Fast Forward with Tech 2025

Aaaaand we're BACK! After a brief hiatus due to the endless travels of cohosts Charlie Oliver and Ed Maguire, the team reassembles for this special, spooky, AI Halloween episode with special guest, Dr. Seth Baum (Executive Director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute).

Ed and Charlie kick things off by each telling their own real-life horror story about extremely dangerous criminals they've come into personal contact with — including Ed's brief encounter with a musician who turns out to be a child pornographer and Charlie's interaction with a 19-year old who murdered his grandmother (and her experience being in Las Vegas during the mass shooting where 59 people were killed, and 500+ people were injured, by one man).

This leads to a discussion on "the demons among us" (psychopath killers and other assorted extreme criminals) and how AI and other emerging technologies will enable ordinary people to spot extremely perverse and violent criminals hiding in plain site among us and to predict their violent crimes before they happen. How would our world change If we could see (maybe through Augmented Reality glasses) that the person sitting in front of us on our morning commute has a violent criminal record or is "highly likely" to commit a violent crime soon?

Next, Ed and Charlie welcome the incomparable Seth Baum to discuss our fears (real and imagined) of an AI apocalypse and killer robots. Seth's research focuses on risk and policy analysis of catastrophes that could destroy human civilization, such as global warming, nuclear war, and runaway artificial intelligence.

The conversation takes a few unexpected twist and turns as Ed and Charlie question Seth about the actual things humanity should be really concerned about now that could destroy us soon (above and beyond AI and killer robots). And Seth explains the meaning of Dragon Kings and why it is Dragon Kings (and not Black Swans) that we should be really concerned about).

And finally, CUPCAKES! Ed, Charlie and Seth then share their one and greatest fear about the potential catastrophic impact of an emerging technology — while eating cupcakes that Charlie brought in.

• 0:00 – 7:30 – Ed and Charlie discuss recent events and the Fall craziness; Charlie asks Ed for advice on a particular annoying thing she's encountering a lot lately
• 7:28 – 32:55 – Ed and Charlie share real life horror stories including Charlie's experience in Las Vegas, Ed's brush with a child pornographer, and Charlie's run-in with a teenager in Charlie's old apartment building who brutally murdered his grandmother — how will AI help us to predict and avoid extreme crimes in the future?
• 33:09 – 1:18:30 – Hey, Seth!! Seth Baum joins Ed and Charlie for a deep dive into our real and imagined fears around AI, killer robots, and other risks to the survival of humanity. Seth also shares his latest research in this field and offers insights on how we should be thinking about these things so that we maintain a balanced perspective. Also, what are the three greatest risks threatening the survival of our species right now that we really should be worried about?
• 1:18:30 – 1:30:30 – CUPCAKES! Ed, Charlie and Seth devour cupcakes Charlie brought in while each taking turns sharing their biggest fear about one particular technology that might be destructive to humanity in the future.

All of this is AND Tech 2025 is coproducing an event in New York on these very topics with the awesome team at This Week In Machine Learning & AI podcast (the top-rated podcast on AI), October 30th. If you're in New York and can join us, use the special code below to get a complimentary ticket to the event. There will be an AI costume contest too (of course).

EVENT WEBSITE: https://halloweenai.splashthat.com/ USE THIS COMP CODE: TECH2025COMP

Happy Halloween and stay safe out there!

• Seth Baum's website: http://sethbaum.com and http://www.gcrinstitute.org/
• Contact Seth: Twitter – @sethbaum LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-baum-64615a/

A few relevant stories:

• The name of the musician who was busted by the FBI for child pornography that Ed talks about is Eric Komar: New Jersey Children's Musician Accused Of Distributing Child Pornography (CBS)
• Neural Network Learns to Identify Criminals by Their Faces (MIT)
• Face-reading AI will be able to detect your politics and IQ, professor says (The Guardian)
• How AI is helping detect fraud and fight criminals (Venture Beat)
• Facebook can unlock your account with facial recognition (TechCrunch)

FOLLOW AND REACH OUT TO US AT:

• Website: tech2025.com/podcast
• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter – @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter – @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire/

Oy! This episode was an epic lesson in how to climb out of a blockchain rabbit hole for Ed, Charlie and Anne T. Griffin (Tech 2025's new Emerging Tech Correspondent). Bubbles, cryptocurrencies, ICOs, Ethereum, smart contracts -- so much to learn, so little time!

In this episode, the crew tackles the daunting and massively complicated topic of Blockchain -- what is it really? How can we separate what we need to know from hype? Where can we find the best, most reliable info on blockchain? Are we in a bubble? And what does Paris Hilton have to do with all of this. With even experts in the blockchain space admitting that the technology is so new, and the ecosystem is growing so quickly, that it's hard to wrap your minds around it, we discuss how ordinary people looking to understand this might find their own way of learning about blockchain and connecting with blockchain communities.

