Exponential Technologies Are Changing the World: Are You Ready?

by Kevin Smith Author

If you've ever found yourself scared of technologies that exist in shows like Black Mirror, you're not alone. For decades, storytellers have warned the public about how groundbreaking inventions can disrupt lifestyles and cost people their jobs. But they're not the only ones who are issuing warnings: in 1964, Nobel laureates sent a letter to President Johnson about how machines can displace thousands of jobs and create a world with unlimited productive capacity while relying less on human labor.

Today, more than 50 years later, you can see exactly what those writers and Nobel laureates warned everyone about. Did you know that you can now use 3D printers to produce ready-to-assemble components for buildings? Or that artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics can predict diseases before they occur, helping you extend your life span? Over the past decade, we've seen tremendous developments in exponential technologies, especially in the following areas:

· AI/Machine Learning

· Augmented Reality

· Robotics

· Sensors and Networks

· Synthetic Biology and Genomics

Out with the Old, in with the New

Having a mindset that doesn't welcome disruptive technology is the norm. And that's logical: if you're an accountant who's at risk of losing your job to new accounting software, you'd want something to stop that. After all, you didn't spend all those years in college to be replaced by an object.

Linear systems, like governments, regulators, and slow-moving legacy companies, are also wary of innovators and disruptors. They set up laws that prevent companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Tesla from fulfilling their missions.

But here's what visionaries know: the regulation doesn't stop research and development, it just allows it to thrive somewhere else. If you don't want to be the last one to start running in a marathon, then start putting one foot in front of the other.

Thinking Like a Visionary Prepares You for the Future

Have you ever watched the movie Envy? In the film, Nick Vanderpark, played by Jack Black, makes a spray that vaporizes dog feces so that people won't need to pick up droppings whenever they take their four-legged friends out for a walk.

That might be a crude example, but that's exactly what visionaries do. They have a problem they want to solve and make it their organization's purpose. In the case of Elon Musk, he's shared that Tesla and SolarCity aim to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Meanwhile, SpaceX's goal is to back up the biosphere by making humanity a multiplanet species. These goals drive their people to work cohesively and passionately, instead of simply clocking in and out and rejecting innovation.

If you start thinking like a visionary, you'd understand the merits of exponential technologies. Instead of looking at them with fear, you’ll be filled with a sense of optimism. That's the key to having a mindset that's prepared for what the future holds. So, ask yourself: what's your purpose? What's the problem you want to solve?