WEBVTT 00:00:00.968 --> 00:00:03.611 I visit the future for a living. 00:00:04.265 --> 00:00:05.891 Not just one future, 00:00:05.915 --> 00:00:08.161 but many possible futures, 00:00:08.185 --> 00:00:12.304 bringing back evidences from those futures for you to experience today. 00:00:13.197 --> 00:00:15.420 Like an archaeologist of the future. 00:00:16.432 --> 00:00:19.164 Over the years, my many journeys have brought back things 00:00:19.188 --> 00:00:22.213 like a new species of synthetically engineered bees; 00:00:25.052 --> 00:00:27.435 a book named, "Pets as Protein;" 00:00:28.263 --> 00:00:31.427 a machine that makes you rich by trading your genetic data; 00:00:31.451 --> 00:00:33.498 a lamp powered by sugar; 00:00:34.045 --> 00:00:35.926 a computer for growing food. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:36.573 --> 00:00:40.964 OK, so I don't actually travel to different futures -- yet. 00:00:40.988 --> 00:00:43.927 But my husband Jon and I spend a lot of time thinking 00:00:43.951 --> 00:00:47.641 and creating visions of different futures in our studio. 00:00:48.081 --> 00:00:50.857 We are constantly looking out for weak signals, 00:00:50.881 --> 00:00:53.255 those murmurs of future potential. 00:00:53.279 --> 00:00:57.352 Then we trace those threads of potential out into the future, asking: 00:00:57.963 --> 00:01:00.498 What might it feel like to live in this future? 00:01:01.068 --> 00:01:03.903 What might we see, hear and even breathe? 00:01:05.157 --> 00:01:09.606 Then we run experiments, build prototypes, make objects, 00:01:09.630 --> 00:01:11.660 bringing aspects of these futures to life, 00:01:11.684 --> 00:01:13.996 making them concrete and tangible 00:01:14.020 --> 00:01:18.774 so you can really feel the impact of those future possibilities 00:01:18.798 --> 00:01:19.965 here and now. 00:01:20.936 --> 00:01:23.737 But this work is not about predictions. 00:01:23.761 --> 00:01:25.768 It's about creating tools -- 00:01:25.792 --> 00:01:29.256 tools that can help connect our present and our future selves 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:33.685 so we become active participants in creating a future we want -- 00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:35.565 a future that works for all. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:36.758 --> 00:01:38.573 So how do we go about doing this? 00:01:39.143 --> 00:01:42.487 For a recent project called Drone Aviary, 00:01:42.511 --> 00:01:44.049 we were interested in exploring 00:01:44.073 --> 00:01:47.040 what it would mean to live with drones in our cities. 00:01:47.064 --> 00:01:49.897 Drones that have the power to see things we can't, 00:01:49.921 --> 00:01:51.673 to go places we can't 00:01:51.697 --> 00:01:53.896 and to do so with increasing autonomy. 00:01:54.734 --> 00:01:56.324 But to understand the technology, 00:01:56.348 --> 00:01:58.217 getting our hands dirty was crucial. 00:01:58.652 --> 00:02:01.482 So we built several different drones in our studio. 00:02:01.506 --> 00:02:04.610 We gave them names, functions and then flew them -- 00:02:05.395 --> 00:02:06.908 but not without difficulty. 00:02:07.413 --> 00:02:08.802 Things came loose, 00:02:08.826 --> 00:02:10.446 GPS signals glitched 00:02:10.470 --> 00:02:11.882 and drones crashed. 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:14.741 But it was through such experimentation 00:02:14.765 --> 00:02:18.940 that we could construct a very concrete and very experiential slice 00:02:18.964 --> 00:02:20.587 of one possible future. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:21.613 --> 00:02:23.688 So now, let's go to that future. 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:27.569 Let's imagine we are living in a city with drones like this one. 00:02:28.196 --> 00:02:30.123 We call it The Nightwatchman. 00:02:30.756 --> 00:02:34.645 It patrols the streets, often spotted in the evenings and at night. 