Gerd Leonhard

Gerd Leonhard Speaking Topics

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

AI is like a general-purpose-technology fire or the printing press, and it’s the new technology platform, as well. It could be heaven or it could be hell, depending on whether the tools will end up dominating us, or whether human TELOS (the purpose) will prevail. The more power we have, the more wisdom we’ll need! Science fiction is becoming science fact as smart machines – both physical as well as virtual – take on more tasks once thought impossible for a digital entity to accomplish. As a result, knowledge work is transforming at a rapid pace, forcing us to reconsider what it means to ‘be human‘ – in our daily lives, in our professions and in our organisations. We must embrace these new possibilities while also preserving and protecting our humanity. We must define new values and goals that transcend increased efficiency or the resulting financial gains. It will be our androrithms, our uniquely human skills and traits that will make us invaluable in this coming age of AI, not just our ability to command technology or to become faster by using it. In this talk, I guide my audience through what is important (and real) versus what is false (or dangerous) when it comes to AI. I delineate how we can harness the power of AI to further human (and planetary) flourishing, our happiness, our success and our well-being. I set forth why I believe the future holds great promise if we play our cards right and pursue People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity.

THE GOOD FUTURE – WHY IT’S REAL, AND HOW TO DESIGN IT

Fueled by recent geopolitical conflicts, the urgency to address the accelerating climate emergency and the mounting societal challenges of technological hyper-transformation (in particular, AI), the world continues to change at a mind-boggling pace, and confusion reigns. Once unthinkable climate-emergency measures such as new carbon taxes for aviation or eating meat are increasingly likely concerned citizens (especially, GenY) around the world push for real change. CEOs are touting their commitments to stakeholder values but many doubt that corporate leadership towards a better future is sincere enough, resulting in a political power shift that benefits autocratic regimes. What kind of future do we want? Is our current economic logic even suitable for the future? Will the traditional model of ‘free and open markets’ deliver solutions for these complex global issues? Is this approach ‘fit-for-the-future’? I believe that we must look beyond socialism, capitalism or liberalism and design a new economic logic, reboot our stock markets as we transition from the suicidal single bottom-line of GDP growth to what I call the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity. This keynote will dive into my latest learnings on The Good Future, and show the way forward.

GREEN IS THE NEW DIGITAL - SUSTAINABLE WILL BE THE NEW PROFITABLE - Why and how the decarbonization of our economies is the biggest opportunity in this coming decade

Digital transformation is just business-as usual. The next big topic is Big Green – the Decarbonization of our economies and the gradually, then suddenly departure from the fossil-fuel era – 2024 is when the gloves come off. Get ready: wide-ranging new carbon taxes are inevitable (airlines, meat, personal carbon budgets etc.). Fossil fuel subsidies will be turned into nature positive investments. During the pandemic we learned that being prepared for emergencies is totally essential, and that yes, we can indeed compromise and collaborate (if we have to). I set forth that the circular economy is the only economy we’ll have by 2030, and that sustainability is the new ‘profitable’ in the next 5 years (have a look at the stakeholder economy debates). Any company that doesn’t understand how this global move towards rapid decarbonization will impact every segment of their business (from R&D to supply-chain, to production to distribution to marketing to branding), will wither, shrink or fade away. Individuals who don’t understand what it means as far as knowledge, skills and mindset are concerned, will quickly become dispensable. In this talk, I will explain why this tectonic shift is happening now, what it really means, and how to get behind it and prosper in this fork-in-the-road decade.

GERD’S CRUCIAL FORESIGHT FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS - What to understand about the immediate future, today

• Exponential technological change: It could be heaven or it could be hell. What to expect regarding regulation and policies, and why Digital Ethics is now existential. • IA (intelligent assistance) versus AI versus HI (human intelligence): Why AI is all about • competence not consciousness, and AGI poses a serious conundrum. • Virtuality: AR/MR/VR and the Metaverse: fiction vs opportunity, hype versus feasibility. • A new capitalism? The shift beyond GDP / Profit & Growth towards the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity. • The Sustainability Revolution: Big Blue/Tech and Big Green = Big Future (Green is the new Digital). • The coming human renaissance: rebooting education, training and HR. Life with/after automation and AI. Why humans will still matter! • Mistaking a clear view for a short distance: A reality check on big promises, versus remains-very-much-in-progress cases such as autonomous vehicles, NLP/ computer language comprehension, and AI. • From efficiency and optimisation to agility, resilience and creativity. The future of work and skills. Our ultimate job is to be human (not a machine). • The coming convergence of biology and technology, rebooting healthcare, pharma and life sciences. This talk is constantly updated to reflect the latest developments

