Innovating the User

Welcome to the first post of The Renewable Human blog! Our focus will be on the human impact of technology and the important role of personal renewal.

Tidal Waves: the New Norm

In the past decade, I have witnessed an incredible tidal wave of innovation in information technology, digital health, virtual care, mobile devices, user interfaces (AR/VR, voice, BCI), remote sensors, data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, automation, 3D printing, blockchain, nanotherapy and nanorobotics, quantum computing, and smart homes, cars, and even toothbrushes. The list goes on and on.

This digital tidal wave has crashed onto the shores of business, producing online and mobile commerce, information ubiquity, social media and influencer marketing, global outsourcing, virtual teams, open innovation, crowdsourcing, risk-sharing, and the gig economy. Want ratings on a product or a vendor? Not a problem. Medicines online? No problem. Delivery by drone in 24 hours? No problem.

At this point, I’d whisper in your ear: “But wait, there’s more!”

Another tidal wave is rolling in on the heels of Silicon Valley. We carbon life forms are seeing the dawn of a Carbon Valley, a new age in cancer immunotherapy, genomics, gene editing, and personalized medicine, AI-powered drug design, vaccines, dementia therapy, electroceuticals, and digital therapeutics. Need a new kidney? The lab will 3D bioprint one for you.

How about other fields of research? Tidal waves are building in agri-tech and food engineering (lab-grown meat, anyone?), renewable energy and water technology (pulling water out of thin air), and materials science (e.g., plasmonic materials). One day you’ll buy an invisibility cloak at Nordstrom (but alas, you won’t know if it looks good on you). And who wouldn’t want to spend a week or two on the moon or on Mars?

The ocean of possibilities seems unlimited. I had thought the only thing sure to stay in the realm of sci-fi was time travel. My bad. In February 2018, physicists achieved a minuscule reversal in time using a quantum computer.

Glitches and Gotchas

Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth. Glittery advances have caused Godzilla-sized disruptions. In fact, fissures are starting to appear in industrial norms, societal infrastructure, legal, regulatory, and ethical frameworks, politics, and social interactions. Even our basic understanding of humanness is being challenged by AI.

Some have called this the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the modern era, the first three being (1) the Financial-Agricultural revolution; (2) the Industrial-Technical revolution; and (3) the Digital revolution. Industry 4.0 is a mashup of nanotech, alternative energy & fuel systems, biotech, genomics, materials technologies, and telecom systems.

Revolutions are messy. Traditionally, science and technology jumped forward, then consumers and regulators kicked the tires. Once we gave a thumbs up, technology would jump ahead again. But humans needed time to ponder, to discuss, to form an opinion, to plan if necessary.

Unfortunately, the global rate of innovation is not linear but exponential. As change accelerates, we have less time and less ability to understand or test implications. Meanwhile, technology pushes ahead with or without a regulatory, ethical, or moral framework. One byproduct is a volume and complexity of knowledge that has become progressively unmanageable (e.g., the growing backlog at the U.S. Patent Office).

This crisis has raised existential concerns about the unfettered growth of scientific and technological prowess, and what it means for our future and the future of our children.

• AI: Prominent thinkers like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking (d. 2018), and Bill Gates have pointed out the potential misuse and danger of AI. Although AI will improve our lives, what worries them is the role AI will play in infrastructure systems like the electrical power grid. If AI makes a mistake or is hacked, lives could be endangered. AI could also be used for social manipulation, invasion of privacy, and invisible discrimination.

• Automation: a 2017 McKinsey report estimated as many as 400-800M people worldwide could lose their jobs to automation by 2030. Jobs like data processing that require predictable, repetitive, manual actions could disappear, whereas jobs like nursing that require people skills would survive. Perhaps we need to rethink whether we’re really teaching tomorrow’s skills to the adults of tomorrow.

• Gene editing: In November 2018 Chinese scientist He Jiankui ignited a firestorm of controversy by using the CRISPR gene editing technique to alter the DNA of twin human embryos in an attempt to prophylax against their father’s HIV. Recently a new study found those twin girls will sadly lose about two years of life each due to their edited DNA, not to mention pass it to offspring. What effects does genetic experimentation have on diversity and the resiliency of the human gene pool? Are we edging closer to a eugenic nightmare?

These debates show us the nature and size of the barriers individual inventions must overcome. For automation, the barrier to adoption is low, with the focus on solving the fallout. Helping displaced workers learn new skills turns out to be a win-win. In contrast, genetic editing has cracked open an ethical Pandora’s box.

The collision of incredible promise and unforeseen peril has locked many people into a kind of mental paralysis, like a deer in the headlights. This disruption paralysis affects both companies and individuals.

Renewal: Means to a Goal

With technology disruption inevitable, our personal worlds will change more often than we’d like. How do we find the path that’s best when times are increasingly uncertain?

This difficult question has as many answers as people asking. I’ve had a chance to talk with a few of them.

• A young college student in bioengineering: “Can you give me advice on what jobs won’t be obsolete in 10 or 20 years? Where should I begin?”

• A new physician: “Will traditional clinical practice be viable in the long run, and if not, would a startup be a better option?”

• An older physician about to retire: “How hard was it to launch a second career after you retired?”

• A highly successful senior business executive: “I want to do something more meaningful. What do you think about healthcare?”

The common thread is the perceived need and desire for self renewal.

What is self renewal? Self-awareness, active curiosity about industry and societal trends and opportunities, creativity, adaptability, flexibility, focus, willingness to act, serendipity, urgency, and discipline all come to mind. On the flip side are honest feedback and reality testing. Perhaps the 3 R’s of renewal, each at a different level, are rebirth, reinvention, and reskilling.

And the benefits? Personal transformation can improve your relevance and perhaps help you find greater meaning in life — whether it was triggered (by obsolescence, life events, or retirement) or targeted (aiming two steps into the future). An increasingly complex and uncertain world forces us to learn renewal as an adaptive skill.

Is it possible to thrive no matter what the future brings or how fast it arrives? What would it take? I hope to explore these and other ideas with you in future posts. Please subscribe to The Renewable Human and leave a comment!