00:02:35.239 --> 00:02:38.639 Initially, many of us were annoyed by its low, dull hum. 00:02:39.144 --> 00:02:41.912 But then, like everything else, we got used to it. 00:02:42.423 --> 00:02:45.157 Now, what if you could see the world through its eyes? 00:02:46.615 --> 00:02:50.937 See how it constantly logs every resident of our neighborhood; 00:02:50.961 --> 00:02:54.281 logging the kids who play football in the no-ballgame area 00:02:54.305 --> 00:02:56.752 and marking them as statutory nuisances. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:56.776 --> 00:02:58.213 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:58.237 --> 00:03:02.207 And then see how it disperses this other group, who are teenagers, 00:03:02.231 --> 00:03:05.345 with the threat of an autonomously issued injunction. 00:03:06.387 --> 00:03:09.520 And then there's this giant floating disc called Madison. 00:03:10.203 --> 00:03:12.423 Its glaring presence is so overpowering, 00:03:12.447 --> 00:03:14.600 I can't help but stare at it. 00:03:15.242 --> 00:03:17.243 But if feels like each time I look at it, 00:03:17.267 --> 00:03:19.081 it knows a little more about me -- 00:03:19.914 --> 00:03:23.079 like it keeps flashing all these Brianair adverts at me, 00:03:23.103 --> 00:03:25.447 as if it knows about the holiday I'm planning. 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:30.206 I'm not sure if I find this mildly entertaining 00:03:30.230 --> 00:03:32.042 or just entirely invasive. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:33.684 --> 00:03:35.008 Back to the present. 00:03:35.611 --> 00:03:37.834 In creating this future, we learned a lot. 00:03:38.352 --> 00:03:40.958 Not just about how these machines work, 00:03:40.982 --> 00:03:43.841 but what it would feel like to live alongside them. 00:03:44.239 --> 00:03:46.493 Whilst drones like Madison and Nightwatchman, 00:03:46.517 --> 00:03:48.034 in these particular forms, 00:03:48.058 --> 00:03:49.599 are not real yet, 00:03:49.623 --> 00:03:53.580 most elements of a drone future are in fact very real today. 00:03:54.264 --> 00:03:55.415 For instance, 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.753 facial recognition systems are everywhere -- 00:03:57.777 --> 00:04:00.187 in our phones, even in our thermostats 00:04:00.211 --> 00:04:02.041 and in cameras around our cities -- 00:04:02.714 --> 00:04:05.460 keeping a record of everything we do, 00:04:05.484 --> 00:04:09.669 whether it's an advertisement we glanced at or a protest we attended. 00:04:09.693 --> 00:04:11.363 These things are here, 00:04:11.387 --> 00:04:14.111 and we often don't understand how they work, 00:04:14.135 --> 00:04:15.985 and what their consequences could be. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:18.859 And we see this all around us. 00:04:18.883 --> 00:04:20.655 This difficulty in even imagining 00:04:20.679 --> 00:04:24.823 how the consequences of our actions today will affect our future. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:28.534 Last year, where I live, in the UK, there was a referendum 00:04:28.558 --> 00:04:31.083 where the people could vote for the UK to leave the EU 00:04:31.107 --> 00:04:32.265 or stay in the EU, 00:04:32.289 --> 00:04:33.991 popularly known as "Brexit." 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:36.621 And soon after the results came out, 00:04:36.645 --> 00:04:39.660 a word began to surface called "Bregret" -- NOTE Paragraph 00:04:39.684 --> 00:04:40.724 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:40.748 --> 00:04:44.183 describing people who chose to vote for Brexit as a protest, 00:04:44.207 --> 00:04:47.297 but without thinking through its potential consequences. 00:04:49.127 --> 00:04:52.551 And this disconnect is evident in some of the simplest things. 00:04:53.795 --> 00:04:55.664 Say you go out for a quick drink. 