Why TED2017 will be different — and how you can be part of it

We live in astonishing times.  Millions of people have come to fear the loss of their jobs, their dreams, and the cultural norms with which they were familiar. And in the process, our cultural battle lines have hardened. At a time when humanity is facing its most urgent challenges, we’ve stopped listening to each other.

As a non-profit whose mission is the ignition of ideas worth spreading, TED can play a role here. Fresh thinking has never been needed more, especially thinking that can bridge barriers -- whether political, religious or cultural. So while the theme of this year’s TED Conference may be “The Future You,” a strong subtext emerged during planning: The Future Us.

The speakers we selected for TED2017 will pull the camera back a little to help make sense of what’s happening in our world. In particular, we looked for ideas on finding common ground and re-creating a vision for a future worth pursuing. Things like:

?     Imagining meaningful work for humans in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

?     Education reforms that better prepare our kids to thrive in that future.

?     Radical new economic ideas, such as universal basic income.

?     A different articulation of globalist thinking, one driven by individuals connecting with each other across the planet and discovering just how much we can learn from each other.

There is a real discussion to be had here on what’s happening in our world and how we might avoid sleepwalking into a future that humanity cannot handle: What can history teach us about where we’ve landed? What values are sacrosanct and how do we protect them? Is it possible to reverse the dangerous divide in our societies? Is the dream of a connected world dead?! Our goal is to address these critical issues while still leaving room for dialogue, reason and thoughtful persuasion.

And the good news, of course, is that the world is getting more amazing, not less. New technologies take the breath away, often fueled by the accelerating power of AI. Scientific discovery continues to open worlds of wonder. Medical breakthroughs entice. Designers and artists’ imaginations have never been more fertile. We plan to celebrate it all.

Building on a successful experiment last year, two sessions of this year’s TED are being broadcast live in cinemas, and we’ve worked hard to make sure both sessions are knockout powerful.

The opening session includes:

• a magical (and occasionally alarming) tour of future possibility
• unique insights on AI from a man who faced it head on: former world chess champion Garry Kasparov
• the new face of cyber-war
• thrilling performances from inventor/dancer Huang Yi and the crazy-video-making band OK Go
• outside-the-box advice from Tim Ferriss
• a unique talk/performance from artist Titus Kaphar
• a first ever TED appearance from the inspirational Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

The TED Prize session, also live in cinemas, includes:

• tennis icon Serena Williams sharing lessons from her extraordinary life
• a major new idea from visionary doctor Atul Gawande, applicable to any field
• the daughter of TED legend Hans Rosling (who passed away in February) takes to the stage with astonishing new work
• a brand new performance from dance innovators Jon Boogz and Lil Buck
• the winner of the $1 Million TED Prize who will unveil the spectacular and inspiring project he is initiating
• AND a talk from a major world leader, whose name we can’t reveal, but… just you wait

We’re also featuring a third cinema session compiling the best moments from the rest of the conference.

As you can see, I’m pretty excited about these sessions and thrilled that we get to share the TED experience with a much wider audience. Watching a full session is nothing like watching individual TED Talks. It’s dramatically more powerful, more immersive. I would be delighted to have your company for at least one of them! (You can see if there’s a cinema near you here.)

Finally, I’ve been so impressed by the thoughtfulness and curiosity shown by the LinkedIn community. If you have any observations or suggestions about issues we should be sure to explore at TED, please share them. I will read carefully all comments submitted here.

The future belongs to those who can dream of a better world, and then find a way to share that dream.