Author Archives: Columbus Futurists

Topic: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Higher Education There are very serious people today imagining and considering the implications of a “world without work,” with algorithms performing cognitive tasks once thought only humans could perform. It is commonplace in our contemporary society to say that the purpose of higher education is to prepare young peopleContinueContinue reading “Recap: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Higher Education”

Recap: Topic: The Future of Multimedia: Visual, News, Music & Social This discussion was led by Columbus Futurists member Onyemobi Anyiwo. He took the group on a journey recalling how we received information – news, music, movies – and communicated with friends and family – starting with 1967, and then jumping 10 years forward until weContinueContinue reading “Recap: The Future of Multimedia – An Interactive Tour”

Topic: The Future of the Evolving Worker (meeting 4/27/2017) “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ” – Alvin Toffler Humans in general seek out meaningful work.  Part of that need is based on sustenance – it is aContinueContinue reading “Recap: The Future of the Evolving Worker”

Forum: March 23, 2017 Topic: The Changing Picture of Jobs — Our meeting generated lively discussion – how are jobs changing, how are our jobs changing, what conditions will a new generation of workers face in specific job categories?  Following the meeting, a couple of relevant articles appeared, which I include here for the record.ContinueContinue reading “Recap: The Changing Picture of Jobs”

Topic: The Blockchain – and the future of the Internet and your data Guest facilitator Dave Bladwin provided a lot of thought-provoking ideas on the subject of blockchain, and it impact in a variety of aspects of life – from the management of value (e.g., bitcoin) to the possible futures of politics, health care, education andContinueContinue reading “Meeting Notes – Blockchain – February 23, 2017”

Meeting Announcement Forum: January 19, 2017 Topic: Gene editing and the future of CRISPR CRISPR-Cas9 is a technique that allows scientists to isolate the segment of genes they want to alter, then uses the Cas9 protein as a kind of “cutting tool” or scalpel to remove the section we want. The technique then inserts theContinueContinue reading “January 19, 2017 – Gene editing and the future of CRISPR”

Some scientists claim that there are procedures or “hacks” we might engineer that could help reverse the effects of climate change.  Will these planetary hacks be effective?  Or will they cause more harm that will also have to be off-set?  Haven’t we done enough to the planet without subjecting it to further interventions? Here’s a brief article David Staley – convenerContinueContinue reading “GeoEngineering – Can we Construct Our Future?”

Co-founder and friend of Columbus Futurists Steve Millett published his latest book in 2016:  American Ways: A Behavioral History of the United States with Expectations for the Future.  For the moment, it is available only as an ebook, but a paper edition should be available shortly.  Steve once again wishes to thank the members of Columbus Futurists forContinueContinue reading “Steve Millett’s New Book Now Published”

An enthusiastic group met to discuss the forecasting project established in the most recent posting – a forecasting project shared by Columbus Futurists members covering specific questions for the upcoming year. We decided to add a couple of pertinent issues to the list: gas prices, and oil prices. Anyone can play – jump in atContinueContinue reading “January Meeting Notes – 2016 Forecasts”

We are trying something a little different for our first Columbus Futurists meeting of the new year.  There are 3 sections below: The Idea; Background; To Do Initial participants and their forecasts are shown in the spreadsheet (pdf) linked here and below. The Idea Some of us have recently read Philip Tetlock’s new book, Superforecasting: The ArtContinueContinue reading “2016 Forecasts – January meeting of the Columbus Futurists”