What if some of the most important technologies of the next decade are already being built in places most of us never think about?
What if some of the most important technologies of the next decade are already being built in places most of us never think about?
The July/August issue of MIT Technology Review is a great reminder of just how much is happening beneath the surface of the technology we use every day.
In Assam (India), a machine listens for elephants and plays the sound of a leopard when one gets too close to a village. In the Netherlands, ASML is building $400M machines at the centre of the global race to manufacture the next generation of chips. Data centres are learning to shift computing workloads as the grid comes under pressure. And, researchers are now modelling what it would take to deliberately cool the planet. It is the kind of technology we may never want to use, but may eventually need to understand.
Technologies that once lived inside labs, factories and data centres are becoming part of the physical systems around us.
That is where I see enormous opportunity.
Better sensing, better computing and better engineering can help us understand complex systems. They can help us respond in real time. They can help us solve problems at a scale that was previously impossible.
That is what keeps me reading MIT Technology Review. The magazine has a knack for finding the people working on these problems early, before we fully appreciate how consequential they might become.
Thank you to the entire team for continuing to bring us such rich, thoughtful and deeply reported work.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke famously noted that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
We are now living inside that sentence.
Until next time,
Ram
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Ram Srinivasan
MIT Alum | Author, The Conscious Machine | Global Future of Work and AI Adoption Leader published in Business Insider, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, MIT Executive Viewpoints and more.
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Disclaimer:
Ram Srinivasan currently serves as an Innovation Strategist and Transformation Leader, authoring groundbreaking works including "The Conscious Machine" and the upcoming "The Substrate Shift."
All views expressed on "Substrate" and across all digital channels and social media platforms are strictly personal opinions and do not represent the official positions of any organizations or entities I am affiliated with, past or present. The content shared is for informational and inspirational purposes only. These perspectives are my own and should not be construed as professional, legal, financial, technical, or strategic advice. Any decisions made based on this information are solely the responsibility of the reader.
While I strive to ensure accuracy and timeliness in all communications, the rapid pace of technological change means that some information may become outdated. I encourage readers to conduct their own due diligence and seek appropriate professional advice for their specific circumstances.
