THE FUTURE THIS WEEK

Dear reader. Thank you so much for taking the time to pop over and have a look at this, the first of my weekly newsletters titled "Future in sight." As you might have realised, I love a pun. From the title to the heading, I have tried to just add a little nuance to the wording and captions that I will henceforth call on in this series.

As many of you might know, one of the main activities of a futurist is to consume information so as to identify emerging signals and trends and then to share that information with their clients and colleagues. In my personal experience, that boils down to reading (lots-and-lots of reading) and consuming long-form content like podcasts and related media streams.

Over the years I have started creating a common place book to formalize the information that I find interesting and relevant to whichever project I find myself working on from time to time. So, in distilling the information as I do, I realised that some people might not have the opportunity or the time to do so, hence this newsletter.

I will cover just a few topics every week, and provide this newsletter as a repository of the signals and trends that have piqued my interest during that particular week.

To make things simple, I will follow the same layout every week under the following headings:

Trends and signals this week: This is where I will highlight the trends and signals that I found interesting in the preceding week.

The week's wildcard: There is always a wildcard category that sparks a bit of debate or interest, and I will mention any wildcard signals that I come across under this heading.

Person of interest: I will cover a person of interest every week that is making waves in his/her particular field.

This and that: This category will contain snippets and thought-starters for signals that are bubbling under, or posts and papers by fellow futurists that deserve a look-in and possibly further discussion.

Meme-me: No newsletter worth its salt can get away without at least a meme for a good laugh. Enough said.

I welcome any and all comments and critiques for future editions, so should you wish to make constructive criticisms nd comments, please click on the picture below, and you will be given the opportunity to do so.

TRENDS AND SIGNALS THIS WEEK:

• FIELD: MEDICAL

Spinal implant lets man suffering from Parkinson's walk again:

A French man named Marc Gauthier, who has advanced Parkinson's disease, has regained his ability to walk normally thanks to an experimental spinal cord implant. At age 62, after years of tremors, stiffness, and falling, he could barely walk without assistance. The spinal implant stimulates the nerves between his spinal cord and leg muscles, allowing him to stabilize his gait.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) developed the spinal implant. Their technique precisely adjusts leg movements through electrical stimulation of the spinal cord. After calibration and rehabilitation with the implant, Marc can now walk 6 kilometers without difficulty. This spinal stimulation approach has also enabled paralysis recovery. The team received funding to test it in six more Parkinson's patients.

While this spinal implant shows promise for restoring lost mobility, it doesn't slow Parkinson's disease progression. However, other experimental treatments like stem cells and lab-grown brain cells do aim to modify disease progression. Still, this implant could provide an option for advanced Parkinson's patients to walk normally again. While more research is needed, it is clear to see the advances and advances that will emanate from this breakthrough.

• FIELD: ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS

A perennial and persistent favourite of mine - A newly discovered type of electronic behavior displayed by graphene could help with packing more data into magnetic memory devices:

MIT physicists discovered graphene exhibits a rare "multiferroic" state when stacked in 5 layers in a rhombohedral pattern. This means it displays both unconventional magnetism and a new property called ferro-valleytricity. Multiferroic materials could enable faster, lower-power computer memory, but very few have been found before.

In experiments at ultracold temperatures, the 5-layer graphene flakes showed coordinated electron behavior in two ways. First, their orbital motions aligned magnetically. Second, their valley states, representing low energy levels, oriented in one valley over the other. This demonstrated new ferro-valleytronic (The valley index is a quantum number that labels the different valleys in the electronic band structure, akin to the spin index in spintronics), and magnetic properties.

An electric field could control both new ferroic properties (physical properties that can be switched between two or more states through external stimuli, such as electric and magnetic fields or stress) in the 5-layer graphene. If engineered into chips, this could allow lower power manipulation of electrons in two ways rather than one, potentially doubling data storage. The discovery reveals new possibilities for efficient electronic, magnetic, and valleytronic devices.

This discovery could help engineers design ultra-low-power, high-capacity data storage devices for classical and quantum computers.

