How to Predict the Future
You’ve got to love the old line that making predictions is hard—especially ones about the future. But joking aside, futurism is a big and fascinating business. How can we determine which of today’s technological trends will coalesce into something meaningfully new, and which ones will soon be forgotten? In her upcoming book The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe is Tomorrow’s Mainstream, Amy Webb argues that anyone can methodically analyze such questions. Webb, who is CEO of the Future Today Institute and previously wrote Data, A Love Story: How I Cracked the Online Dating Code to Meet my Match, explained her ideas—and took reader questions—in an interview with MIT Technology Review’s Executive Editor, Brian Bergstein.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.