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How to we calculate the impact of innovation – and its’ unintended consequences? How do we best consider innovation as an ethical dilemma? This piece strengthens our understanding and challenge to endeavor to construct a robust ethical agenda for the future. As a long term student of “innovation” this has been badly needed.
Japan’s and health thru tech. Interesting piece about use of technology to support Japan’s aging population.
AI and Health – could AI increase health disparities? Indepth analysis of a social determinants of health perspective on artificial intelligence.
Stuart Candy – Who’s Future is it? This famous futurist offers a great talk about the fundamentals of the futures lens. As a social work academic looking at this phenomenon from a macro lens, I’m curious about a deeper analysis of power woven through the powerful ideas he shares here. More to come!! Love his ideas that we have an underdeveloped sense of collective imagination about the future. Stuart is the inventor of the game “The Thing from the Future” which is a terrific experiential game about doing this exact thing in small group or classroom settings. You can read more (his entire thesis) online here.
Think increasing numbers of climate-change related refugees, with all its pain and injustice, is a story about other parts of the world? This article describes the phenomenon as it is playing out among poor US Southerner’s (primarily persons of color) right now.
Meta-analysis by the MIT Technology Review on the future of artificial intelligence based on a review of 16,625 papers. Authors urge some restraint in assuming unimpeded growth as so many suggest…interesting counter perspective to the majority of what is written on this topic. There may in fact, be something “beyond” AI in the future.
Finland recently did a recent experiment with guaranteed income. They produced a short film about it here. This is a relevant conversation related to the future of work…if scores and scores are automated…is guaranteed income a policy option? That said, some go further and suggest that guaranteed income isn’t enough…guaranteed asset building is the true preferred path to adequately impact poverty. This idea has been deeply explored, studied and reported on by experts in the Social Work Grand Challenges. Excellent report available for free here.
A new term to me “ramp education.” This refers to the need to reskill massive numbers of workers who are most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence. Deep questions persist about the fate and well being of potentially 32 million workers (according to some estimates) in the near future. This article (with embedded report) provides a road map.
Want to take a quiz to find out how “future proof” your job is? Five quick questions can provide you some surprising results.
Jay Smooth and friends with a terrific short overview of social media literacies of the future – and why they are so urgently needed.
Social Work Futures 