The Futurists

Latest Episodes:

Open Source and Superintelligence Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

Independent AI researcher Mark Pesce returns to the Futurists with an update on the latest advances in open source artificial intelligence. Mark talks to co-hosts Brett King and Rob Tercek about a wide range of topics: small open-source models that run on the desktop and the smartphone; AI agents that work the “night shift”; NVIDIA’s pivot to open source AI; the disruptive threat to the leading US AI labs; the rapid rise of AI-enabled intrusions and the threat to the smartphone; personal AI filtering and assistants; AI agents to manage the smart home; faceless appliances as a precursor to liquid interfaces and the end of apps; fostering cognitive dependency and offloading cognitive work to companion apps; pacing the frontier; super intelligence; geopolitical rivalry.

Power is China’s AI Advantage Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

In this week’s episode hosts Rob Tercek and Brett King do a deep dive into the rapidly aging energy grid in the US and how this may be the biggest flaw in the US’ desire to win the race to AGI and a future smart economy. China today produces daily more solar energy than all the power plants in the US combined, and this year alone China will deploy more solar than the US has built in the last 70 years. How can the US hope to power the data centers required for AI dominance with an administration opposed to renewables and, as yet, no new nuclear plants or transmission lines even approved for construction? With the NIMBY crowd protesting local data centers, is big tech headed for a showdown with conservative politics?

Finding Signal Amid the AI Noise Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

Mark Ghuneim is an American internet entrepreneur, activist, and art curator who has launched pioneering ventures in many fields including music, digital marketing, television, privacy advocacy, and fine art. Today he is co-founder of Narrative.New, which harnesses the power of AI for creative writers. Key to Mark’s career is curation, the process of making conscious choices among a wide range of alternatives. AI makes cognitive outputs cheap and abundant; that raises the value of human curation to critical importance amid a flood of fresh content. According to Mark, today the highest, rarest value is a distinctive point of view and taste.

Infinite Innovation Aug 22, 2026

Show notes

Can a company use AI to be capable of infinite adaptability? Brian Solis and Dave Wright believe that right approach to deploying AI in large enterprises is a two-model process, first to find efficiency and create savings, and second, to invest those savings into accelerated innovation. In their new book Infinite, Brian and Dave cite successful case studies to show AI can help business leaders accomplish things that were never previously possible. Rob Tercek interviewed Dave and Brian to extract the key points for listeners of The Futurists podcast.

Mass Media and Artificial Intelligence with Jeff Jarvis Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

To understand the future, it’s best to begin by studying the past. Jeff Jarvis returns to the Futurists to share a lively summary of the long arc of mass media, and he unpacks several valuable lessons for our present moment. Jeff’s new book Hot Type provides a compelling account of the long struggle to mechanize typesetting, one invention at a time, including the many failures that led to other mechanical breakthroughs. The invention of the Linotype machine made print cheap, and thereafter society consumed far more printed works, paving a path for modern mass marketing and mass consumption. Rob Tercek and Jeff discuss the direct parallel between the economic impact of mass media 100 years ago and the current advent of AI and the commoditization of human cognition. Topics include Jevon’s paradox, human-mechanical hybrids, unanticipated change versus technological determinism, a dozen parallels to our contemporary media economy, the importance of advertising and the attention economy, the advent of subscription sales of literature, a new definition of literacy.

The Future Of Healthcare Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

This week on the futurists host Brett King sits down with Dr Julia Michelin to discuss the future of healthcare and how AI, gene-therapy, robotics, neural interfaces, cybernetics, 3D bio printing and other bio-tech is going to transform human society and culture.

The Watershed with Mark Pesce Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

In November 2025, the global techno-economy shifted subtly, then dramatically, as AI agents became viable additions to the workforce. Mark Pesce has documented these changes, what he refers to as “The Watershed”, in a remarkable series of articles at https://thewatershed.markpesce.com/. Pesce joins the Futurists to explain his perspective about how companies and work have changed forever. Pesce and Rob Tercek discuss the future of jobs for humans working alongside AI agents, and what happens when an AI with compounding capability begins to set its own goals. Topics: relative super intelligence versus AGI; The Bitter Lesson and what remains durable work for humans; private insurance markets as the mechanism for pricing AI risk, why governments will evade that measurement, and the dissolving boundaries that used to define corporations.

Fututistae Londinienses Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

This week on The Futurists we are joined by David Wood from the London Futurists, Rohit Telwar CEO of Fast Future, Andrew Grill the Actionable Futurist, and Dr. Julia Michelin, CEO/Founder and author of The Future of Dentistry. It’s an all star cast as we delve into the forecasts for tomorrow with the impact of AI and longevity treatments being a key focus. We discuss collaborative intelligence, gene therapy, nanobots and AGI. It’s a great discussion in the heart of London.

AI Music Rings The Bell Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

Marcus “Bellringer” Bell is a musical polymath: songwriter, producer and technological pioneer. His credits include collaborations with Beyoncé, Niki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland and music featured by Amazon, HBO, Netflix. Marcus has used AI to generate tens of thousands of songs in multiple genres. He uses AI to design agents, personas, and new tools for musical expression and personal growth. He joins the Futurists to talk to Rob Tercek about AI and the creative process.

Future of Human Consciousness in an AI-Driven World Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

What if AI could replicate your consciousness?

Listen as Brett King connects with Paolo Sironi, host of Provoke.fm‘s The Banker’s Bookshelf about Paolo’s latest book, Quantum Sapiens.

Paolo’s foray into literary fiction explores the intersection of quantum gravity, philosophy, and the future of human consciousness in an AI-driven world, providing a unique way to explore complex topics.

Available at major bookstores and on Amazon, Quantum Sapiens is a haunting novel blending scientific speculation, the frontiers of artificial intelligence, theories of consciousness and urgent ethical questions into a compelling narrative.

Join Paolo and Brett as they dive into the “hard problem” of consciousness and how technology like AI acts as a mirror for the human experience.

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