In summary: a wide-ranging conversation. And we ran out of time for many of the other topics I thought we might cover :-)
See the recording on YouTube here www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoTw...
19) The Singularity Principles - as relevant in 2026 as when that book was published in 2022;
20) Potentially the worst ever moral failure by politicians;
21) Beware the military industrial complex;
22) Thoughts on Moloch and Shoggoth;
23) Yoshua Bengio's vision of "Scientist AI".
15) The Narrow Corridor and the separation of powers;
16) International agreements on corporation tax;
17) "Take back tomorrow" - with or without the USA?
18) Possible tipping points in political opinion - new extremes of climate, or "an AI 9/11";
12) Three metrics by which AI became significantly more capable in 2025 - and why that trend is set to continue;
13) Four credible possible near-term futures, depending on how well we collectively handle AI;
14) From an economy of money to an economy of reputation;
8) The London mayoral election of 2024 - a might-have-been;
9) How AI can improve citizens' assemblies;
10) Clinical trial reform - important, but not the central bottleneck to better age-reversal therapies;
11) What the Healthspan XPrize gets right;
4) Moral enhancement and/or institutional reform;
5) The Economic Singularity - when almost everyone has no economic or political value;
6) How "the transhumanist shadow" has caused major reputational damage to the concept of transhumanism;
7) Schisms in the UK Transhumanist Party;
"Toward a Technoprogressive Future" - James Hughes and I discuss the case for a technoprogressive project.
Topics include:
1) Guardrails for smartphones and other technologies;
2) What is superdemocracy?
3) The Oligarch Control problem;
technoprogressives.substack.com/p/toward-a-t...
(continued)
- Should we welcome, or resist, a potential "Humanity 2.0"?
- Foundations for ethical decisions: Utilitarianism vs. virtues.
For more details, and to RSVP to attend, see www.meetup.com/london-futur...
Topics likely to be discussed include:
- Strengths and weaknesses of transhumanist narratives
- Conceptions of “human nature” and “flourishing”
- The roles of relationship, interdependence, and social justice
- Responses to the challenges of unprecedented technological disruption
Just announced, a live London Futurists webinar on Sat 18th April, featuring the co-editor (Georg Theiner) and a chapter author (Tracy Trothen) from the recently published volume "Technologies of the Future Self: An Ethics for Transhumanist Flourishing"
"The Reality of Longevity Escape Velocity": Reflections on the history of science, preconditions for productive teamwork, the damage done by bioconservative bioethicists, and 3 factors that can enable a dramatic acceleration toward the abolition of aging open.spotify.com/episode/1q3e...
9pm tonight on the UK's Channel4: "Molly vs The Machines: From a teenager’s suburban bedroom to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, the story of a heartbroken father’s quest to uncover the truth behind his daughter's death, caught in an algorithmic spiral" www.channel4.com/programmes/m...
"The case for action is not about being anti-technology. It is about being pro-planning" - excellent analysis aigovernance.co.uk/the-micawber...
A small segment from BBC London News yesterday: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0CR...
This looks timely: "Resisting Big Tech Empires", London South Bank University, Saturday 25th April, 11am-6pm. Lots of thought-provoking speakers are already listed on the event website, and I understand more will be added soon. See www.globaljustice.org.uk/event/resist...
"EU parliamentarians acknowledge the catastrophic risks of artificial intelligence. 'We are on a trajectory towards a loss of control,' insisted Stuart Russell, professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley" - a report from PauseAI activities this weekend pauseai.substack.com/p/eu-parliam...
Secure the bright future that superintelligence can enable, with mitigation strategies against four major civilisational threats. Join the London Futurists online discussion led by Tony Czarnecki of Sustensis, from 7:30pm UK time tomorrow (Wed 25th Feb) www.meetup.com/london-futur...
Absolutely horrific viewing - "Russia soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops in Ukraine war executed on commanders' orders - BBC News"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How will the Economic Singularity approach? Slowly, and then quickly: www.citriniresearch.com/p/2028gic
"The AI Motivation Paradox: Understanding it and Solving it" - a re-recorded, extended version of the presentation I gave yesterday morning at PauseCon Brussels www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wj0...
"The AI Safety Movement Is Finally Changing" - in London, on 28th February www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA6O...
Read the entire newsletter here: londonfuturists.com/2026/02/21/s...
"Safety before Superintelligence" - the latest newsletter from London Futurists:
1) The AI Motivation Paradox
2) A demonstration outside the European Parliament
3) AI Safety March in London (28th Feb)
4) From Bad to Bright Future
5) The Economics of Abundance (video recording)
Q: What comes next after the UK (2023), South Korea (2024), France (2025), and India (2026)?
A: Switzerland (2027) and the UAE (2028).
That's assuming the Singularity doesn't happen first www.arnnewscentre.ae/en/news/uae/...
There are some OMG moments in this trailer for the forthcoming movie "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" youtu.be/xoKxHw8_RC0
Here's the specification I've given myself for a workshop I'll be leading on Sunday morning at PauseCon Brussels. I've already got lots of ideas for the content of the workshop, but I'll welcome any suggestions for what I should find time to include.
Just announced: an online London Futurists conversation on 25th Feb: "From Bad to Bright Future: How to make it happen" with lead provocateur Tony Czarnecki. Free to attend. More details at www.meetup.com/london-futur...
Some images from my opening slides at the ICfS session on "Harnessing AI for Water Resilience and Sustainable Growth" on Monday, 10:30 – 11:25 AM IST, in West Wing Room 6, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi - part of the Global AI Impact Summit. Free registration: impact.indiaai.gov.in/registration