00:04:55.688 --> 00:04:58.422 Then you decide you wouldn't mind a few more. 00:04:58.446 --> 00:05:01.066 You know you'll wake up in the morning feeling awful, 00:05:01.090 --> 00:05:02.472 but you justify it by saying, 00:05:02.496 --> 00:05:04.999 "The other me in the future will deal with that." 00:05:05.607 --> 00:05:07.475 But as we find out in the morning, 00:05:07.499 --> 00:05:09.464 that future "you" is you. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:10.454 --> 00:05:13.651 When I was growing up in India in the late '70s and early '80s, 00:05:13.675 --> 00:05:14.826 there was a feeling 00:05:14.850 --> 00:05:17.837 that the future both needed to and could actually be planned. 00:05:18.343 --> 00:05:21.603 I remember my parents had to plan for some of the simplest things. 00:05:21.627 --> 00:05:23.656 When they wanted a telephone in our house, 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.990 they needed to order it and then wait -- 00:05:26.014 --> 00:05:29.261 wait for nearly five years before it got installed in our house. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:29.285 --> 00:05:30.319 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:30.343 --> 00:05:33.841 And then if they wanted to call my grandparents who lived in another city, 00:05:33.865 --> 00:05:36.393 they needed to book something called a "trunk call," 00:05:36.417 --> 00:05:38.677 and then wait again, for hours or even days. 00:05:39.298 --> 00:05:42.235 And then abruptly, the phone would ring at two in the morning, 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.509 and all of us would jump out of our beds and gather round the phone, 00:05:45.533 --> 00:05:47.848 shrieking into it, discussing general well-being 00:05:47.872 --> 00:05:49.205 at two in the morning. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:49.229 --> 00:05:53.009 Today it can feel like things are happening too fast -- 00:05:53.033 --> 00:05:55.288 so fast, that it can become really difficult 00:05:55.312 --> 00:05:58.269 for us to form an understanding of our place in history. 00:05:58.293 --> 00:06:01.720 It creates an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and anxiety, 00:06:01.744 --> 00:06:04.786 and so, we let the future just happen to us. 00:06:06.032 --> 00:06:08.027 We don't connect with that future "us." 00:06:08.528 --> 00:06:10.840 We treat our future selves as a stranger, 00:06:10.864 --> 00:06:12.832 and the future as a foreign land. 00:06:13.735 --> 00:06:14.920 It's not a foreign land; 00:06:14.944 --> 00:06:16.692 it's unfolding right in front of us, 00:06:16.716 --> 00:06:19.280 continually being shaped by our actions today. 00:06:19.734 --> 00:06:21.224 We are that future, 00:06:21.940 --> 00:06:24.770 and so I believe fighting for a future we want 00:06:24.794 --> 00:06:27.417 is more urgent and necessary than ever before. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:28.297 --> 00:06:29.762 We have learned in our work 00:06:29.786 --> 00:06:33.230 that one of the most powerful means of effecting change 00:06:33.254 --> 00:06:37.398 is when people can directly, tangibly and emotionally experience 00:06:37.422 --> 00:06:40.450 some of the future consequences of their actions today. 00:06:41.130 --> 00:06:45.104 Earlier this year, the government of the United Arab Emirates invited us 00:06:45.128 --> 00:06:47.574 to help them shape their country's energy strategy 00:06:47.598 --> 00:06:49.182 all the way up to 2050. 00:06:49.558 --> 00:06:53.816 Based on the government's econometric data, we created this large city model, 00:06:53.840 --> 00:06:56.908 and visualized many possible futures on it. 00:06:58.387 --> 00:07:01.707 As I was excitably taking a group of government officials 00:07:01.731 --> 00:07:03.268 and members of energy companies 00:07:03.292 --> 00:07:05.823 through one sustainable future on our model, 00:07:05.847 --> 00:07:07.577 one of the participants told me, 00:07:08.122 --> 00:07:11.229 "I cannot imagine that in the future people will stop driving cars 00:07:11.253 --> 00:07:13.051 and start using public transport." 