Future

I hate criticising other people’s work, but I do read some complete claptrap about the future. For example, I just got a report about the future of payments in 2040, that starts with a term Order-to-Cash cycle and then paints a scenario of someone buying an automated car. That was the first few paragraphs and,…

I just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any…

We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…

Like the United States, Europe is trying to create a united region of cross-border trade that works. In America, this is 50 member states who work in a federated structure. My impression after the recent meeting on CRD VI (Capital Requirements Directive) is that Europe’s long-term aim is to achieve the same and, today, there…

As with all stages of constant change, there comes a moment of crisis. Many say that crisis means threat and opportunity based upon a Chinese legend. That legend is that crisis in China is a proverb which states that “crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind”. It’s very true. Riding the dangerous wind (骑着危险的狂风)…

Having blogged yesterday about China leapfrogging the world of finance through AI, there are alternative views, particularly in the Big Tech world. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says AI generates ‘fantastic’ Python code, and that it now creates ‘maybe 20 – 30% of the code … in some of our projects’ In a fireside chat with…

In a regular theme, there is a big question in my mind: what is the future of main street? Sure, Brits call it the High Street, but the more we digitalise, the less we need physical structures. Whether it be stores and shops or offices and companies, we all need to recognise that the world…

I’m listening to a fascinating podcast from the BBC about Whisky Bandits. The scam is that you buy a cask of whisky for thousands of dollars, but the cask you bought does not exist. In other words, you just got a piece of paper saying that you own a cask or, in simpler terms, you…

Every day there are more and more headlines about artificial intelligence (AI) AI and its impact on life, the world and the future. The latest one is a good one, which is AI is creating more jobs than replacing them! This comes from the World Economic Forum, whose latest report forecasts that, over the next five…

I was thinking about a future where everything is embedded everywhere, intelligent and sentient. What would a day of my financial life look like in 2050? 2050 is a long way away, but here is the scenario. By 2050: currencies have moved from fiat to digital; technology has moved from physical devices to integrated with…