A look back at the 2018 Singularity University Global Summit.
With less than a month before the 2019 Singularity University Global Summit, I wanted to share some context of why this event is my equivalent of going a kid to Disneyland.
My experience at the SU global summit was as advertised; cutting edge, big picture, Silicon Valley experience meets social impact entrepreneurs from most regions of the world. I have long been a fan of the exponential lens that the group frames and sees the world through.
If you are not familiar with what Singularity University is, or does, this video provides a key starting point by explaining the basic concept of ‘exponential thinking.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8cpwttrAxs
The summit ran for two and a half days, and was an information overload extravaganza (in a good way.) I was able to meet and speak to people that are at the top of the organization, and despite that, found even more value in interacting with other attendees.
Peter’s (Diamandis’) Law #22
“The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.”
Many people asked me “what was your main takeaway.” I was not able to give a good response. Perhaps the sum of the takeaways, was that I had indeed found my tribe, and that all my wildest ideas and ambitions had a place in this world to validate, incubate and build from. If you are social impact oriented at the idea, growth or corporate stage, there is something for you to learn, partner with and gain from free SU content, and in-person events.
We live in an incredibly imaginative civilization, yet we experience “crises of imagination” in every aspect of work, governance, and play. We protect sunset industries such as natural resources, out of fear of the unknown, instead of subsidizing more efficient resource harvesting and processing equipment that we can export to global markets with stronger economic and social development outcomes. I see my role in advising/consulting to be to help prepare companies for the future. One way I have described this is that is that you need to make sure you are playing tomorrow’s game, as most companies are still playing under yesterday’s paradigms, rules and processes. This has only possible because of the frameworks I have learned through Singularity University content, and similar discussions happening at the World Economic Forum.
What you will find (if you join us)
Explore the 2019 program and register here
The following list of links is my curation of the companies that I discovered through their presence in the Expo, affiliation with presenters, or as names I saved for later as they were mentioned in presentations. I have roughly categorized them, as most projects are highly interdisciplinary and in some cases are just technologies that some people would like to have on their radar.
At the bottom part of this page is a selection of slides, which have some value beyond the full context of the talks they were included in.
Here are some of the companies that were featured in the 2018 summit Expo.
My top 3 companies
1. Soul Machines
Soul Machines is making one the technologies that will most easily allow a malevolent AI to learn how to manipulate us. Or, they are making an intelligent agent platform that could lower the cost and improve the quality of customer service by 10X each. Imagine having your own soul machines nurse pop up in the morning to discuss the biometrics from your wearables and smart toilets. Another fantastical application that this opens up is the ability to create nursing agents that can improve the quality of primary health care in remote indigenous communities with an Avatar that looks like them and speaks their language, anywhere in the world.
2. Bioverse Labs
If space-faring civilizations exist in the image of much of our Science Fiction cannon, one of the main tasks of exploring a newly discovered planet with life, would be non-destructively cataloguing every organism by phenotype, genotype and ecosystem. Bioverse labs is basically today’s starting point for that vision.
3. Next Biotics
“We make viruses that kill antibacterial resistant bacteria.” Explained the CEO when I asked her what she is working on.
Ops/Business
Education
Personal Medicine
Social
Eco-
Science
AI/DataSci
Augmented Reality
Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technologies
Hardware
Energy
Energy investment syndicate:
Other
Slides and Sessions
Ramez Naam — Co-Chair of Energy and Environment SU
Alex GladStein — The Future of Freedom https://youtu.be/bRVxdExGxgw?t=8h45m41s
Neil Jacobstein — Chair of Ai and Robotics — presentation — Day 1
https://youtu.be/LkCV_pDH9jg?t=2h32m36s
Indigo Ag presentation slides
Miscellaneous slides
