IN SPOTLIGHT

The future of global security hinges on societal resilience

Defence debates tend to focus on firepower. But the most destabilising risks may come from something far harder to quantify: the fraying of social trust, the manipulation of truth, and the erosion of the middle class.

 
 

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

Fake News

Fake News appears as a red stamp on a Russian state website suggesting that many Western news items are `fake´. President Donald Trump claims that several news printed, aired or released online by well-established American news media are fake. The label `fake´ is used by those in power to undermine news media that do not support their political agenda or may have critical views.

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Future Trends Tuomo Kuosa Future Trends Tuomo Kuosa

Urban Mobility Redefined

Owning an autonomous vehicle makes little or no sense in the future unless you run a taxi or delivery service. Self-driving cars will be constantly available all around our cities. They run without cease and only stop for recharging or servicing. People may own vehicles for some off-purposes, but the roles of owned vehicles will be much alike those of horses today.

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

4D Printing

4D printing adds a new dimension to 3D printing: time. An object changes its shape or quality as it encounters some external stimuli, such as temperature shifts or contact with water. Currently, research in several laboratories, 4D printing may add programmability to materials and objects.

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Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri

Source of Great Wisdom?

UNU is a platform utilising a combination of AI algorithms and collective human intelligence. So far, it’s been able to do surprisingly accurate forecasts all the way from Oscar winners to presidential elections. Will an efficient combination of algorithms and human swarms be the solution to finding answers to our tricky future problems?

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Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri

Co-Living Matches Made in Heaven?

Finding new friends and partners online is already very common, but have you considered searching for a roommate for co-living? Co-living match does not need to be made in heaven; when instead, an algorithm will sort it out while you share enough of your personal details on a co-living service, the number of which is growing.

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Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri

To Work or Not to Work?

The Finnish basic income experiment sparked a lot of international interest before and after its launch in January Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, has received inquiries from all over Europe and other continents, including countries like Canada, US, Korea, Mexico, Australia and Japan.

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

Road Hackers in 2030?

When there will be cars without drivers, it is inevitable that all vehicles on the road will be monitored, and if necessary, taken over by software that runs the entire road traffic system. Where there is software, there will be hackers, who can hack the cars, and what the car AI thinks are roads.

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Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri Future Trends Marianna Mäki-Teeri

Mid-Sized Cities Prosper

The social and economic power of millennials will increase remarkably during the coming years. Currently, it seems that major cities in the U.S. might be at risk of losing the competition over millennials to their mid-sized counterparts, and big cities all over the world are expected to face the same challenge in the future.

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

Living Afloat

Seasteading Institute claims to build floating ”sea top communities” by 2020. French Polynesia’s Council of Ministers has passed a memorandum of understanding to allow Seasteders to build in a littoral zone in exchange for financial benefits the new floating city would bring forward.

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

AI That Writes Itself

Microsoft and the University of Cambridge have published an Artificial Intelligence software called Deep Coder that writes code by copying existing segments that it can find. Deep Coder is a radical innovation, a software robot that makes software.

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Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä Future Trends Tapio Mäkelä

Software in Driver's Seat

The difference in evaluation suggests that analysts consider car and traffic software to be a much more viable industry in the future than the sheer manufacturing of cars. This said, Opel and Vauxhall were producing a steady deficit.

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