What we’re about
This group is for people who are interested in the future and maybe want to help shape it.
The acceleration of technology means that the near future may bring radical changes to all of us. Major developments in technologies like anti-aging, nanotech, genetics, computing, robotics, and geo-engineering are going to make the next few years very exciting - and possibly also very dangerous. We could gain god-like powers - but we might also lose sight of our humanity, and destroy everything that we used to hold dear.
What's your view? Are things improving? Too slowly or too quickly? Are we are entering a new golden age? Or is the potential "Technological Singularity" something to fear? What does it mean to talk about "Human 2.0" and "Humanity+"? Or perhaps you view such talk as techno-hype? Maybe you just like the practical side of technology and want to find out more about possible paradigm shifts?
Anybody is welcome to this group - you don't have to be a Techno Geek or work for some futuristic company to be in our group. The future applies to us all!
Come join in the debate - have your opinions voiced and maybe make some interesting new friends.
All we ask is that members treat each other with the respect they would want for themselves. Our group has members of many ages and backrounds. We have many different perspectives on what the future may bring and like to share different ideas with each other. We approach the future with a open mind and sense of humility. Our group mission is to introduce you to some of the ideas, advancements and people who are making our future happen today.
If you have a subject you would like us to discuss at a meetup just drop us a line.
Note: Videos of some of the previous meetings are available on our YouTube Channel here https://www.youtube.com/user/LondonFuturists/ and here: (Older Archive).
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Foresight sparks - London Futurists in the PubYe Olde Cock Taverne (Holborn), London
Which insights about possible near-term future scenarios deserve greater attention?
What are the tools, the sources of energy, the breakthrough technologies, the new operating models, the emerging campaigns, the creative thought patterns, the silent dangers, or the hidden stores of treasure, that people should be talking about more?
In this London Futurists in the Pub meetup, we'll be giving short speaking opportunities to any of our attendees who believe they have important sparks of foresight that are worth sharing and debating.
To keep the meeting lively, each speaker will be restricted to 7 minutes maximum. We'll hear from a number of different speaker before having several wider conversations.
If you want to prepare your provocation in advance, please get in touch with the organisers to reserve your speaking slot. We'll give preference to people with something genuinely new to say.
== Schedule ==
5:30pm: The room is available, for early get-togethers
6pm: Food is served; informal conversations
6:45pm-8:30pm: Sets of short talks, and discussion on each set of talks, interspersed with opportunities to visit the bar
8:30pm: Informal networking== RSVP please ==
Registrations are capped at 40 people.
First-time attendees are welcome!
There's no charge to register or attend, but the pub will expect everyone to order at least one drink, and the majority of attendees to order some food to eat.
Please order your food on your arrival, so that all plates can be set aside by 6:45pm to allow everyone to concentrate on the main discussion!
== More about the venue ==
Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet Street, Holborn, London, EC4Y 1AA
See https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/ye-olde-cock-tavern
We'll be meeting in the room at the top of the stairs, though food and drinks should be ordered from the bar on the ground floor.
** Note that this is an in-person meeting, and there will be no remote access, sorry **
- Invitation to Collaborate: Existential Risk InfoHubLink visible for attendees
The World Academy of Arts and Science taskforce on ‘Existential Threats and Risks to All’ ('EXTRA') has recently launched a very useful new InfoHub.
This EXTRA InfoHub is designed to be a one-stop information service for busy leaders around the world who need to understand and address the full range of pressing and interlocking issues confronting humanity today.
The EXTRA team has curated what they assess as the best available materials from around 100 leading organisations across the globe to create a concise, comprehensive and constantly up-dated overview of major existential threats and risks to enable the strategic foresight needed to create pathways towards human security and wellbeing for all.
This London Futurists webinar features members of the EXTRA Working Group explaining:
- Their vision for the EXTRA InfoHub
- How organisations and individuals can become involved
- Preliminary findings from a study of what the Working Group describes as "20 Notable Reports on Existential Threats and Risks".
The webinar will include plenty of time for audience questions and feedback.
======
This event will be hosted on Zoom. To register, click here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WQBzZqp_TxeEZWsdldjJFA.
There will be no charge to attend the webinar.
The webinar will start broadcasting at 12 noon UK time on Sat 20th September. To find this time in other timezones, you can use this conversion page.
Note that this webinar is starting FOUR HOURS EARLIER than most of our other webinars. That's because one of the panellists is located in Melbourne Australia.
Please log into Zoom up to 10 minutes ahead of the start time of the event, so you won't miss the start of the live broadcast.
As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.
======
About the panellists:
Thomas Reuter is an anthropologist at the University of Melbourne with a research focus on transformative social change, food systems, and transitions to sustainability in Asia and beyond. He is on the board of the World Academy (WAAS), a fellow of two European Academies, past chair of the World Council of Anthropological Associations, and is a former executive of IUAES and the International Science Council and board member of Future Earth (Asia RC).
Prof Reuter's research and consultancy work in Asia and beyond has focused on indigenous people, social movements, religion, political elites, ecology, climate change, food system security, strategic policy design, diplomacy, and globalisation. He has published 17 books and over 150 articles.
Ortwin Renn is a social scientist focusing on risk governance. He retired as scientific director at the International Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam (Germany) in 2023 and serves as a professor emeritus for environmental sociology and technology assessment at the University of Stuttgart. He directs the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for the investigation of communication and participation processes.
