I recently
read Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane
by Brett King, et al (2016).
This book
is an eye-opening discussion of how technology has changed our lives/world AND how that evolution will only
accelerate in coming years. BK takes us
on a whirlwind tour, from health to transportation to medicine to art to
banking to…
Some of my
biggest takeaways:
> Major disruptions that will accelerate: Artificial intelligence; Distributed-embedded
experiences; Smart infrastructure; Gene editing and Healthtech; Metamaterials; 3D
printing.
> To children born since 2000, technology is not
different or disruptive; like water or air, it’s just there.
> The “transhumanist” movement – bioengineering +
cyborgification – is no longer the stuff of science fiction; it is now the
stuff of science non-fiction.
> The progression phases of our current tech-laced world: Real world >> Augmented reality >> Virtual reality >> Augmented virtuality.
> Most current adolescents will never own a credit card
or use a checkbook.
> The biggest losers of the Augmented Age will be: 1. Big
Energy. 2. Big Health Care and Pharma. 3. Small- to Mid-sized Colleges and
Universities. 4. Big Government. 5. Banking, Insurance, Regulators and Finance.
> The biggest winners of the Augmented Age will be: 1. Tech
Majors. 2. Artificial Intelligence Start-ups. 3. Smart Infrastructure. 4.
Internet of Things. 5. Networking the Developing World. 6. Developers, Human
Computer Interaction and Experience Design Practitioners. 7. HealthTech and
FinTech Providers. 8. Personal AI Providers. 9. AR, VR, AV and PHUD. 10. Exotic
Metamaterials and 3D Printing.
“The skills that students need to
learn in order to survive in the Augmented Age are very different from what
they are being taught in school today. We
will need to teach students not just science, technology, engineering and maths
(so-called STEM subjects), but agility, creative thinking, rapid learning and
adaptation too.”
“Now that we have established that Watson is
more accurate at cancer diagnosis than a human doctor, my question to you is
this: who would you rather have diagnose
you if your GP suspected you might have the disease? Dr. Watson or a “human”?”
“Massive data processing capability is at
the core of what will make AIs better advisers than humans, even if humans have
access to the same data. Synthesis of data is where humans can no longer
compete.”
“Self-driving cars don’t get tired,
don’t get drunk, don’t get distracted, don’t get road rage and don’t need a
rest, unless it might be to charge.” Brad Templeton, Singularity University,
author interview in May 2015
“Paper and signatures have no future in the
banking world—at all.”
“The businesses of the future will be in the
business of experiences, not products and services.”
“Smart retailers will learn that loyalty
doesn’t come from brand marketing, tear-jerking advertisements or airline
miles. It comes from the ability to know what we need before we know it, and to
personalise that in real time. Shopping in the future is all about the
experience, and the experience is all about the data.”
“Education will be revolutionised. When
writing this, I kept coming back to the apprenticeship and guild models of old,
rather than the modernised knowledge-based systems around universities and
colleges. As we augment our intelligence through AI and always on access to
data, knowledge will tend towards ubiquitous access, and knowledge as a
scarcity mechanism or barrier to entry will become indefensible—but skills will
remain sought after.”
Only those
of us who plan to live for at least another 1-2 years need consider reading
this book.