On the topic of Blockchain events (and how they are popping up everywhere), Ed and Charlie discussing recent Blockchain events they went too and Anne gives us a thought-provoking recap of an event (Where Do Cryptocurrencies Derive Value & Are We In a Bubble?) and shares why coming regulations (not the bubble) gets her hyped!

Read Anne's blog post about the crypto currency event: Are We In A Cryptocurrency Bubble? — What I Learned About the Value of Cryptocurrency and Inevitable Regulation

Show Notes on the Blog: http://bit.ly/tech2025show7

• Bitcoin Heist movie: http://bit.ly/2xXsK5P (Charlie saw part of the movie and hated it so much she couldn't get through the whole thing)
• Book: Blockchain Applications in Finance by by Peter Borovykh (Ed mentions going to a sold-out book launch event for this book)
• Blockchain Revolution by Don Tapscott, Alex Tapscott (the definitive, most popular book about Blockchain - highly recomm
• Check out Blockchain Meetups in your area (especially the smaller events)
• Podcasts: Blockchain Insider and This Week in Startups (Charlie is addicted to both podcasts and swears she gets the best info on blockchain news and technologies from these two podcasts)
• Future Tech Podcast (Ed suggests them and has been a guest speaker on the show -- they focus a lot on blockchain and cryptocurrency)
• Subscribe to Blockchain-related conversations on Quora and Reddit where a lot of great conversations about Blockchain are being had by techies and non-techies alike. Charlie suggests going through your LinkedIn account to see who in your network is working in (or affiliated with) Blockchain (you'd be surprised!)
• Twitter - Ed mentions Ark Investment Management (which created ETFs) does most of their research on Twitter
• Dictionary of Blockchain lingo suggest by Anne: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/digital-assets-101/
• "All blockchain-based business models that have nothing directly to do with Bitcoin – 50% (stat mentioned by Charlie) - Collateral Damage and the Inevitable Bitcoin Crash (Forbes)

REACH OUT TO US AT:

• Website: tech2025.com/podcast
• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter - @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter - @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire/
• Anne T. Griffin: Twitter - @annetgriffin / LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetgriffin/

SHOW NOTES

Welcome to our big fat Amazon episode! There's a lot of movement and buzz around the boss-moves that Amazon is making (buying Whole Foods, hiring 50,000 employees, expanding into Australia, etc.).

In this episode, Ed and Charlie take a big bite out of Amazon and tackle how Amazon's strategy will impact everyone (from consumers, to entrepreneurs, to the c-suite and the enterprise).

Ed, who just last year did a thorough deep-dive report on Amazon and its impact called "AWS's quiet arsenal," gives us analyst's overview of Amazon. Charlie explores how Amazon is trying to hire and uspskill the general population new opportunities to partner with Amazon. And they both give one merchant who sent a question into USA Today asking for advice on how not to be crushed by Amazon, advice on how to withstand "hurricane Amazon" and how to find and create opportunities as Amazon forges ahead disrupting entire industries.

EPISODE BLOG POST: https://tech2025.com/2017/08/20/ep-6-what-to-do-when-amazon-comes-for-you/

DOWNLOAD ED'S AMAZON REPORT: https://tech2025.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AWSs-Quiet-Arsenal-by-Ed-Maguire.pdf

ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• How can small businesses compete with Amazon?
• Amazon isn't just hiring warehouse workers — it's hiring a bunch of salespeople at a faster pace
• Why Amazon's New Social Media Site Shouldn't Be Ignored
• I tried Amazon's version of Blue Apron — and I loved it
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Paypal is safe from Amazon - for now
• Thousands line up to work for Amazon: 'I just need a job'
• Is Amazon Getting Too Big?
• Amazon is launching a series of Alexa training workshops worldwide
• Amazon wants to build a network of mobile drone maintenance and delivery platforms
• PODCASTS about Amazon: (1) The Amazing Seller, (2) The AWS Podacast, (3) AWS Tech Chat

FOLLOW AND REACH OUT TO US AT:

• Website: tech2025.com/podcast
• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter - @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter - @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire/

Last month, we did a workshop on the Asilomar 23 AI Principals -- a list of 23 guidelines created by some of the most respected leaders and researchers in AI, at the Beneficial AI 2017 Conference, that outlined how AI researchers, scientists, lawmakers and tech companies should develop AI to ensure safe, ethical and beneficial use of AI. In short, guidelines to keep us from creating AI/robots that will destroy humanity.

Dr. Seth Baum, Executive Director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute, our workshop guest speaker, explored the intent, meaning, and implications of these AI guidelines, and whether having a set of existing guidelines can really safeguard humanity from AI-catastrophe.