00:07:13.916 --> 00:07:15.076 And then he said, 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:18.706 "There's no way I can tell my own son to stop driving his car." NOTE Paragraph 00:07:19.927 --> 00:07:21.908 But we were prepared for this reaction. 00:07:23.208 --> 00:07:26.545 Working with scientists in a chemistry lab in my home city in India, 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:28.744 we had created approximate samples 00:07:28.768 --> 00:07:33.518 of what the air would be like in 2030 if our behavior stays the same. 00:07:34.493 --> 00:07:37.886 And so, I walked the group over to this object 00:07:37.910 --> 00:07:40.257 that emits vapor from those air samples. 00:07:41.494 --> 00:07:45.050 Just one whiff of the noxious polluted air from 2030 00:07:45.074 --> 00:07:48.191 brought home the point that no amount of data can. 00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:52.121 This is not the future you would want your children to inherit. 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:55.185 The next day, the government made a big announcement. 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:58.372 They would be investing billions of dollars in renewables. 00:07:58.396 --> 00:08:02.775 We don't know what part our future experiences played in this decision, 00:08:02.799 --> 00:08:05.291 but we know that they've changed their energy policy 00:08:05.315 --> 00:08:06.799 to mitigate such a scenario. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:06.823 --> 00:08:10.328 While something like air from the future is very effective and tangible, 00:08:10.352 --> 00:08:13.182 the trajectory from our present to a future consequence 00:08:13.206 --> 00:08:14.511 is not always so linear. 00:08:15.347 --> 00:08:18.520 Even when a technology is developed with utopian ideals, 00:08:18.544 --> 00:08:21.277 the moment it leaves the laboratory and enters the world, 00:08:21.301 --> 00:08:24.646 it is subject to forces outside of the creators' control. 00:08:25.617 --> 00:08:29.851 For one particular project, we investigated medical genomics: 00:08:29.875 --> 00:08:32.966 the technology of gathering and using people's genetic data 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:34.849 to create personalized medicine. 00:08:35.268 --> 00:08:36.646 We were asking: 00:08:36.670 --> 00:08:40.394 What are some of the unintended consequences of linking our genetics 00:08:40.418 --> 00:08:41.579 to health care? 00:08:43.175 --> 00:08:45.441 To explore this question further, 00:08:45.465 --> 00:08:47.357 we created a fictional lawsuit, 00:08:47.914 --> 00:08:52.300 and brought it to life through 31 pieces of carefully crafted evidence. 00:08:52.783 --> 00:08:55.871 So we built an illegal genetic clinic, 00:08:55.895 --> 00:08:59.078 a DIY carbon dioxide incubator, 00:08:59.102 --> 00:09:01.438 and even bought frozen mice on eBay. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:02.273 --> 00:09:05.428 So now let's go to that future where this lawsuit is unfolding, 00:09:05.452 --> 00:09:07.574 and meet the defendant, Arnold Mann. 00:09:08.194 --> 00:09:11.759 Arnold is being prosecuted by this global giant biotech company 00:09:11.783 --> 00:09:13.081 called Dynamic Genetics, 00:09:13.627 --> 00:09:15.117 because they have evidence 00:09:15.141 --> 00:09:19.731 that Arnold has illegally inserted the company's patented genetic material 00:09:19.755 --> 00:09:21.249 into his body. 00:09:21.273 --> 00:09:23.863 How on earth did Arnold manage to do that? 00:09:24.853 --> 00:09:26.027 Well, it all started 00:09:26.051 --> 00:09:30.234 when Arnold was asked to submit a saliva sample in this spit kit 00:09:30.258 --> 00:09:31.816 to the NHI -- 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.790 the UK's National Health Insurance service. 