The Case for Techno-Optimism Around AI - Video Clips

Watch short videos of a dozen top experts in Artificial Intelligence and a range of related fields make their case about why we should be optimistic about AI

This post is the most in-depth way to absorb all we learned at the kickoff of the new series The AI Age Begins last month with a Meeting of the Minds to answer the key question: What is the case for techno-optimism around AI?

We gathered 250 innovators at the Shack15 club at the top of the Ferry Building in the heart of San Francisco to help answer that question. We asked a dozen of them to make their case in just 5 minutes each before opening up the conversation to all.

You can read the essay version that synthesizes what we learned and drops in the occasional quote from many of these speakers. But with these videos you can hear each of them make their case from start to finish. It’s the closest thing to actually being in the room that evening.

All these videos can also be watched via the full playlist in their native YouTube, and you can see similar playlists from our previous events at the Reinvent Futures YouTube channel. There are many ways to get up to speed on the many positive reasons why we should move confidently forward with this transformative new technology.

My intro to The AI Begins full series through 2024 and this kickoff event with some big picture framing of our generally positive view of AI:

One of the premier futurists in the world who now is the Chief Futures Officer for Salesforce and has been heavily involved in their AI efforts:

The Cofounder of Siri who has spent 40 years working in AI said he never thought he would live to see what AI can do now:

An economist on five ways that AI will impact the economy of America and the world for the better in the decades that lie ahead:

A top strategy consultant for Boston Consulting Group who has talked with 150 C Suites & Boards in the last year - and they are all optimistic:

The Cofounder of one of the leading GenAI startups that is bringing the new capabilities of AI to enterprise companies that then can scale:

A creative and influencer with many followers who is using the new GenAI tools to dramatically enhance his productivity in creating videos:

A climate expert who gave three ways she thinks AI could help solve very difficult problems that are slowing down our transition to clean energy:

A leader at Adobe that serves both professional and amateur creatives who thinks both groups will dramatically benefit from these new tools:

A Norwegian serial entrepreneur and founder of the Shack15 club of many GenAI founders and builders lays out his reasons for optimism:

Cofounder of one of the leading GenAI companies focused on Open Source alternatives on his reasons for optimism:

A former founder of an AI company & now influential California State Senator representing Silicon Valley who will play a big role in regulation:

Former top Editor-in-Chief of WIRED magazine in the Web 2.0 era and now entrepreneur in drones and a stealth AI company:

A survey of hands in the room about where they fall in the Speedometer of Techno-Optimism outlined in the image below:

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I want to give a thanks to those whose support makes this ambitious project by Reinvent Futures possible, including the development of all these videos. Our essential partners who make the most difference are BCG X, the tech arm of Boston Consulting Group, and the Shack15 club in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. And then our sponsors Google, Adobe, Writer and B Capital help with the resources and the networks that bring it all together. We could not do this without you.