Ed and Charlie explore this topic more and discuss what happens when ordinary, awesome people (the workshop attendees) create their own guidelines on how NOT to destroy the planet with AI.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Workshop Event Page
• 23 Asilomar Principals
• Seth's Workshop Presentation
• Workshop Group Exercise
• Photos from the Workshop
• Moralities of Everyday Life (by Coursera)
• Ethical Social Media (by Coursera)
• Intro to Artificial Intelligence (by Udacity)
• Become a Robot Programmer in Only 87 Minutes (by Universal Robots)
• Compelling Science Fiction (scifi website)
• Imagining Elon Musk's Million-Person Mars Colony

FOLLOW AND REACH OUT TO US AT:

• Website: tech2025.com/podcast
• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter - @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter - @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire/

SHOW NOTES:

Now that August (the Dog Days of Summer) is here and we're all winding down and heading of to Summer vacations, Ed and Charlie pulled together a great list of resources for learning more about emerging technologies that will keep you thinking and engaged even while you're laying on the beach. It's a great time to read books, explore thought-provoking and informative websites, and to pick-up a hobby like building your own chatbot and hiking with data scientists. Here's some suggestions to keep you cool in the Summer heat.

ED'S RESOURCES

• Top RSS Feeds
• Open Culture
• Brain Pickings
• com
• Big Think
• org
• Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey and The Tim Ferris Show
• Ed's Summer 2017 Book List
• Gary's Guide Tech Events Newsletter

CHARLIE RESOURCES:

• Learn to fly a drone at Dart Drones (all skill levels)
• Audiobooks for a Road Trip with a Sci-Fi Lover and a Sci-Fi Lukwarmer
• Check out emerging tech Meetups that aren't in your immediate area to expand your tech/biz social circle
• Hike with a Data Scientist if you're in NY
• Build Chatbots - How to Build A Facebook Bot Without Coding and How to Build and Launch a Chatbot Over the Weekend
• Great emerging tech podcasts: (1) Singularity Bros, (2) This Week In Machine Learning & AI, (3) The Manufacturing Report, (4) The Drone Radio Show, (5) Everything VR/AR, (6) Orbital Path
• Free Online Philosophy Courses to help understand the deeper implications of AI

EPISODE SPONSOR: Galvanize

Wanna grab the attention of companies like Oracle, Facebook, Amazon and Google? Our immersive programs can help you develop the skills to stand out.

Accelerate your career by registering for one of our accelerated programs in Data Science or Web Development, and gain the real-world skills you need to excel professionally.

Galvanize taps into tech's limitless potential to cultivate a new kind of community. In 9 state-of-the art campus across the U.S., we have everything you need to be a successful entrepreneur. Find out more about our [/New York, San Francisco/Boulder/Ft. Collins/Phoenix/Denver/Seattle] campus today: http://bit.ly/galvanizet25

FOLLOW AND REACH OUT TO US AT:

• Website: tech2025.com/podcast
• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Instagram: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter - @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter - @eemaguire / LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emaguire/

Read below or online at: http://bit.ly/2tPF8PM

Frontier tech B-words are flying all everywhere (buzz words that sprout up to define new technologies or our behavior as a result of it). Charlie and Ed tackle "exponentiality" (ok, so it's not a real word but Charlie is determined to make it happen). There's been a lot of buzz about "exponential technologies," "exponential growth," and the "exponential future" but what the heck do they mean and just how much should we incorporate it into our thinking and actions?

Ed introduces us to the origins of the term and experience at the Singularity University's Exponential Finance conference where it was all about the E-word baby!

Charlie discusses Tech 2025's recent event (a book club chat with Amy Webb, author of "The Signals Are Talking: Why Today's Fringe Is Tomorrow's Mainstream) and how Amy thinks everyone should become a forecaster to help them manage and get ahead of the accelerated changes we're seeing.

Charlie and Ed interview, Anne T. Griffin (@annetgriffin), a member of the Tech 2025 community who attends most of our events, and Product Manager at Red Fuse Communications. Anne shares how she is staying ahead of the exponential tsunami of emerging tech and how thinking different (and DOING things differently) was key for her transformation.

• What I learned at Exponential Finance 2017 by Ed Maguire
• How to Think Exponentially and Better Predict the Future by Singularity Universe
• Investing in Exponential Technologies in VR, AI & Drones with A16z's Kyle Russell
• Steven Kotler's Six D's of Exponential Technology

SHOW NOTES:

Read below or online at: http://bit.ly/2tPtqV6

Tech 2025 did a special workshop at Design Manufacturing Expo 2017 (a conference produced by UBM that focused 3D printing, industrial robots, and medical technologies) on hacking industrial robots: "Hacking Industrial Robots in the IoT Factories of the Future: Are Companies Prepared for the Risks?" with guest speakers Marcello Poglian, Politiecnico Di Milano (Milan, Italy) and our very own Ed Maguire. We discuss the awesome (and not so awesome) moments at the event, get expert insight from Ed on why everyone should be concerned about industrial IoT and discuss whether the event was something the general public would enjoy and learn a lot from (which was one of the goals of the event producers in inviting Tech 2025 to present a workshop).

