I have been following the development, utilisation and trajectory of AI in business and art over recent years. Machine learning and artificial intelligence is probably something you are using already, and perhaps don’t know it for example when Amazon makes suggestions of products you might like to buy, or Netflix suggesting shows you might like to view based on your viewing history. However, in recent months Artificial Intelligence (AI) has garnered a significant amount of attention, with both its proponents and detractors having strong opinions about its potential impacts on society. I have curated the following podcasts help shed light on these perspectives, as industry experts share their insights on the applications, limitations, and potential dangers of AI.

Our AI journey begins with Kevin Kelly on the Chase Jarvis Live Show. Kevin is an amazing author and thought leader. He is also the co-founder of Wired Magazine, Kelly discusses the concept of generative AI and its influence on the creative industries. He provides a comprehensive breakdown of AI technology, outlines its current limitations, and shares his vision of a future where humans and machines collaborate to create meaningful work.

Next, we delve deeper into the practical implications of generative AI with Ethan Mollick, a professor at the Wharton School and a distinguished researcher in entrepreneurship and innovation. In the Future Now podcast, by my favourite organisation Institute for the Future (www.iftf.org), Mollick presents thought-provoking ideas on how AI can revolutionise teaching and learning. He also shares his predictions about how AI might shape the future of work and education, offering listeners a glimpse into a world where AI is an integral part of everyday life.

Finally, we navigate the potential dangers of AI with Mo Gawdat, ex-Chief Business Officer at Google X, in this episode of Steven Barlett’s The Diary of a CEO. Gawdat, who has a diverse career spanning IBM, Microsoft, and Google, gives a firsthand account of the evolution of AI and discusses its potential impact on creativity and the creative industries. He recently got a lot of press about leaving Google X and his opinions on AI’s future. He also shares his ideas on how society can maintain control over AI as it continues to evolve and reshape our world. This one is very interesting as it talks more about the ‘where-to’ for AI, and the future risks, and how we might better engage.

I think the future of AI is both exciting and uncertain, and these podcasts offer valuable insights for anyone interested in understanding its potential impacts. Whether you're an executive trying to develop a position for your organisation on AI, a technophile, an entrepreneur, a creative professional, or simply someone curious about AI and the future, this group of podcasts will provide you with a great grounding into AI. My take away after listening to all three of these podcasts, is stay engaged in this important technology. It is relevant now, and going to become increasingly relevant into our future. Be engage, use it and influence research, deployment and policy development.

Oh and lastly, I would recommend each of these shows and authors for your ongoing continuing education. Each of them has a slightly different focus, and there is richness is this diversity of thinking.

The Chase Jarvis Live Show

Kevin Kelly interviewed by Chase Jarvis

The Rise of AI: How with AI enhance human creativity

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-chase-jarvis-live-show/id1127915772?i=1000611589174

Kevin Kelly is a highly-accomplished writer, most well-known for his role in launching Wired Magazine. In this podcast, we discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically generative AI and its impact on creative professions. Kevin shares his thoughts on how the technology works, current limitations and how to best utilize it to create meaningful work.

Highlights from our conversation:

• A rundown of Artificial Intelligence and generative AI

• Addressing the current limitations of tools like ChatGPT

• Kevin's view of how humans and machines can work together

• Why AI isn't going to replace you or your job

Future Now – Institute for the Future, Future of AI with Ethan Mollick

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/future-now/id1082568329?i=1000614237842

IFTF Research Director Toshi Hoo interviews Ethan Mollick, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a leading researcher in entrepreneurship and innovation. Join them as Ethan shares his fascinating and provocative insights on generative AI, its practical implications, and how it can transform teaching and learning at scale. Get ready for an engaging conversation that will leave you with new perspectives on the future of work and education. Shownotes: - Ethan’s Twitter feed is one of the most interesting of incredible AI signals and forecasts. (https://twitter.com/emollick) - Ethan’s substack newsletter “One Useful Thing” shared provides thoughtful analysis of the intersection between technology and the future of learning. (https://www.oneusefulthing.org/) - Ethan’s official faculty profile at The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania (https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/emollick/)

The diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett Ex-Google Chief Business Officer at Google (x) finally speaks out about the dangers of AI – Mo Gawdat.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-with-steven-bartlett/id1291423644?i=1000615239948

Mo began his career at IBM Egypt as a systems engineer, before moving to NCR Abu Dhabi to cover the non-finance sector. He worked in various roles at Microsoft for seven-and-a-half years before joining Google in 2007 to start it’s business in emerging markets. In 2013, he joined Google’s innovation arm, ‘Google X’ and eventually became its chief business officer. He left this role in 2018 to focus helping one billion people become happier as part of the #onebillionhappy global movement. He is the author of three books; ‘Solve for Happy’, ‘Scary Smart’ and, ‘That Little Voice in Your Head’, as well as the host of the podcast ‘Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat’. In this conversation Mo and Steven discuss topics, such as: Everything you need to know about Artificial Intelligence How AI will have radically changed the world by 2025 How he witnessed the evolution of AI firsthand The impact of AI on creativity and the creative industries His solutions for gaining control of AI and the societal changes it will create You can purchase Mo’s book, ‘Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World’, here: https://bit.ly/42iwDfv Follow Mo: Instagram: https://bit.ly/3qmYSMY Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/3kxINCANKsb

