Keynote Speakers

The past ten thousand years and more of human history have been driven by our individual and collective ability to imagine futures that are different from the past, and to find ways of translating these into reality. It’s this ability that is at the heart of human ingenuity, our aptitude for innovation, our capacity for creative problem-solving, and our resourcefulness in inventing and leveraging increasingly advanced technologies – so much so that our collective identity and trajectory as a species can only be truly understood through the complex relationship between people, technology, and the future. This is a relationship that has evolved over time, and is one that has generally enabled individuals and communities to find innovative solutions to challenges faster than those innovations have led to new generations of problems. Yet the accelerating pace of innovation within today’s increasingly interconnected world is calling into question whether old ways of thinking about technology and society are sufficient to successfully navigate coming technology transitions, whether these are being driven by artificial intelligence, gene editing, robotics, quantum computing, or a long list of other emerging and converging technologies. Rather, there are growing indications that we need a new science of advanced technology transitions if we are to continue to flourish as a species on a healthy planet. This keynote will address the growing challenges of ensuring human flourishing on a healthy planet in an era of increasingly transformative advanced technology transitions, and will explore emerging opportunities for helping guide new technological capabilities in directions that benefit rather than hinder positive futures.

Professor Andrew Maynard is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU School for the Future if Innovation in Society. He is the founder of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative, Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Nexus, and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU College of Global Futures. His work focuses on successfully transitioning to a future where transformative technologies from artificial intelligence and quantum computing to gene editing, nanotechnology, automation, and more, have the power to fundamentally change every aspect of society. He writes about emerging technologies and responsible innovation on The Future of Being Human Substack.

Professor Maynard is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, serves as co-chair of the Institute for the Advancement of Nutrition and Food Science (IAFNS) Board of Trustees, is a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research President’s Advisory Committee, has served on a number of National Academies of Sciences committees, and has testified before congressional committees on several occasions. Since 2008 he has worked closely with the World Economic Forum in a number of capacities, including chairing and serving on various Global Agenda Councils/Global Future Councils, and contributing to the WEF/Scientific American annual list of Top Ten Emerging Technologies.