New Words in Futuring – Emerging Vocabulary for Social Workers #4 (February 10, 2019)

This is a recurring series of posts to share round-ups of terms I hear that are directly from futures practice, or reflect new trends for those of interested in what is coming next. Here are previous posts (scroll down for all 3 previous posts) – #1, #2, and #3.

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.

“Captology” – ‘computers as persuasive technologies’ (Fogg, 2003: 5). (captology.stanford.edu). Science of how technological products can be best designed to change users behavior.

Quantum Computing – what is the “next level” of computing and why does it matter? Folks at the deep end of the pool of technology are talking a lot about quantum computing and the almost beyond comprehensible things it can and might do. Get worried when the technology grows beyond our ability to understand it – and jump in with me and let’s try to learn more about it!! Here are a couple of pieces that attempt to make it accessible.

Time Banking – How do we make the most of the TIME we have (our most precious resource) and find ways to point it in the direction of social good? Here are a couple of articles that describe what time banking is, and some information about Andrew Yang, founder of a company called Seva. In addition to being a time-banking enthusiast, Mr. Yang is also interested in running for president of the U.S. on a high tech progressive platform that includes guaranteed income. This post is not an endorsement – but I do find his ideas fascinating and promising.