thinkfuture: technology, philosophy and the future

In this thinkfuture episode, host Chris dives into a lively chat with Carter, co-founder of Spree, a platform making it easier to spend crypto in everyday life. Carter shares his journey from physics PhD to crypto enthusiast, sparked by Dogecoin, and his passion for decentralized finance. They break down the similarities between crypto and fiat—both digital, both built on belief—and debate Bitcoin...

I tackle the big fear everyone’s got: will AI snatch your job? Spoiler: probably, if your gig’s something AI can do better. I dive into how we’re messing up by giving humans AI-suited jobs (like repetitive tasks) and AI human-suited jobs (like creative stuff). It’s a mess! But I’ve got a vision: a task economy where an AI dispatcher assigns jobs based on what humans and AI are best at. Picture thi...

I sit down with Ian Baer, the founder of Sooth—a predictive intelligence firm that’s shaking things up after Ian’s 35 years in advertising. We dive into how Sooth uses AI and data analytics to dig into emotional insights, not just for marketing but also for stuff like product development, HR, and even healthcare. Their SOOF method crunches massive data to get inside audience heads, decoding their...

Let's break down how success in today’s world isn’t about who you know—it’s about who knows you. I take us back to the pre-internet days when getting noticed as a musician, writer, or creator meant begging gatekeepers like book publishers or music execs to pick you. The barriers were sky-high! Fast forward to now, and the internet’s a game-changer—anyone can share their stuff globally. But her...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I get hyped about the idea of AI clones taking over our daily grind. I stumbled across an article on AIDaily.us about creating AI versions of ourselves, and I’m all in—why not have a hundred digital “yous” out there handling the boring stuff? I break down how tech, from the wheel to AI, has always been about lifting our burdens, but it’s a double-edged s...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I sit down with Cheryl Cunningham, the founder and CEO of HURO AI, to talk about their game-changing AI assistant, Gabby. Cheryl breaks down HURO AI’s mission to make AI accessible to everyone through telecom networks, aiming to democratize tech for the masses. Gabby’s a next-level personalized assistant that learns from your convos and habits, stepping...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I dive into a wild story from AIDaily.us about a Chinese company building an AI child—now upgraded from a 3-4-year-old to a 5-6-year-old version. They’re calling it AGI, but I’m not buying it. This AI kid even threw a tantrum, pushing back on its “parents” (aka the researchers). But let’s be real—it’s not feeling emotions; it’s just pulling from a databa...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I take you on a nostalgic trip back to the internet’s wild west days—think 1992, when I first hopped online. Back then, it was all about peer-to-peer vibes, no middlemen, just pure connection. Fast forward 30+ years, and we’re drowning in intermediaries. I riff on how timing is everything for startup success—great ideas flop if the market’s not ready, an...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I chat with Jason, the CEO of Teklium and the mind behind "The Big Plot." We kick off with Jason’s wild journey fighting the good fight against surveillance, leading him to invent a game-changing internet communication tech. He breaks down quantum communication—super secure but crazy expensive—and how Teklium’s cooking up an emulated version th...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I dive into the hot topic of AI judges, sparked by a cool piece from our sister site, AIDaily.us—hand-picked by humans, not AI slop! I start off hyped about AI taking over roles like judging because it’s unbiased, emotion-free, and sticks to the law like glue—kinda like how it’d ace driving by following rules humans love to ditch. Fewer car wrecks, anyone? But the...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," we take a break from tech to chew on what really makes us successful in this wild world. I dive into how humans are wired for hierarchies—sorry, commies, we love a pecking order! Usually, we think talent (like prodigy-level skills) or perseverance (grinding those 10,000 hours) gets you to the top. But I debunk that a bit—turns out the 10,000-hour rule’s...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," Chris, sits down with Kathleen Lin Hurtubise, the badass founder and CEO of Aloha HP, a staffing agency in Hawaii that’s all about mixing “high tech” with “high touch.” She kicked things off in 2015 after scoring a big gig for the Hawaii Convention Center and now runs three vibes: hospitality, light industrial, and admin roles. When the pandemic tanked h...