It’s time to trade in the rules, operating constructs, and proxies of the past. Reimagining boundaryless work amid these disruptions is no longer hypothetical—or optional. The old proxies previously relied upon to measure performance may no longer apply, and there’s no easy playbook to follow that will enable organizations to thrive in this new environment. So what’s next for organizations and workers? What steps can we take to create a future full of possibility and hope in the uncertainty of a boundaryless world?

?? Gen AI: too much spend, too little benefit? The promise of generative AI technology to transform companies, industries, and societies is leading tech giants and beyond to spend an estimated ~$1tn on capex in coming years, including significant investments in data centers, chips, other AI infrastructure, and the power grid. But this spending has little to show for it so far. Whether this large spend will ever pay off in terms of AI benefits and returns, and the implications for economies, companies, and markets if it does—or if it doesn’t—is Top of Mind.

?? Why Nvidia, Tesla, Amazon And More Are Betting Big On AI-Powered Humanoid Robots . Humanoid robots are catching the attention, and billions of investment dollars, from big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft. Elon Musk is betting the future of Tesla on these machines, predicting its robot, Optimus, could propel it to a $25 trillion market cap. Powered by artificial intelligence, these bots have seen quantum leaps in what they’re capable of in just the past few years. CNBC’s Kate Rooney speaks with Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI and others to explore the rise of these AI-driven humanoids, if they’re a cure-all for our global workforce problems, or if this is yet another tech bubble.

??? Exploring Your Organization's Futures | SXSW 2024 . Strategic foresight shows you where to play in the future, how to win, and –– importantly –– how to build resiliency in the wake of unstoppable external forces of change. In this strategic impacts workshop, we will link foresight to strategy. We’ll show you what it takes to navigate potential futures within your organization, so that your scenarios deliver impact for both your team and your senior executives. We will explain how to use scenarios to identify opportunities and threats, and how to strategize to bridge capability gaps. By the end of the session, you will learn how to pressure test scenarios, how to prioritize scenario implications, and how to backcast to action.

?? Why Amazon’s own employees are calling it out for greenwashing . Just two days ago, Amazon’s communications department proudly announced that the company had achieved its goal of powering 100% of its activities with renewable energy — a feat accomplished seven years ahead of schedule. However, this claim was quickly challenged by an unexpected source: Amazon’s own employees.

Book: Radical Uncertainty: Decision-making for an unknowable future (2021) - Mervyn King & John Kay

Movie: Looper (2021) - Rian Johnson

?? ?? Do you want to know all the movies and series of Future Today, here is the complete list ? And do you want to know all the books, here is the list ?

?? Future Resources . If we are to have more inclusive and sustainable futures, more brains should be involved in decision-making. By including information and humans from non-European/US origin, we are slowly decolonizing an industry that is in dire need of truly diverse perspectives. This is an invitation to read, listen, learn, share and connect with different cultures, ways of thinking, and making a positive impact.

??? Futures Fallacies: What They Are and What We Can Do About Them . In this article, I analyse detrimental thinking patterns about the future, termed futures fallacies. These fallacies create barriers to positive individual and social change. I provide examples of ten specific futures fallacies and explain why they remain current. The article is intended to both those new to Futures Studies and to futurists, to help them, us, more effectively use the future.

?? Breaking Into AI’s Black Box: Anthropic Maps the Mind of Its Claude Large Language Model . The opaque inner workings of AI systems are a barrier to their broader deployment. Now, startup Anthropic has made a major breakthrough in our ability to peer inside artificial minds. One of the great strengths of deep learning neural networks is they can, in a certain sense, think for themselves. Unlike previous generations of AI, which were painstakingly hand coded by humans, these algorithms come up with their own solutions to problems by training on reams of data.

?? IKEA's Journey Through 3D Visualization and Spatial Computing . This 30-minute presentation takes you on an enlightening journey through IKEA's innovative transformative use of 3D visualization and spatial computing, starting with IKEA's early adoption of AR and 3D modeling technologies. The talk highlights the challenges and vision that propelled their digital evolution. It underscores how these technologies have offered immersive and interactive experiences with products in a virtual environment.

?? Microsoft’s New AI Can Clone Your Voice in Just 3 Seconds . AI is being used to generate everything from images to text to artificial proteins, and now another thing has been added to the list: speech. Last week researchers from Microsoft released a paper on a new AI called VALL-E that can accurately simulate anyone’s voice based on a sample just three seconds long. VALL-E isn’t the first speech simulator to be created, but it’s built in a different way than its predecessors—and could carry a greater risk for potential misuse.

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you. – Walt Whitman

?? What has this newsletter sparked in you? Any thoughts? Leave a comment on this article and we'll generate an interesting conversation between all of us.

???? If you liked it... Leave a comment! Share it! Don't be shy! And subscribe! If you want to get in touch with me, ping me at [email protected] .