WEEKLY TECH SPOTLIGHT:

• FIELD: AI & LLM's

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT summarize information and respond to queries by stitching together likely answers. Personalized AI goes further by generating content tailored to users' needs. This outsourcing of information management is convenient but influences what and how we think.

Studies show internet access has changed our cognition by increasing meta-knowledge while reducing memory (the Google effect). It can free up mental resources but increase dependency. It also boosts cognitive self-esteem regardless of information quality.

Generative AI synthesizes information and presents it back to us. Without oversight, it leaves us vulnerable to biases like automation bias (over-trusting machine information) and mere exposure effect (trusting familiar/personalized content).

Social media filter bubbles increase polarization by limiting alternative perspectives. Narrowing information exposure also increases fake news exposure. Past internet effects provide insight into potential generative AI impacts.

While promising, generative AI needs precautions like AI literacy and tools encouraging critical thinking. Understanding our own and AI's strengths/weaknesses can ensure thinking companions augment rather than limit human cognition.

Case in point:

In a strange twist of "article proven by reality," as I was researching information for this part of the newsletter, I wanted to call upon ChatGPT to dissect a few paragraphs and provide alternate wording, just to put my money where my mouth is. Alas, I was met by the equivalent of digital silence as it were.

As fate would have it, OpenAI had a bit of a problem. According to sources, all services delivered by OpenAI were impacted. Pity the poor college student who only had a few minutes to hand in a paper with ChatGPT's help.

This outage highlights the very real impacts that GPT systems and other Large Language Models pose for human cognition and intelligence. Will we reach a point that we become so reliant on these tools that we stop functioning (as far as productivity and output is concerned) entirely? I hope not.

I, for one, am optimistic that after the LLM dust has settled, people will seek one another out again and engage in healthy dialect face to face, and away from these tools and aids.

In anticipation, I have just ordered a mountain of books (the paper kind) to wade through in the coming months so that I can become a worthy, valuable and informed party to any dialectic process I will be party to in the future.

THIS WEEK'S WILDCARD:

Our first wildcard poses will hopefully prompt an ethical debate on the controversial topic of CRISPR.

I chose this wildcard topic, specifically because South Africa has just experienced a massive bird flu outbreak that had a devastating effect on farmers and consumers alike.

Chicken is as much a staple in South Africa as bread and potatoes, and given the financial difficulties faced my consumers every day, any advances in the eradication of the disease will no doubt be welcomed in almost any sphere of society.

Although today's article centers around chickens and bird flu, one cannot help but ponder and muse deeply about the human existential and ontological impacts, should this technology be allowed to continue and develop unchecked.

The development of genetically engineered chickens using CRISPR technology to resist avian flu is a significant advancement in disease prevention within the poultry industry. The ability to create birds that are highly resistant or even fully immune to the avian flu virus could potentially have far-reaching implications in preventing large-scale culling of poultry, economic losses for farmers, and the risk of the virus spreading to humans.

The study conducted by scientists at the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, and the Pirbright Institute demonstrated promising results. Genetically engineered chickens with edited ANP32A genes showed resistance to avian flu, and when all three ANP32 genes were edited in lab-grown chicken cells, the virus was unable to infect them.

There are, however, several challenges and considerations moving forward:

1. Potential Mutations: The researchers acknowledge that the virus could undergo mutations that allow it to circumvent the edits made to the ANP32 genes. Mutations observed in gene-edited chickens already demonstrated the ability of the virus to use the human version of ANP32 to replicate in tests on human cells. Continuous monitoring and adaptation of the gene-editing approach may be necessary to stay ahead of potential mutations.

2. Health Impact on Chickens: Completely knocking out all three ANP32 genes in chickens could impact their health. The challenge lies in finding a balance between editing the genes to prevent virus binding while ensuring the overall health and well-being of the genetically engineered birds.

3. Regulatory Approval and Consumer Acceptance: Even if the gene-editing approach proves successful in preventing avian flu, gaining regulatory approval and acceptance from consumers will be crucial. Ethical and safety considerations surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may influence public perception and acceptance of gene-edited poultry.

4. Pandemic Risk: While preventing the spread of avian flu in poultry is essential, there is still the risk that the virus could mutate and spread among humans. This highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to disease prevention, including the development of vaccines for both poultry and humans.