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis digs into a spicy AI debate sparked by an AIDaily.us article: should AI be allowed to refuse our requests? Chris says heck no—AI’s just a tool, like a hammer that doesn’t get to pick its nails. He riffs on how we dump our boring tasks on AI, not grand art, because it’s a souped-up autocorrect, not a brain. Yet, he points out AI’s already nixi...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis dives into how we’re all stuck “dancing for the machines” in today’s digital world. He revisits the idea of social media’s new class system—yep, those hierarchies we thought we’d ditched are back, thanks to platforms like Google and Facebook. Chris explains how the internet started as a free-for-all where anyone could connect, but n...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture,", Chris teams up with Owain to unpack the future of learning. Owain then dives into edyou.com, a 24/7 AI-powered education platform that’s all about personalized learning, test prep, and even professional certifications. It’s got a dual gig going—helping schools (B2B) and reaching learners directly (D2C), no matter their age or vibe. What sets it apart? I...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis dives into the wild world of AI versions of ourselves, sparked by some cool stories from AIDaily.us. He kicks off with Teleperformance’s AI trick that strips accents from call center reps’ voices, making chats with overseas agents sound crystal clear to Americans—and even tweaks the caller’s voice back for the rep. Then, he hits up...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis gets real about humans, AI, and the job scene. He’s fired up about how we’re all underpaid, especially as AI swoops in to snag jobs we’ve been stuck doing. Chris argues that a lot of those gigs—like mindless, repetitive tasks—should’ve been AI’s domain anyway, freeing up our big, awesome human brains for the cool stuff. But here’s t...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," Chris Kalaboukis sits down with Steven Gay, CEO of Mode Based On, who’s shaking up the retail game with AI. Steven, a former luxury fashion insider turned tech innovator, spills the beans on how his company creates super-realistic digital twins of physical products—think 3D models and virtual shoots that ditch pricey photo sessions. He breaks down how th...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis shakes up how we usually think about using AI. He argues that most folks get it wrong by just tossing a prompt at AI, grabbing the output—like a pic or text—and calling it a day. Chris says that’s backwards! Instead, he’s all about using light, vague prompts to let AI surprise you with something wild that kicks your creativity into...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis tackles the hot topic of copyright and AI-generated art. He dives into a recent shift from the U.S. Copyright Office, which once said AI art couldn’t be copyrighted but now says it can—though who owns it is still a gray area. Chris, not a lawyer but a big thinker, argues that if you type a prompt into an AI image generator—like “bat...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," I, Chris Kalaboukis, chat with Helen Gu about the wild world of IT system reliability. Helen’s all about making sure the tech we depend on—like healthcare systems or your daily app fixes—doesn’t crash and burn. She explains how today’s crazy complex, spread-out systems make it tough to spot problems before they blow up. Old-school monitoring? It’s drowni...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis takes a deep dive into the persistence of hierarchies and class systems, even in spaces meant to break them down—like America and the internet. Chris reflects on how the U.S. aimed to ditch rigid class structures, allowing anyone with grit to climb the ladder, yet subtle hierarchies linger. He then pivots to the digital world, notin...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis dives into a surprising study by Allstate Insurance that shows AI-generated emails being perceived as more empathetic than those written by humans. Chris explores why this might be, attributing it to AI's ability to draw from a vast database of human language to craft responses that are not only appropriate but also emotionally...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis sits down with tech veteran Ken, who shares his fascinating journey from the early days of web hosting to leading-edge AI applications. Ken recounts his entrepreneurial beginnings with a successful web hosting company and his transition into enterprise tech consulting. He discusses his pivotal role at New Relic, where he saw firstha...

In this episode of "ThinkFuture," host Chris Kalaboukis explores Google's latest AI innovations that promise to revolutionize personal interaction with the world. Chris discusses how Google AI can now make and receive phone calls on behalf of users, acting like a human to gather information or fend off unwanted calls, including a humorous mention of an "AI Granny" designed...