The future is coming, the tech is spectacular and few of us are sure what any of it means. So Spark and Semi Permanent grabbed 'some of the smartest minds on the planet' to share passions and perspectives at a day called ‘Future State’.
It was awesome. A mix of topic talks and panel chats with international heavy hitters from Google, Adidas, Cambridge University and beyond. Every speaker brought something different to think about.
We learned about networks and data. Humans and hope. How machines learn and what we should be teaching them. We glimpsed at a world where AR and VR converge to push UX through CX into TX – a Total Experience of buying stuff wrapped around our lives.
We also learned how robots can learn from the best of our shared history. Weaving together stories of who we’re from with the building blocks of nature to build a better tomorrow. Who knew that turtles could talk? We do. The robots showed us.
If the measure of a good talkfest is who you want to drink beer with, my choice would be Mark Adams and Sam Connif.
Mark kicked us off with energy, curiosity and gratuitous profanity. We were drawn into his passion and his laser-focus on first principles. “The internet is just a network of inter-connected networks” – if we connect with people about stuff they care about, they’re way more likely to care about it.
Sam rounded the programme with a simple challenge. He reminded us that uncertainty is real and it’s genuinely scary. But showed how we can choose to make it a barrier or a super-power battery. What we take from it is what we make of it – and option two makes a lot more happen.
It was the perfect tonic in a day of big stuff. We saw and felt the gap between what robots can do and our ability to keep up. There were lots of exponential curves and watchouts on digital inequity and the serious impact of processing power on our planet.
But plenty of lights were also shone on hope. The overwhelming out-take of the day was: It’s not about technology. It’s about humanity.
Just as robots create conversations by scraping data from yesterday’s digital exhaust, so we, as humans, can honour our shared and varied histories to stand on the shoulders of the humans we’re from and build a better future with the tools of technology.
In a day of inspiration, that felt like the call to action.
If we listen to the voices of the smartest in the world, the best of our future will be crafted through community, collaboration and the courage to place big bets that make a meaningful contribution.
That opportunity is sitting on the table.
But the challenge at those top tables is their fiduciary obligation to manage all the risks and preserve the status quo. Something’s got to give. And the robots aren’t waiting.
Can we harness this inspiration to drive action?
Could New Zealand’s ‘Future State’ be the first in the world to genuinely and sustainably bridge the digital divide?
We have the tech, the talent and the passion to make that happen. But do we have the courage?
Or will we be back ‘in the future’ to talk about it?