The blog post recap on Design Manufacturing Expo (by Eric Legaspi) can be read on our Medium blog here: http://bit.ly/medtechpost

Charlie discusses the new documentary film she saw, Complicit (a film about how Foxconn workers in Chinese factories are fighting for workers rights) and how she questioned the filmmakers (during a post-screening Q&A) on how robots automation will impact the workers. Info on the film here: http://bit.ly/2uHAhzZ

From Ed:

• Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World, a book by Marc Goodman – futurecrimesbook.com/
• A must-read report published by the World Economic Forum: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (if you want to understand how manufacturing is changing around the world) — http://bit.ly/2uHKHzX
• A report that came out in January by McKinsey Global Institute on the impact of robotics on future employment: The Future That Works

From Charlie:

• Connect with eCommerce experts at the New York eCommerce Forum where many of their events discuss manufacturing and how emerging technologies are changing their business.
• Hyper-local micromanufacturing is growing. In New York, Futureworks NYC is a new network of advanced manufacturing shops that provides entrepreneurs opportunities to manufacture their ideas, resources and support. futureworks.nyc
• A must-read: " The First Time America Freaked Out Over Automation – It was the late 1950s, and the problem was solved quickly. But the same strains beneath the surface still haunt us." http://politi.co/2uHKxsk
• Upcoming Tech 2025 Event: "23 Guidelines to Avoid an AI Apocalypse According to Industry Experts" http://bit.ly/23guidelines

GALVANIZE: Wanna grab the attention of companies like Oracle, Facebook, Amazon and Google? Our immersive programs can help you develop the skills to stand out.

Accelerate your career by registering for one of our accelerated programs in Data Science or Web Development, and gain the real-world skills you need to excel professionally.

Galvanize taps into tech's limitless potential to cultivate a new kind of community. In 9 state-of-the art campus across the U.S., we have everything you need to be a successful entrepreneur. Find out more about our [/New York, San Francisco/Boulder/Ft. Collins/Phoenix/Denver/Seattle] campus today: http://bit.ly/galvanizet25

• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Facebook: facebook.com/jointech2025
• Instagram: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter – @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter – @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire

We discuss some surprising findings from a recent Tech 2025 workshop that addressed the question that everyone has and is talking about these days (even people who work in tech): Explain It Like I'm 5: What's the Difference Between AI, Machine Learning, NLP and Deep Learning? (http://bit.ly/t25workshop)

We interview the incomparable and brilliant Kathryn Hume (VP Product & Strategy at Integrate.ai, the Toronto-based AI company founded by by Steve Irvine, former head of Marketing at Facebook) who taught the workshop. Her way of explaining AI, machine learning, NLP, and deep learning is a wonder to behold — having had to explain these things to c-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies in her work.

To learn more about the Toronto version of this website we're doing with Kathryn again, visit: http://bit.ly/t25toronto

Kathryn Hume is VP Product & Strategy for integrate.ai, a Toronto-based startup that helps large enterprises reinvent customer experiences using artificial intelligence.

Kathryn is also a respected speaker and often gives talks at events around the world on machine intelligence.

Recent NPR story featuring Kathryn: Canada's Tech Firms Capitalize On Immigration Anxiety In The Age Of Trump

• Twitter: @HumeKathryn
• Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/khume
• Blog: https://quamproxime.com

GALVANIZE

Wanna grab the attention of companies like Oracle, Facebook, Amazon and Google? Our immersive programs can help you develop the skills to stand out.

Accelerate your career by registering for one of our accelerated programs in Data Science or Web Development, and gain the real-world skills you need to excel professionally.

Galvanize taps into tech's limitless potential to cultivate a new kind of community. In 9 state-of-the art campus across the U.S., we have everything you need to be a successful entrepreneur. Find out more about our [/New York, San Francisco/Boulder/Ft. Collins/Phoenix/Denver/Seattle] campus today: http://bit.ly/galvanizet25

CONNECT WITH US IN SOCIAL:

• Twitter: @JoinTech2025
• Facebook: facebook.com/jointech2025
• Instagram: @JoinTech2025
• Email: [email protected]
• Charlie Oliver: Twitter – @itscomplicated / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny
• Ed Maguire: Twitter – @eemaguire / LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emaguire