Futurist Thomas Frey: It was rather anticlimactic when it finally happened, but the front door simply failed to open.
Continue reading… “The Day the Banking Industry Died”
Our Emerging Superhero Culture
Futurist Thomas Frey: When my oldest son Darby was 8 years old, he looked at his 3-year old sister, Shandra, and pointedly said, “She’s worthless! She couldn’t save anyone!”
Continue reading… “Our Emerging Superhero Culture”
Chinese factory run almost exclusively by robots, production soars
One of the greatest fears in the technology industry is the fear that someday almost all of our jobs will be replace by robots. That fear is sometimes laughed off as something that will happen in the far future. But, the truth is that it is actually happening now.
Continue reading… “Chinese factory run almost exclusively by robots, production soars”
Teaching Robots to Fight Wars
Futurist Thomas Frey: A robot does not kill someone out of fear, anger, or desperation. They kill because someone told them to do it. At least that the way it works with our current generation of robots. What comes next may be a different story.
Normally, when we think about war, it has to do with countries using their armies to fight other countries, or in the case of a civil war, countries torn apart by internal rival factions.
But that line of thinking is far too narrow for the conflicts in our future as our choice of weaponry and choice of battlefront continues to expand.
From my perspective, the traditional country vs. country war tends to be far more about political theater, a theater that plays out on the world stage in full view of the public, than the subversive battles being fought over countless levels of minutia in the background.
Continue reading… “Teaching Robots to Fight Wars”
Future of the Internet – 8 Expanding Dimensions
Futurist Thomas Frey: In March of 1989 when Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first online message that would eventually lead to the World Wide Web, it was similar to the first car leaving an inventor’s workshop.
The highway system for cars started on horse and buggy trails and the Internet was born on switching networks designed for telephones. With roads turning into sophisticated highways and phone lines morphing into fiber and wireless networks, we begin to get a sense as to where we’ve come from.
Continue reading… “Future of the Internet – 8 Expanding Dimensions”
Will Coworking Replace Colleges?
Futurist Tom Frey: When I first brought up the idea of coworking taking over colleges, it seemed like an absurd notion. But there is a secret reason that very few people are grasping.
At first glance, the highly structured ivory towers of academia seem to be on the opposite end of the spectrum from the unstructured anything-goes world of coworking. But the more I thought about it, it seems inevitable that the two are on a collision course.
In fact, it’s already happening, but not in the ways you may imagine.
NOTE: Anyone interested in learning to code, DaVinci Coders offers multiple courses designed to get you into the rapidly growing technology industry. For more info please visit davincicoders.com.
Continue reading… “Will Coworking Replace Colleges?”
The Coming of “Peak Car”
Futurist Thomas Frey: In what year will the number of cars in the world reach its peak and auto sales overall begin to decline?
For most, it may be surprising to realize we’re already there in the U.S. Growing data shows many wealthy economies have already hit “peak car,” a point of market saturation characterized by an unprecedented deceleration in the growth of car ownership, total miles driven, and annual sales.
Continue reading… “The Coming of “Peak Car””
Man Vs Machine: Bricklaying robot can place 1,000 bricks an hour
Almost as old as human civilization itself, building houses of brick has been perfected over the millennia. Placing over 700 bricks an hour, the fastest human bricklayers are pretty fast. Continue reading… “Man Vs Machine: Bricklaying robot can place 1,000 bricks an hour”
The Great Mannequin Vs. Fashion Model Showdown
Futurist Thomas Frey: If it weren’t for their glowing eyes, I would have sworn they were live fashion models dancing in the store window.
Moving smoothly to match the music playing in the background, each of the seven perfectly proportioned mannequins swayed to a carefully choreographed set of moves designed to draw attention to the clothes they were wearing.
The eerie feeling that they were watching me as much as I was watching them was not a mistake. They were indeed looking at me. Continue reading… “The Great Mannequin Vs. Fashion Model Showdown”
Creating Humanless Distribution Networks
Futurist Thomas Frey: A couple weeks ago I was asked to speak at the 8th annual Turkish Postal Symposium in Antalya, Turkey on the future of the postal industry. This was a fascinating gathering of thought leaders to discuss next generation postal service.
I focused my talk around a central question – “How long will it be before we can mail a package and have it travel to a city on the other side of the world without ever being touched by human hands?” Continue reading… “Creating Humanless Distribution Networks”
World’s first robot chef can prepare 2000 different dishes, with $0 pay
The push for an increased minimum wage just went right out the automated window… Continue reading… “World’s first robot chef can prepare 2000 different dishes, with $0 pay”
What if we didn’t all have to work to get paid?
Scott Santens has been reflecting on the aphorism, “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for life.” But what Santens really wants to know is, “If you build a robot to fish, do all men starve, or do all men eat?” Continue reading… “What if we didn’t all have to work to get paid?”
