Technological innovation is “advancing at an exponential rate.” It’s therefore imperative, say investors Daniel Doll-Steinberg and Stuart Leaf, that society decides what kind of future it wants. This decision depends on understanding the potential of today’s and tomorrow’s technology. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of current and possible technologies and trends, including sentient artificial intelligence (AI), super-powerful quantum computers, and the migration of real-world activities to a computer-simulated “metaverse.”
Technological innovation is fomenting a “Cognitive Revolution.”
In the 19th century, the invention of the steam engine sparked the Industrial Revolution, which radically changed the nature of work.
Today’s breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and other technologies fuel an analogous “Cognitive Revolution,” as machines become increasingly adept at copying – and even replacing – human intellectual skills.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a “foundational technology” of the Cognitive Revolution.
AI encompasses a range of efforts to simulate human reasoning. Developers have made numerous breakthroughs. New AI tools can hold conversations, create visual art, write computer code and compose graduate school–level papers.
Types of AI include:
- “Weak or narrow AI” – This common AI appears in apps such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. It focuses on solving a specific problem.
- “Strong or artificial general intelligence (AGI)” – Theoretically, this AI can learn, understand and carry out any human cognitive task.
- “Artificial super intelligence (ASI...
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