In conclusion, while the CRISPR-based gene-editing approach shows great promise in creating avian flu-resistant chickens, ongoing research, monitoring, and ethical considerations are crucial for its successful implementation. The ultimate goal is not only to protect poultry and prevent economic losses but also to mitigate the potential risk of the virus evolving into a form that could lead to a deadly pandemic.

Let history guide us into the future on this topic.

PERSON OF THE WEEK:

From the first moment that the idea for this newsletter started bubbling under, I wanted to include a "Person of Interest" section, and it was always my intent to have this week's person of interest as my first.

Ever since seeing her appear on a YouTube video dealing with the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, I thought to myself that this is a person who I wouldn't mind driving the future of design, architecture and indeed engineering.

I suggest that anyone who is interested in the topic follow her and take a look at her work and her vision.

I introduce to you Neri Oxman, founder of her company, Oxman, amongst many other institutions she has been , and is, involved in.

Neri Oxman is a groundbreaking architect, designer, and professor renowned for her innovative work at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Her multidisciplinary approach has consistently pushed the boundaries of conventional design, earning her international acclaim. As an academic, she holds the prestigious position of Professor of the Practice of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she leads the Mediated Matter research group.

Her work is characterized by a deep commitment to biomimicry and nature-inspired design. She coined the term "Material Ecology" to describe her philosophy, emphasizing the integration of computational design, digital fabrication, and organic forms. This approach has led to the creation of awe-inspiring structures and artifacts that not only exhibit stunning aesthetics but also serve functional purposes, often blurring the lines between art and science.

Notable for her ability to bridge disciplines, she further collaborates with experts from various fields, including biologists, engineers, and material scientists. This interdisciplinary approach has given rise to groundbreaking projects, such as the Silk Pavilion, a structure spun by silkworms guided by a robotic arm, showcasing the potential for symbiotic relationships between nature and technology.

Beyond her contributions to design and architecture, her influence extends to the realm of education, where she inspires the next generation of innovators. Her work has been featured in prestigious exhibitions worldwide, and she has received numerous awards for her contributions to the fields of design and technology.

Neri Oxman continues to be a trailblazer, challenging traditional notions of design and reshaping the future of the built environment through her visionary approach.

I highly suggest viewing this YouTube podcast where Lex Fridman sits down with Neri Oxman and does a deep dive into her work. Click the image to be taken to that episode.

THIS AND THAT:

In this segment I have highlighted a few signals for you to research on your own. These are signals that I've seen on some of the news feeds that I follow that might be of interest to our readers.

Fighting forest fires with fungi

A coalition of Colorado environmental agencies have evidence that adding mycelium to the forest floors and open spaces can make the soil healthier and more moist — and help protect the forest ecosystem against wildfires. ?

?New LLM making generative AI more inclusive

Named for African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, Latimer is a large language model built to better reflect the experience, culture, and history of Black and brown people. (LLMs are often biased.) The “Black GPT” recently announced new partnerships with HBCUs that will help with its broader distribution. ?

Phasing out orange plastic Rx bottles

More than 194 billion plastic prescription bottles are produced each year; 90% of which end up in oceans and landfills. A new company, Cabinet, is making them out of recyclable glass. Turns out full-spectrum thinking isn’t so hard. ?

Tech exec: treat AI risk as seriously as the climate crisis?

To quell existential fears over tech with superhuman levels of intelligence, Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis has called for greater regulation of AI, adding that the world must act immediately in tackling its transformative dangers.

New trend for Gen Z-ers: ditch your phone, go for a walk

It’s called “silent walking”: heading out for a stroll without your phone, music, podcasts, or games. Podcaster Mady Maio claims to have started the movement that, she promises, will “change your life.” The future of work may be include a meditative break that’s free of distractions. Everything is changing. As the climate warms, mosquitoes may be one of the only species benefiting from the change. The CDC says skeeters are growing bigger and living longer, increasing their ability to transmit deadly diseases.

MEME-ME

Thank you for reading this article. Please be sure to check out our next article on Nov 17, 2023.

Visit the Square 9 Consulting web page at https://square9.co.za/