PhilosophySciencePsychologySocietyCulture
EssaysVideos

Popular

About
DONATENEWSLETTER
/
/
Aeon
DONATE/NEWSLETTER/
/

    Welcome to a world of existential threats, philosophers and clever robots

    The present is surreal and one thing is for sure, the future will be weirder still. Anders Sandberg of the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford and other thinkers mull over whether humans might become the pets of intelligent machines; what threat does epidemic disease pose, and why we feel such a need to predict the future anyway.

    Producer: Marianna Petrilli

    Director: Ryan Harding

    19 November 2013
    Colourful animated figure with raised fists floating in space surrounded by vividly patterned planets against a black, starry background.

    videoAutomation and robotics

    Human as a process: What awaits us in the coming age of bio-enhancement?

    3 minutes

    Surreal artwork of a woman submerged in water with fish swimming around her, her head inside an aquarium-like structure and her hair flowing upwards.

    videoFuture of technology

    Artificial ‘creativity’ is unstoppable. Grappling with its ethics is up to us

    23 minutes

    Black and white photo of a woman’s face with columns of letters and numbers superimposed over it, creating a digital effect.

    videoComputing and artificial intelligence

    Civilisation peaked in 1940 and will collapse by 2040: the data-based predictions of 1973

    11 minutes

    A woman looking at a computer screen with diet advice and a small video of a man. Photo from the mid-20th century, plants in the background.

    videoProgress and modernity

    Smart homes, bountiful oceans and casual sexism: the future as envisaged from 1967

    26 minutes

    A man and woman with glasses examine a small device in a room with artwork on the walls and a brick feature.

    videoThe future

    What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?

    15 minutes

    A humanoid robot with a screen displaying cartoon eyes, set in a room with a yellow wall and dark brick wall.

    videoWork

    The robots are coming… for our jobs! Why the human workforce is at risk

    15 minutes

    A realistic humanoid robot with long brown hair, braided each side, wearing a white collared shirt in a dimly lit room.

    videoAutomation and robotics

    Uncanny! Is this humanoid robot a curiosity, or a preview of a post-human world?

    14 minutes

    Abstract artwork of a smiling human face on a yellow background, featuring wavy lines for hair and a triangle for a nose.

    videoNeuroscience

    What will we do when neuroimaging allows us to reconstruct dreams and memories?

    4 minutes

    Animated image of a blue-skinned figure with red eyes, a cosmic scene on its forehead, and a crown of yellow spheres, holding its face with one hand.

    videoAstronomy

    Finding alien life demands real imagination – not recycled sci-fi tropes

    5 minutes