David Wood on the Lead Up to the Singularity

 Singularity  

Futurist David Wood presents a broad outline of the technological convergence that will lead up to the Singularity, and how the next three to 40 years will see us enter an increasingly Hybrid Age.

David Wood is the lead organiser of London Futurists, and has been chairing public meetings in London on futurist, singularitarian, and transhumanist themes for many years.

In the talk above, Wood outlines how the development of exponential technologies may lead to the Singularity.  Importantly, Wood considers the Singularity to be a technology convergence of multiple, complimentary fields.

In the next three to forty years, Wood suggests that we will be increasingly a part of the Hybrid Age.  The concept, taken in part from Parag and Ayesha Khanna, co-directors of the Hybrid Reality Institute, represents a new sociotechnical era that is unfolding as technologies merge with each other and humans merge with technology -- both at the same time.

"The Hybrid Age is an age where biology and technology are increasingly mixed," says Wood. "We will use technological skills in biological situations and we will use biological skills in technological situations."  The Hybrid Age therefore presents enormous risk, combined with enormous opportunity he comments.

Image Source: David Wood

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Wood’s professional background includes nearly 25 years immersed in cutting edge mobile technology – envisioning, architecting, implementing and avidly using smart mobile devices. He spent ten years as software architect with UK-based PDA pioneer Psion, followed by ten years serving as co-founder and Executive VP at smartphone OS specialist Symbian. As principal of Delta Wisdom, Wood works with leading companies who are concerned about the dramatic impact of rapidly changing technology on human individuals and communities, and provides advice on opportunities to apply technology in new solutions to deep-rooted problems.

In November 2005, Wood received an honorary Doctorate in Science (D.Sc.) from the University of Westminster, “in recognition of services to the smartphone industry”. In 2010 he featured in the world’s first Augmented Reality CV.


SOURCE  David Wood

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