Feb 13, 2023 | Signals to Watch
Nan Nelson, Board Member
The world’s first robot lawyer will soon defend a human in a speeding ticket case in an actual United
States court. The CEO of DoNotPay introduced his AI lawyer to the world in a January Twitter clip. In this
video the company’s bot successfully negotiated a Comcast Internet bill with the Comcast Chat bot.
Human observers noted that both bots were “a bit too polite.” Next up for the AI lawyer will be credit
card chargebacks, airline complaints and Amazon returns, the CEO said, noting the service will be
publicly available soon. More complicated cases like parking and speeding tickets, appealing bank fees
and suing robocallers will be available next.
Click here to read, “World’s First Robot Lawyer to Defend Human in Speeding Ticket Case in US”
Apr 30, 2022 | Signals to Watch
Nan Nelson, Board member
As they watch the war in Ukraine develop, futurists are considering worldwide impacts. What possible futures do the signals point to? Even if you’re not terribly interested in the details of the ongoing war, you will be fascinated by the application of many of the tools we have learned in Strategic Foresight training in this comprehensive presentation. You’ll see practical application of Four Futures, Scenarios, Trends, Causal Layered Analysis and more. This is an intriguing display of the scope and power of the skills and tools you’ve learned, should you continue to sharpen and apply them.
(more…)
Mar 31, 2022 | Signals to Watch
Nan Nelson, Board member
In 2018 the Government Accountability Office established the Center for Strategic Foresight to identify major issues, challenges and opportunities. The latest report on trends affecting government and society provides a strategic plan for lawmakers, including key trends in a dozen areas:
- National security threats include a rise in violent extremism tied to conspiracy theories and misinformation.
- Federal debt – increasing federal debt makes a fiscal crisis more likely.
- Catastrophic biological incidents indicate the need for a more resilient medical chain.
- Racial and ethnic disparities in society are evident in housing, health and access to voting.
- Science and technology research and development – public investment is declining.
- Security issues arise from our increasing reliance on digital technology, and they include vulnerability to cybercrime and other threats.
- New technologies are changing the U.S. workforce.
- The Global Supply Chain is suffering disruptions due to the pandemic, trade wars and other global crises.
- Online learning and technology, increasing in use, present both opportunities and challenges.
- Evolving health technologies, such as artificial intelligence, yield efficiencies but raise privacy concerns.
- Critical natural resources – their availability is threatened in an increasingly stressed environment.
- Space is seeing increased use for national security, commercial and human exploration.
You can watch a short introductory video here or read the full report here.
