The Future of You
Hello, welcome to the Future of You podcast.
Here we’re going to investigate and analyse all the ways emerging technologies are going to affect our identity. We used to argue about whether personal identity was in the mind or in the body; but now that psychology of the self and the biology of self has been joined by a third dimension - the technology of the self.
In a digital, data-driven world, Facebook gets a say in verifying who we are, medical science can alter our genetic make-up, and AI will help us create our digital twin - just how many identities do we need in the multiverse? How is 21st Century technology changing who we are?
I set out to research exactly that, when I wrote my book The Future of You. That turned out to be only the start of my journey into our changing identity in a digital world. And I thought rather than continue to research this on my own, I could invite you along too.
I’m Tracey Follows, I’m a futurist and founder of Futuremade, the futures consultancy, and I’ve helped brands and businesses like Virgin, Google, Diageo and Farfetch spot trends, develop strategic foresight and fully prepare for what comes next.
I believe identity is the defining issue of our generation. So every fortnight I’ll be releasing new episodes, featuring panels of experts as we delve into topics such as how we use media to express our selves, the emergence of the extreme self, transhumanism and the augmented self; anonymity, genetics, biometrics, mind clones, and the digital afterlife - these are just some of the innovations, and controversies, we’ll cover.
Join the community, buy the book at thefutureofyou.co.uk or connect with me on X at @traceyfutures. Please come with me on this journey to explore identity in the digital world, as we investigate the future of me, and the future of you.
The Future of You
The Briefing: What is Worldcoin? #22
In this episode of The Briefing I talk with Ian Crocombe of Superheroic about the creation of TF14 (my “synthetic self”). We discuss how TF14 was made, the tools and platforms employed, and the use cases for digital representations such as this.
I also talk about the launch of Worldcoin, the pros and cons of is-a-person solutions and explore security threats around biometrics.
BBC News article on the launch of Worldcoin https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66128111
Vitalek's essay https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/07/24/biometric.html
Tracey Follows, Forbes article on Synthetic Self https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2023/07/21/i-used-generative-ai-to-create-a-synthetic-self-and-you-can-too/?sh=1e97b2216dbd
Ian Crocombe Linkedin linkedin.com/in/iancrocombe
Tracey's book 'The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st Century Technology?' available in the UK (https://bit.ly/44ObTha) and US (https://bit.ly/3OlDxgk)