THRIVING IN EXPONENTIAL TRANSFORMATION AND PERMACHANGE - How organizations can define and create their preferred future

While a rising tide lifts all boats, one-sided or blind disruption can capsize any organization. To create enduring, dynamic organizations built to last in today’s era of accelerating exponential technology, the most important thing is foresight and preparedness. Now, companies and organizations, and their people, find themselves increasingly forced to pivot and reinvent themselves, or face sudden disintermediation and irrelevance. From music to the automotive industry, from big oil to big box retail and everything in between, the pace of change is increasing and poised to accelerate further, as the 3 Revolutions, the 10 Game-Changers and other Megashifts sweep across industry and society, altering every aspect of life. While organizations unprepared for the waves of change to come will not survive, those who ready themselves can take advantage of the enormous opportunities created amidst the chaos, from IoT and AI, to robotics and new human-machine interfaces (such as voice-control and intelligent bots).

THE FUTURE OF WORK, JOBS, EDUCATION & TRAINING - Awesome humans on top of amazing technology

All too often, scientific breakthroughs, industry hype cycles, latest technological achievements or economic growth targets dominate discussions about our future. Yet as the world is going digital, and increasingly virtual, I believe our humanity needs the most attention, and that it will be our humanness which will make all the difference. The thoroughly deflated hype about the Metaverse is a good example: sometimes technology promises to give us everything we’ve ever dreamed of, but ends up giving us little of we really need? Computers will inevitably outpace humans in mere processing power, logic and efficiency. The ‘End of Routine’ is a certainty. The ticket to our future is to become more human, not less, not to compete with the machines but to use their increased competence to handle those tedious commodity tasks better and faster. Machines, computers and algorithms should have competence not consciousness. What will happen to humans when machines become truly intelligent? What about privacy, mystery or serendipity? What about emotions, intuition, imagination, consciousness (what I call, in my last book, the androrithms)? In this talk, I outline the challenges as well as some possible solutions. Reminder: The biggest danger today is not that machines will eliminate us, but that we may become too much like them.

Gerd Leonhard Videos

Gerd Leonhard Articles

• Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be a Very Bad Thing: Technology’s Future

Gerd Leonhard Speaker Testimonials

He talked about the future of advertising and media. The feedback of our guests was great. Gerd perfectly combined his knowledge and expertise with his unique talent to inspire and entertain the audience. The up front coordination went perfect.

- | BORIS CIESLAR - OMNICOM MEDIA GROUP

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Gerd Leonhard wrote The Future of Music, which basically said that the record business was terminally ill. . . . He's shaped our thinking. None of us know what the future looks like, so we can invent it, be part of it.

- | GED DOHERTY - SONYBMG UK

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Gerd was a keynote speaker at our recent Spark2020 Leadership Conference and was central to setting up the discussion about what the future might look like and importantly what that means for our industry, our business and the people in it. Gerd's opening session was a great outside in view of the future and what that means for us. His perspectives were excellent and thought provoking and it set the day up well.

- | ROD SNODGRASS, CEO - SPARK VENTURES NZ

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WWF International staff had the pleasure of listening to Gerd as a keynote speaker during the 2013 Learning Week - when he addressed the topic of moving "From conversation to conservation action". I know that everyone in the audience found Gerd to be inspiring, informative and challenging, and wanting more. Delivered in a punchy and dynamic "TED" style, Gerd's talk catalyzed much discussion after the talk, and since, and generated a thirst for further interaction. I, for one, am looking forward to further opportunities to hear his thoughts on moving from ego to eco.

- | RICHARD MCLELLAN - WWF