It is time to embrace the ‘Singular Reality’ of technology’s future

It is time to look beyond the simplistic mantra that we are “living in a digital world”. Neither should we be anachronistically framing “the physical world” as the very essence of human life. Instead, we must embrace the Singular Reality, where living is a composite of the digital and the physical.

In my role as CEO of TONOMUS, where we use advanced technologies to build the cities of the future and the companies of tomorrow, the concept of a Singular Reality is obvious. For fellow technologists and business leaders however, adopting this perspective is less instinctive.

Too often digital leaders continue to subscribe to the false dichotomy that sees the physical world and the fast-developing virtual world as two distinct entities. As we enter an unprecedented phase of technological development, there ought to be course correction.

This year, I’ve been fortunate enough to discuss this perspective at some of the world’s biggest technology forums alongside top thought leaders in digital innovation. This included Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, at the recent Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco.

My message to technologists has been direct. For too long tech leaders have been focused on the technology itself, rather than the way it enables a more seamless, natural way of living: the singular reality.

The debate on technology’s future has also been skewed by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The isolating experience of lockdown inspired an overwhelming sense that humanity’s future must be digital. But when the crisis lifted, the pendulum then swung abruptly to the other side, amid an outcry that “We have got to go back to the physical world.”

By contending that it is not an either/or choice, I’m hoping to shift our industry’s focus. If the potential of evolutionary technology – taking generative artificial intelligence (AI) as an example – is to be fully realized, there are three steps to effectively manage the transformational changes that accompany it. These core truths are fundamental to how we will ultimately shape, view and interact with an AI-enabled future.

To harness AI’s true potential, the first of the three mind shifts start with understanding the difference between diversity and inclusion. You might think these factors are the same. They are not. Diversity is the potential to create value, while inclusion is the realization of value, achieved by driving full participation.

Generative AI’s secret weapon, I believe, is its ability to deliver full participation. By breaking down imaginative barriers, Generative AI tools enable those usually without a seat at the table to develop apps and services alongside engineers using only their vision and open-source machine learning (ML) models – this is diversity.

Meanwhile, extended reality (XR) tools can solve the physical barriers presented by scale and geography. If you’re simply talking about the physical world, the dimensions of a room or the boundaries and population limits of a city mean you can never achieve the level of inclusion required for full participation. Change your mindset so that the physical world becomes an add-on to the digital world.

Together, these technological solutions can create unprecedented levels of inclusion, diversity and therefore growth.

The second paradigm shift that tech leaders must undertake to grasp the Singular Reality is to acknowledge that algorithms only optimize for efficiency rather than quality of life. They must adjust their thinking to understand that we are here to optimize and solve not only for efficiency but for the happiness paradigm. It is about life. It is about people.

At a TEDx talk I delivered earlier this summer, I drew attention to a study in the Netherlands where a supermarket stepped away from efficiency-governed self-checkout lanes, simply designed to get customers in and out, and instead implemented a slower checkout line based on the preferences of senior customers who value interaction and engagement as part of their shopping experience. That is solving for the happiness paradigm. This should be front of mind when it comes to decision making around AI. Efficiency is not the only goal.

While many influential figures, notably pioneers of Generative AI, have warned that the technology risks the very essence of what makes us human, coding inclusion into the fabric of these systems and building algorithms that optimize for happiness, can address the current digital divide and ensure humanity is at the core.

The third - and perhaps most theoretical - of the mind shifts that tech leaders must adopt is to anticipate the rise of the humanities. When we reach the point where AI can generate the answer to any prompt, the fundamental skill of future tech CEOs will be in knowing what questions to ask. For years, kids have been told that learning STEM subjects was the only path to a career in tech. “Learn to code!” we told them. I realize now that it’s not “Learn to code!”, it is “Learn to think!”

Many companies are already replacing software developers, web developers, computer programmers, coders, and data scientists with tools such as ChatGPT. More and more, I believe a vast majority of future tech teams will be comprised of AI-enabled social scientists and liberal arts majors, people who are trained to question and think differently about the world around them.

There will be a reversal of the old business school adage that 80% of the innovation process is allocated to the building of a product or service and only 20% to its ideation. The human-centric side is on the ideate side. Too many technologists focus only on the output side of the process (build and operate). The fundamental value is in the input process and the human-centricity that will ultimately drive value as we move forward.

As we stand at the dawn of AI, with its potential to transform the way we live in future, I see a world where any young person with a cell phone has the potential to compete with the biggest tech giants and move humanity forward. If you can think it, you can create it. If we adopt this shift in perspective – a move towards the singular reality, AI tools have the potential to be the greatest equalizer in modern day history.

-By Joseph Bradley