00:09:35.289 --> 00:09:38.209 When Arnold received his health insurance bill, 00:09:38.233 --> 00:09:39.945 he was shocked and scared 00:09:39.969 --> 00:09:42.351 to see that his premiums had gone through the roof, 00:09:42.375 --> 00:09:45.349 beyond anything he or his family could ever afford. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:45.970 --> 00:09:48.651 The state's algorithm had scanned his genetic data 00:09:48.675 --> 00:09:52.683 and found the risk of a chronic health condition lurking in his DNA. 00:09:53.135 --> 00:09:56.499 And so Arnold had to start paying toward the potential costs 00:09:56.523 --> 00:09:58.199 of that future disease -- 00:09:58.223 --> 00:10:00.406 potential future disease from today. 00:10:00.430 --> 00:10:02.042 In that moment of fear and panic, 00:10:02.066 --> 00:10:03.572 Arnold slipped through the city 00:10:03.596 --> 00:10:06.654 into the dark shadows of this illegal clinic for treatment -- 00:10:07.457 --> 00:10:09.618 a treatment that would modify his DNA 00:10:09.642 --> 00:10:13.300 so that the state's algorithm would no longer see him as a risk, 00:10:13.324 --> 00:10:16.301 and his insurance premiums would become affordable again. 00:10:16.325 --> 00:10:18.010 But Arnold was caught. 00:10:18.034 --> 00:10:22.112 And the legal proceedings in the case Dynamic Genetics v. Mann began. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:22.961 --> 00:10:24.653 In bringing such a future to life, 00:10:24.677 --> 00:10:27.631 what was important to us was that people could actually touch, 00:10:27.655 --> 00:10:29.223 see and feel its potential, 00:10:29.757 --> 00:10:32.752 because such an immediate and close encounter provokes people 00:10:32.776 --> 00:10:34.267 to ask the right questions, 00:10:34.816 --> 00:10:36.087 questions like: 00:10:36.111 --> 00:10:38.297 What are the implications of living in a world 00:10:38.321 --> 00:10:40.310 where I'm judged on my genetics? 00:10:41.045 --> 00:10:44.186 Or: Who might claim ownership to my genetic data, 00:10:44.210 --> 00:10:45.720 and what might they do with it? 00:10:46.918 --> 00:10:50.027 If this feels even slightly out-there or farfetched, 00:10:50.051 --> 00:10:53.843 today there's a little-known bill being passed through the American congress 00:10:53.867 --> 00:10:57.916 known as HR 1313, Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act. 00:10:58.455 --> 00:11:02.935 This bill proposes to amend the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, 00:11:02.959 --> 00:11:04.665 popularly known as GINA, 00:11:04.689 --> 00:11:07.997 and would allow employers to ask about family medical history 00:11:08.021 --> 00:11:09.205 and genetic data 00:11:09.229 --> 00:11:11.798 to all employees for the first time. 00:11:12.938 --> 00:11:15.532 Those who refuse would face large penalties. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:17.346 --> 00:11:19.100 In the work I've shown so far, 00:11:19.124 --> 00:11:21.287 whether it was drones or genetic crimes, 00:11:21.311 --> 00:11:23.669 these stories describe troubling futures 00:11:23.693 --> 00:11:26.445 with the intention of helping us avoid those futures. 00:11:27.004 --> 00:11:28.981 But what about what we can't avoid? 00:11:29.577 --> 00:11:31.669 Today, especially with climate change, 00:11:31.693 --> 00:11:33.763 it looks like we are heading for trouble. 00:11:34.151 --> 00:11:37.350 And so what we want to do now is to prepare for that future 00:11:37.374 --> 00:11:41.631 by developing tools and attitudes that can help us find hope -- 00:11:42.322 --> 00:11:44.094 hope that can inspire action. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:44.908 --> 00:11:47.596 Currently, we are running an experiment in our studio. 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:49.097 It's a work in progress. 00:11:49.539 --> 00:11:51.763 Based on climate data projections, 00:11:51.787 --> 00:11:53.343 we are exploring a future 00:11:53.367 --> 00:11:56.800 where the Western world has moved from abundance to scarcity. 