human works design - building meaningful futures - Issue #17
The Age of Consciousness
After an amazing winter break in Peru - I’ll write about that in one of our future issues - we’re back with our bi-weekly newsletter. We selected the best links and more 2018 trends for you to read and digest out of the massive load of interesting reads we’ve gone through during our break. The good news for the start of this year is that more and more people and organisations are becoming more aware of the importance of consciousness in business and how to take better responsibility towards our planet, the education of our children and in creating a healthier society in general.
I am pleased to see that finally some big leaders are joining our thinking (published 2 years ago). Jack Ma (CEO Alibaba) mentioned at Davos that “only by changing education towards more soft skills and stop teaching knowledge can our children compete with machines”.
If you missed our previous newsletter issue, read our Humanist Future Trends 2020.
The core philosophy of what we offer are timeless, the reason we call them ‘trends’ is because they are more important than ever, thanks to the power we acquired and unlimited choices we have with technology, we can create at a seamless level of depth, scale and speed. We are all responsible to surface our ‘human attributes, desires and values’ to our consciousness and apply them to our business models and technology decisions for meaningful futures.
The Age of Consciousness is gradually unfolding in all areas of society from our daily lives to our business practices. It seems that everywhere we turn there is reference to mindfulness, meaning and purpose, or consciousness, people making a difference, changing our world, or giving back in some form or another. Conscious philosophies and practices are gradually finding their way into mainstream society.
At human works design, we’re convinced that 2018 will be a very important year building towards this huge shift in humanity and we’ll keep curating the most interesting wisdom nuggets for you.
Enjoy the reading!
human works design activities
Becoming more human with AI by Canay Atalay
What do you want to do with AI to make it a good life for yourself and future generations, for the children of this world? What if we could erase human suffering? What if we felt fulfilled with life and work? What if with ultimate connectedness and vast data analysis, we finally understood the fact that we are NOT separate from the world, from each other, from other species and from the Mother Earth? What if by looking at the mirror of AI, we became more conscious of our purpose and impact? What if humanity had a chance to restart itself, free from the prisoners’ dilemmas in economy and war industry? Then, dear fellow humans, what kind of a world would it be?
and& is a one of a kind summit & festival at the intersection of health, tech & creativity curated for the curious
human works design co-founder, Canay Atalay, will do the opening keynote to talk about “Children First World Design” at the andLeuven Festival in Belgium on May 2, together with the Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič. Rudy de Waele will do a talk during the event on “The Age of Consciousness”.
human works design will also be running a “Conscious Business Model Design & Innovation” workshop for game changer leaders and a “Wapaland” workshop for future game changers, children.
If you’d like to book us to run a workshop or do a keynote talk at your event, please get in touch.
Life began in the ocean
human works design newsletter contributor Şeyda DAĞDEVİREN HILL writes about “A Plastic Ocean", a groundbreaking documentary, which opens our eyes to the extent of the damage done to the oceans by human plastic disposal. First of all, we see how sea creatures such as whales, turtles, sea birds and a whole host of other marine life are dying from mass scale involuntary consumption of the plastic in the seas.
Mobile Sunday and IoT Stars at MWC18
Mobile Sunday Barcelona 2018
Mobile Sunday Early Bird tickets are now sold out. You can buy your Standard tickets at the link above. Details about the program will be announced soon.
IoT Stars MWC 2018
Join the 4th IoT Stars MWC 2018, the most famous pitching and networking event for Internet of Things startups and companies during the first night of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Early Bird ticket sales end on January 30. If you’d like to pitch with your startup, apply at iotstars.com.
Reflections for the Age of Consciousness
Why Do You Check Your Phone 150 Times a Day?
Do you really have sovereignty over own your mind anymore? Tristan Harris, a design thinker and former ethicist at Google, points to how smart phones changed our contract with advertisers, and our relationship with reality. Rather than being presented with choices as a consumer, software engineers at companies like Facebook leverage deep psychology to make their products addictive.
How To Design Non-Addictive UX (It’s Really Not Hard)
In the current discussion over Apple, Facebook, and Twitter turning our kids into phone and social media addicts, there is a need for both designers and engineers who do UX to step forward and take responsibility for their design deeds. This is starting to happen, but has not reached critical mass.
The tech lash against Amazon, Facebook and Google — and what they can do.
A memo to big tech. Which antitrust remedies to welcome, which to fight.
4 New Human Rights for When Our Brains Are Hooked Up to Computers
The human-machine mind meld is just around the corner if you believe the buzz coming out of Silicon Valley these days. But neuroethicists worry the technology poses a threat to the last bastion of privacy, our innermost thoughts, and have suggested tweaks to our fundamental human rights to protect that privacy.
Time to Get Smart About Artificial Intelligence Predictions
Tips to avoid getting played for a fool by AI hucksters by Jonathan Cook.