I am pleased to have achieved my certification as a Foresight Practitioner at the Institute for the Future, USA. It was something I have wanted to do for some time and the ‘stars aligned’. The ability to look beyond just the ‘now’, to the ‘future’ and gain insight is critical to ensuring you are responding appropriately to the ‘next’. In their model, Prepare, Foresight, Insight, Action. I am hoping to bring my extended portfolio of tools and practices to the organisations and people I work with to expand their foresight and strategic thinking. For more information about the Institute for the Future please click on https://www.iftf.org/home/

A little bit about IFTF. It has been around for over 50 years, and was formed as a Not-For-Profit ‘…by spinoff from RAND Corporation with original support from the Ford Foundation. The founding articles of incorporation state that “it is imperative that society acquire the necessary tools, methods and research capabilities to identify and cope with socio-economic questions before they become tomorrow’s critical problems.” This was a revolutionary call-to-action at a tumultuous time in history—a call for a more rigorous systems approach to the future that would help people find agency in their own expertise to be better prepared in uncertain times.

IFTF is the world's oldest continuously running futures research and educational organisation. They believe people can harness the power of “if”—the power of imagination to awaken a sense of agency in their future and drive change in themselves and their organizations—and our tools and programs are designed for exactly that.’

Institute for the Future Foresight Essentials promo video

This course was run for the Asia Pacific time zone, which I was immensely grateful for. It was very well paced, thought-provoking, packed with evidence-based research and well-structured education method for adult learners. The program was run over six weeks, with at least two online sessions weekly that were highly interactive. One session being an hour or so, the main session being 4+ hours. There was homework, about 2+ hours a week, more if you wanted more depth in the field of strategic foresight.

The team was lead by Lyn Jeffery, https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynjeffery/ who is the Director of the Foresight Essentials program. I was exceptionally impressed by her knowledge, insight, understanding and humility. The other members of the course faculty included Quinault Childs, https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinaultc/, Research Director, equally talented; Lir Wang, https://www.linkedin.com/in/chengtongwang/ Research Manager, and the local amazing Aussie, Sami Mäkeläinen https://www.linkedin.com/in/smakelainen/ IFTF Research Affliate, with key support from Andy and Amber from IFTF as well. So as you can see, for a course of 18 participants we were very well supported.

In addition to the course materials there was additional information in the Recommended Reading list comprising articles, books, journals, detailed methods and videos. I’ve learnt so much just from the recommended readings alone. I will do some reviews of the books, and articles, though I’m still getting through them.

The books I would recommend for all of you in leadership roles are:

The Nature of the Future, Marina Gorbis

Leaders Make the Future, Bob Johansen

The New Leadership Literacies, Bob Johanse

Get There Early, Bob Johansen

Full-Spectrum Thinking, Bob Johansen

Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal

The Second Curve, Ian Morrison

Imaginable, Jane McGonigal

These books have changed my understanding, leadership practice, strategy, and strategic foresight.

Foresight, in my understanding, is like a sequence of work that generates advanced scenario analysis and works back to what you need to do today in response to the insights you generate from future scenarios. The work of foresight is not to predict the future; far from it. Bob Johansen says in “Full Spectrum Thinking”, and I paraphrase, ‘If someone tells you they can predict the future, don’t believe them! Particularly if they are from Silicon Valley.’ which is where IFTF is based. The intent of strategic foresight is to use an evidence-based approach to imagine a number of different future scenarios based in reality and fact, internally consistent and taking practical steps today to address those futures, whether they be positive scenarios we want or negative scenarios we want to avoid.

I was pleasantly surprised by the use of data and evidence to generate these future scenarios and the methods and tools utilised in this process. For standard strategic planning, foresight is a complementary tool. It doesn’t replace it; it only adds to the richness.

Chat GPT summarises it quicker than I can… Strategic foresight is a systematic approach to anticipating and preparing for potential future events, trends, and developments that may impact an organization, industry, or society. It involves using a combination of research, data analysis, creativity, and critical thinking to identify potential scenarios, challenges, and opportunities that may arise in the future. The primary goal of strategic foresight is to enable organizations to make informed decisions and develop long-term plans that are resilient to change and uncertainty.

Strategic foresight is not about predicting the future; rather, it's about exploring a range of possible futures and understanding their implications on the organization or society. By doing this, organizations can proactively shape their future rather than merely reacting to external events as they occur.

Some of the key elements of strategic foresight include:

Environmental scanning: Gathering information and data about the external environment, including social, technological, economic, environmental, and political factors, to identify trends, events, and emerging issues that may affect the organization in the future.
Scenario planning: Developing various future scenarios based on identified trends, uncertainties, and driving forces. These scenarios can help organizations understand the potential implications of different situations and prepare appropriate strategies and responses.
Visioning: Creating a clear and inspiring vision of the desired future state for the organization, which can help guide decision-making and strategy development.
Strategy development: Using the insights gained from foresight activities to develop strategies and plans that align with the organization's vision and goals while remaining flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.
Monitoring and evaluation: Regularly reviewing and updating the organization's foresight activities to ensure they remain relevant and useful in guiding strategic decision-making.

Overall, strategic foresight is a valuable tool for organizations to proactively navigate change and uncertainty, build resilience, and create a sustainable competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving world.

I learnt a heap, it generated a lot of questions for me, and I have only begun to apply some of these advanced skills. Looking forward to the journey and the future. To the IFTF team, a big thank you and I hope our paths continue to grow…. how about a second associate in Australia? :D