Prof Renn's career includes teaching and research positions at Clark University (Worcester, USA), the Swiss Institute of Technology (Zurich), and the Center of Technology Assessment (Stuttgart). He holds a doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of Cologne, and has published 250 peer-reviewed articles.
======
To stay informed about EXTRA, please subscribe to their newsletter.
Organisations involved in existential risk assessment and policy making are cordially invited to share new publications and event info with EXTRA. They will promote your work, and collaborate with you by hosting joint events on key issues and through other activities.
Individuals with expertise in major risk categories, as listed in the Directory Of Reports, EXTRA would like to hear from you! Please use this contact form to state how you might contribute. Opportunities include writing or distributing articles, interviews or reviews for their newsletter, and speaking at their events.
======
About the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS)
The World Academy of Art & Science was founded in 1960 by eminent intellectuals including Robert Oppenheimer, Father of Manhattan Project; Bertrand Russell; Joseph Needham, co-Founder of UNESCO; Lord Boyd Orr, first Director General of FAO; Brock Chisholm, first Director General of WHO and many others.
The Academy serves as a forum for reflective scientists, artists, and scholars dedicated to addressing the pressing challenges confronting humanity today independent of political boundaries or limits, whether spiritual or physical — a forum where these problems can be discussed objectively, scientifically, globally, and free from vested interests or regional attachments to arrive at solutions that affirm universal human rights and serve the common good of all humanity.
WAAS is founded on faith in the power of original and creative ideas — real ideas with effective power — to change the world.
======
To register on Zoom for this event, click here.
- Options for the future of global AI governanceLink visible for attendees
In what ways (if at all) should people around the world try to constrain and guide the development and deployment of new generations of AI platforms and applications?
Recent events raise significant new issues and opportunities regarding the possibilities for coordinated global governance of advanced AI. These include:
- The Singapore Consensus
- The US AI Action Plan
- Discussions at the World AI Conference in Shanghai
- Rapid new releases of AI models
- AI models passing new thresholds of capability
This London Futurists webinar features a number of close observers of these trends and events, each offering their suggestions for what can (and should) happen next:
- Sean O hEigeartaigh, Director, AI: Futures and Responsibility Programme, University of Cambridge
- Kayla Blomquist, Director, Oxford China Policy Lab
- Dan Faggella, CEO and Head of Research, Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research
- Duncan Cass-Beggs, Executive Director, Global AI Risks Initiative
- Robert Whitfield, Executive Director, GAIGANow.
The webinar will include plenty of time for audience questions and feedback.
======
This event will be hosted on Zoom. To register, click here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xLsaC43AQ0icH_vo2NclyA.
There will be no charge to attend the webinar.
The webinar will start broadcasting at 4pm UK time on Sat 4th October. To find this time in other timezones, you can use this conversion page.
Please log into Zoom up to 10 minutes ahead of the start time of the event, so you won't miss the start of the live broadcast.
As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.
======
About the panellists:
Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh is Associate Director (Research Strategy) and the Programme Director for the AI:FAR research programme at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI). Seán was also the founding Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), an academic research centre at University of Cambridge focusing on global risks associated with emerging technologies and human activity.
Since 2011 Seán has played a central role in international research on long-term trajectories and impacts associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, project managing the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology from 2011-2014, co-developing the Strategic AI Research Centre (Cambridge-Oxford collaboration) in 2015, and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (Cambridge-Oxford-Imperial-Berkeley collaboration) in 2015/16.
Kayla Blomquist conducts academic and policy research at the intersection of US-China relations and AI governance. She is currently pursuing her DPhil at the Oxford Internet Institute (Balliol College), serves as Director of the Oxford China Policy Lab, and is an affiliate of the Oxford Martin School AI Governance Initiative.
She is committed to promoting resilient US-China relations and advancing good governance both of and through AI to build a better future.Dan Faggella founded Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, a market research company focused on the ROI of AI among the Fortune 500. He has conducted nearly a thousand interviews with Fortune 500 AI leaders, AI unicorn startup C-level execs, and AI researchers (Yoshua Bengio, Nick Bostrom, etc).
He believes that moralizing AGI governance and innovation (calling some “bad” and others “good”) is disingenuous. Instead, we should focus squarely and with good faith on the incentives of the players involved in order to find a way forward for humanity, and intelligence itself.
Duncan Cass-Beggs is executive director of the Global AI Risks Initiative at CIGI, focusing on developing innovative governance solutions to address current and future global issues relating to artificial intelligence (AI). Duncan has more than 25 years of experience working on domestic and international public policy issues, most recently as head of strategic foresight at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In 2021, Duncan and his team launched the OECD’s collaborative foresight initiative on emerging global existential risks, aiming to better inform governments and the international community on future global challenges that may require new approaches in international collaboration. A key focus of this work was on future global risks from advanced AI — work that is continuing as part of the OECD’s Expert Group on the Future of AI.
Robert Whitfield is Executive Director of GAIGANow, an alliance that promotes the urgent need for effective, accountable, and inclusive global governance of AI to ensure it serves humanity safely and ethically. The Global AI Governance Alliance - GAIGANow – acknowledges the many outstanding organizations and individuals actively advocating specific pathways toward this goal and specific priorities and seeks to bring these voices together, fostering a broad and transformative movement dedicated to securing safe and ethical AI global governance.
Robert is Chair of the World Federalist Movement’s Transnational Working Group on AI and Chair of the One World Trust, with an extensive career in international business, governance and the environment.
======
To register on Zoom for this event, click here.