00:11:56.824 --> 00:12:00.235 We imagine living in a future city with repeated flooding, 00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:02.996 periods with almost no food in supermarkets, 00:12:03.020 --> 00:12:04.756 economic instabilities, 00:12:04.780 --> 00:12:06.465 broken supply chains. 00:12:07.111 --> 00:12:11.167 What can we do to not just survive, but prosper in such a world? 00:12:12.015 --> 00:12:13.361 What food can we eat? NOTE Paragraph 00:12:14.163 --> 00:12:15.982 To really step inside these questions, 00:12:16.006 --> 00:12:19.820 we are building this room in a flat in London from 2050. 00:12:20.654 --> 00:12:23.970 It's like a little time capsule that we reclaimed from the future. 00:12:23.994 --> 00:12:26.140 We stripped it down to the bare minimum. 00:12:26.164 --> 00:12:28.070 Everything we lovingly put in our homes, 00:12:28.094 --> 00:12:29.770 like flat-panel TVs, 00:12:29.794 --> 00:12:31.590 internet-connected fridges 00:12:31.614 --> 00:12:33.043 and artisanal furnishings 00:12:33.067 --> 00:12:34.389 all had to go. 00:12:34.413 --> 00:12:37.315 And in its place, we're building food computers 00:12:37.339 --> 00:12:40.193 from abandoned, salvaged and repurposed materials, 00:12:40.715 --> 00:12:43.122 turning today's waste into tomorrow's dinner. 00:12:44.707 --> 00:12:45.858 For instance, 00:12:45.882 --> 00:12:49.870 we've just finished building our first fully automated fogponics machine. 00:12:49.894 --> 00:12:53.310 It uses the technique of fogponics -- so just fog as a nutrient, 00:12:53.334 --> 00:12:54.913 not even water or soil -- 00:12:54.937 --> 00:12:56.332 to grow things quickly. 00:12:57.324 --> 00:12:58.543 At the moment, 00:12:58.567 --> 00:13:00.291 we have successfully grown tomatoes. 00:13:01.254 --> 00:13:04.381 But we'll need more food than what we can grow in this small room. 00:13:04.705 --> 00:13:06.940 So what else could we forage from the city? 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:10.881 Insects? Pigeons? Foxes? NOTE Paragraph 00:13:13.794 --> 00:13:16.363 Earlier, we brought back air from the future. 00:13:16.387 --> 00:13:19.110 This time we are bringing an entire room from the future, 00:13:19.134 --> 00:13:21.481 a room full of hope, tools and tactics 00:13:21.505 --> 00:13:24.640 to create positive action in hostile conditions. 00:13:25.384 --> 00:13:26.975 Spending time in this room, 00:13:26.999 --> 00:13:29.062 a room that could be our own future home, 00:13:29.086 --> 00:13:32.648 makes the consequences of climate change and food insecurity 00:13:32.672 --> 00:13:34.911 much more immediate and tangible. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:37.055 --> 00:13:40.083 What we're learning through such experiments and our practice 00:13:40.107 --> 00:13:41.598 and the people we engage with 00:13:41.622 --> 00:13:43.873 is that creating concrete experiences 00:13:43.897 --> 00:13:47.210 can bridge the disconnect between today and tomorrow. 00:13:47.761 --> 00:13:50.655 By putting ourselves into different possible futures, 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.241 by becoming open and willing 00:13:52.265 --> 00:13:56.605 to embrace the uncertainty and discomfort that such an act can bring, 00:13:56.629 --> 00:13:59.714 we have the opportunity to imagine new possibilities. 00:14:00.223 --> 00:14:02.127 We can find optimistic futures; 00:14:02.151 --> 00:14:03.992 we can find paths forward; 00:14:04.016 --> 00:14:06.068 we can move beyond hope into action. 00:14:06.781 --> 00:14:10.061 It means we have the chance to change direction, 00:14:10.966 --> 00:14:13.119 a chance to have our voices heard, 00:14:13.832 --> 00:14:18.047 a chance to write ourselves into a future we want. 00:14:19.548 --> 00:14:21.586 Other worlds are possible. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:22.469 --> 00:14:23.636 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:23.660 --> 00:14:26.849 (Applause)