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Covid and Life Expectancy, Ending Generation Labeling, Tyrannical AI, and more

Hot Topic: Life Expectancy Declines

That mortality rates would increase in a global pandemic seems a reasonable near-term prediction, but COVID-19 has also had an impact on a longer-term demographic measure: life expectancy.

In 2020, life expectancy from birth for the total U.S. population fell by 1.5 years, from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). This is the largest decline the U.S. has seen since World War II.

AI as Tyrant

Tim Mack

Tim Mack

Submitted by Tim Mack on

Not too long ago I wrote about the growing use of AI as a management tool to oversee online customer relations workers and human–robot relations in areas such as warehousing. Since that time, more information has come to light about moving AI decision making up the organizational ladder into human resources, including hiring and firing, and into other arenas, such as decision making in combat arenas.

Prospective Futures of Distance Education

Submitted by Dennis Bushnell on

Society is in the midst of multiple technology revolutions that are changing econometrics, national security, health, transportation, shopping, travel, cost of living, socialization, commerce, employment, and education. We have moved beyond the Industrial Age into the Information Technology Age, heading rapidly into the Virtual Age. In that process we are changing from physical activities to virtual activities, developing and embracing tele-everything, including tele-education, or distance education.

Global Trends and U.S. Threats, Remembering John Naisbitt, and more

Trends and Threats: Intelligence Community’s Latest Assessments

The next two decades will see a “More Contested World,” according to Global Trends 2040, the latest quadrennial report of the U.S. National Intelligence Council. The unclassified report on global trends, delivered to Congress at the start of each incoming or returning presidential term, examines the demographic, economic, environmental, and technology trends bearing on future national security.

Management by AI

Tim Mack

Tim Mack

Submitted by Tim Mack on

The idea of an animated talking head on a screen giving your annual review may sound fanciful, but AIs (of a sort) have been making headway in the worker oversight arena for a number of years. MetLife customer service representatives have been getting an ongoing review in real time in their screen corner with icons prompting them to “slow down speech,” “increase empathy,” and “up energy levels” (with a coffee cup) developed by Cogito.

Foresight as an Outsider Activity

Tim Mack

Tim Mack

Submitted by Tim Mack on

Futurist consultants who work with client organizations are typically outsiders, who may bring subjectivity to their foresight work but also less expertise in the client’s industry than insiders possess. Challenges include recognizing internal competing constituencies, engaging participants across departmental silos, building stakeholder networks, and overcoming an issue many consultants face of clients’ expectation not just to advise but also to implement strategies based on the foresight work. By Timothy C. Mack

Standing Down for the Future, Developing the Post-Pandemic Economy, and more

Hot Topic: Stand Down to Create a Foresight Culture

March 1 is Future Day, also called World Futures Day or similar names. It is the day each year when futurists around the world gather—in person or online—to exchange ideas about the future and share methods for better understanding it. 2021 Future Day activities you may wish to join include:

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