On Seriously Rethinking the Digital Economy
Jaron Lanier and company suggest an alternative: data as labor. Put simply, if a major platform monopoly wants your data to help build a multi-billion dollar empire, they must pay you for it. Offering a free service in return is not enough.
The Case for Getting Rid of Borders
Is there hope for the future? Closed borders are one of the world’s greatest moral failings but the opening of borders is the world’s greatest economic opportunity. The grandest moral revolutions in history—the abolition of slavery, the securing of religious freedom, the recognition of the rights of women—yielded a world in which virtually everyone was better off. They also demonstrated that the fears that had perpetuated these injustices were unfounded. Similarly, a planet unscarred by iron curtains is not only a world of greater equality and justice. It is a world unafraid of itself.
Healthy food revolution
What the Health
MUST WATCH!!! This film examines the link between diet and disease, and the billions of dollars at stake in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and food industries.
With $72 Million in Funding, the Entrepreneur Behind Beyond Meat Pursues Innovation Over Profit
Ethan Brown put everything he had into founding the company, which has seen major successes with its plant-based ‘meat’ that’s loved by Bill Gates.
Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People?
My daughter is 19 now, a sophomore in college. In 2050, she will be middle-aged. It will be up to her generation to set up the institutions, laws, and customs that will provide for basic human needs in the world of 10 billion. Every generation decides the future, but the choices made by my children’s generation will resonate for as long as demographers can foresee. Wizard or Prophet? The choice will be less about what this generation thinks is feasible than what it thinks is good.
Future of work
How Automation Will Change Work, Purpose, and Meaning
Most ancient Greek philosophers prioritised contemplation over action as the pinnacle of human endeavour. Arendt did battle with this notion, arguing on behalf of action. Contemporary culture appears to agree. Ultimately, though, action and contemplation function best when allied. We have the opportunity — perhaps the responsibility — to turn our curiosity and social natures to action and contemplation.
Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs
Work has ruled our lives for centuries, and it does so today more than ever. But a new generation of thinkers insists there is an alternative.
Sustainability
The plastic-free stores showing the big brands how to do it
Retailers at the vanguard of Britain’s zero-waste movement say business is booming, so why are major supermarkets not doing more to cut plastic waste?
Games
6 Awesome Board Games That Teach Cooperation
The most popular board games are based on competition. Monopoly epitomises the winner take all nature of the genre. But what happens when that model gets turned on its head in favour of a more collaborative approach which pits the players against the game itself? Cooperation, that’s what.
Virtual Reality
The Limits of Empathy
Virtual reality was supposed to open up the range of human emotions. But does it work?
More Trends for 2018
18 New Year's Resolutions of an A.I.
From EAI to XAI, from Smart Contracts to empathy, next year will be all about building trust with you humans. By Tim Leberecht.
18 Exponential Changes We Can Expect in the Year Ahead
Where will the trajectory of the tech world, from cryptocurrencies to Silicon Valley culture, take us in 2018? By Azeem Azhar.
Top 10 artificial intelligence (AI) technology trends for 2018
Artificial intelligence is front and center, with business and government leaders pondering the right moves. But what’s happening in the lab, where discoveries by academic and corporate researchers will set AI’s course for the coming year and beyond? PwC’s AI Accelerator has homed in on the leading developments both technologists and business leaders should watch closely. Here’s what they are and why they matter.
8 Exciting Design Research Trends
Understanding the human challenge we’re designing for is as much about inspiration as it is about information. Design research now happens in quick loops—gathering insights, building rapid prototypes, and getting feedback—rather than in a long and rigorous discovery phase. It’s less what you learn, and more how you learn it.
Predictions for the Year Ahead by Magenta
Huge’s strategists, technologists, UX designers, and creatives weigh in on what’s really relevant in 2018. To look forward, we took a look back. What we saw informed the directions we think marketing, design, and technology will go. Naturally, we couldn’t ignore the political issues dividing our country, forcing everyone, brands included, to take decisive stands. This new social consciousness will continue, and as users continue to passionately pick ideological sides, brands stay neutral at their peril.
Social Media Predictions For 2018: Shopping, AI, And Maybe Even A Soul
Social media plays a bigger role in your life and your business than ever before. Here’s what you need to know heading into the new year, according to Hootsuite’s CEO.
PwC 21st CEO Survey 2018
Despite highly publicised handwringing over geopolitical uncertainty, corporate misbehaviour, and the job-killing potential of artificial intelligence, PwC’s 21st CEO Survey reveals surprising faith and optimism among chief executives in the economic and business environment worldwide, at least over the next 12 months. PwC asked 1,293 CEOs about the impact of globalisation and technology on business growth, talent, trust and society at large.
The Most Important Tech Trends Of 2018, According To Top VCs
From saving energy to helping humans help machines, this year’s investments will try to help startups make more progress in areas that already matter.