The Future Is Now With Dr. Noah Raford
No period in human history has seen more radical, breakthrough advancements in technology and science than in the 21st century. With the world transforming at a dizzying place, it seems almost impossible to keep track of what is and isn’t possible with today’s technology, let alone to imagine what may be possible in the future and how it will impact our lives.
Thankfully, we have futurists like Dr. Noah Raford who are dedicated to unraveling the endless, uncertain mystery that is thefuture. However, before we begin our trip through time, Dr. Raford details exactly what a futurist is, and what responsibilities come with this profession.
What Is a Futurist?
Dr. Raford explains that futurists are generally people who use various methods and tools to analyze the probable future. However, futurists tend to fall into one of two main camps based on how they relate to the public and to their work.
The first futurist camp, Dr Raford explains, are those who establish themselves as thought-leaders in the space and generally appeal to a wider audience. These futurists often write books, hold seminars, present key note speeches, and perform a variety of other media events where they directly discuss their ideas to members of the public. While these futurists may grow a considerable reputation for themselves and even wield influence within their space, they often do not seek to enact active change. This is the key difference between these futurists and the other camp.
The second camp is the one Dr. Raford positions himself in. These are futurists who actively work with decision-makers within major organizations, institutions, and corporations to help them actively anticipate challenges that the future may bring. These futurists may be seen working towards sustainability, efficiency, or integrating the latest technology. Futurists may even help advise governments on projects and legislation to help insulate populations from the threats of changing technological currents. Apart from an understanding of technology, these futurists also require soft skills such as sensitivity and diplomacy to help leaders understand realities that may be uncomfortable or present a challenging but valuable opportunity.
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Artificial Intelligence & Social Media
Once we’re both on the same page about what exactly a futurist does, Dr. Raford begins his exciting exploration of what the future holds in store. One of the hottest and most obvious topics is clearly that of artificial intelligence. While many people are scrambling to understand what it works and how it may impact the world, Dr Raford believes he already has a clue of the vast potential the technology wields.
Imagine a future, Dr. Raford urges, where your social media feed is no longer a random assortment of people’s thoughts. Instead of chaotic engagements with people from all over the world, your social media feed will be replaced by artificial intelligence tailored to deliver the exact content you want to enjoy at that moment.
Imagine opening up a video application and prompting AI to generate a short series of your preferred genre and style. Or an app that generates images based on how much you’ve enjoyed previous content such as other movies or video games. These innovations, Dr. Raford believes, are only on the other side of the horizon and will radically alter the content marketing space forever.
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Twitter: A Warning Bell for Social Media?
Despite his overall optimism, Dr. Raford is quick to point out some of the many issues that have arisen from social media. One of the main tenets of these issues is how pervasive social media influence is. Many people spend several hours a day on social media and use the tool as their primary medium of interacting with the world at large. While this may be a step up from a time where people rarely imagined the world beyond their own borders, it also represents a dire danger as we’re finding out from Twitter.
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and the range of decisions he’s made regarding the company have highlighted several of the critical dangers that social media may represent, reports Dr. Raford. As users have reported an uptick in racial discrimination and hate speech since Elon has shifted compliance goals closer in line with ‘free speech’, the platform is revealing just how easily it can be manipulated by bad faith actors who seek to spread harmful narratives to achieve ideological or political goals.
This can also be seen with recent evidence of Russian involvement in the United States’ elections through social media. Clearly, many people are using social media as the primary source of information. As algorithms are designed to highlight extreme views, many people find themselves in an extremist echo chamber that produces truly damaging views and narratives. However, Dr. Raford points out that this predisposition is not a product of social media, but rather an underlying symptom of a society undergoing incredible fundamental change.
Global Catastrophes & Video Games
Many of society’s greatest changes will not be technological, argues Dr. Raford. In many ways, technology has allowed humankind to shed its skin and transcend traditional limitations. This has led to a radical restructuring of social constructs such as gender roles and even a sense of nationality. For many people, the social system they’ve existed under simply doesn’t work for them anymore.
Events such as the 2008 financial collapse, the global pandemic, and Russia’s war in Ukraine have highlighted this sentiment in many people. This has given rise to an increased predisposition towards seeking a savior-type figure, often culminating in cult-like behavior, suggests Dr. Raford. It has also resulted in an explosive growth of people interested in video games.
As many people feel increasingly helpless within their own lives, video games represent an opportunity to reclaim agency and control. For many people, video games have become a new source of community and culture and as the industry grows yearly (from its current size of over 200 billion dollars), this feeling may only intensify. Dr. Raford believes that the metaverse will be a brilliant innovation that allows people to immerse themselves more deeply into their favorite video games than ever before.
Would you like to learn more about what the future holds in store for you? Click here to listen to the full episode with Dr. Noah Raford and find out how artificial intelligence, the Metaverse, and sustainable energy may impact your life in the coming years.