Futurist Gerd Leonhard used to play the blues. Literally. Before turning his attention to how cutting-edge technology could transform the world we live in, Leonhard made his living as a touring blues musician.
But ironically, the former blues musician has become an audaciously optimistic futurist. Leonhard kicked off his keynote session at the industry association MHI’s Modex supply chain trade show on Tuesday by admitting, “These days lots of people think about the future, and they say the future is going to be bad.”
Leonhard, however, takes the opposite view. In the current environment of rising temperatures and sea levels, geopolitical hot spots sparking into full-fledged conflagrations, artificial intelligence (AI) being used to distort and manipulate the truth, and a culture that is growing increasingly nihilistic, Leonhard dares to say, “The future is better than you think.”
But then he slips in a caveat: “You just have to stay awake.”
AI, for example, is getting increasingly better at performing what Leonhard calls “monkey work,” or repetitive, routine tasks. By doing so, AI can free up people’s time to find solutions to challenging problems. But you need to pay attention to what AI generates, he warns, you can’t fall asleep at the wheel. Generative AI can lie, says Leonard. It can make up incorrect answers to complex questions or generate images that don’t quite make sense, such as a chessboard with only seven pieces, three of which or kings.
So, Leonard recommends taking full advantage of AI while also “protecting what makes us human.”
“We have to protect our data and make sure that no one gets our data who’s not supposed to and we have to be mindful that the data may be wrong or biased,” he recommends.
But as companies grapple with AI and automation, they shouldn’t focus solely on the digital revolution, warns Leonhard. They should also embrace the green revolution of being more sustainable and circular and the purpose revolution of offering employees something more than just earning a good paycheck.
“Green is the new digital,” says Leonhard. “A lot companies, especially in supply chain, are thinking of digital as the number-one topic, and that’s correct, but they should bring that together with green because one enables the other.”
