Living in the Machine: How Technology is Shaping the Future

6th October 2020

In this talk, futurist Sophie Hackford, explores how we will move from looking at technology, to living inside it. Our homes, offices, cars, cities are wiring us up to a giant machine, listening and categorising us, and shaping our experiences (and even gaming our behaviours).

Sophie discusses virtual worlds, like those found in computer games, which foreshadow digital offices, theme parks, or even parties where we might find ourselves spending increasing amounts of time, as the internet begins to feel like ‘real’ life.
Finally, Sophie explores the ethical questions shaping public conversation about these technologies – the contrast, in EO Wilson’s words, between our ‘paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technologies’.