6 scouts from South by Southwest - SXSW

We, Joakim Skog area manager for Emerging innovations and Annie Lindmark program manager at Nordic Innovation House Silicon Valley, took with us six insights from SXSW 2023 where we ask ourselves the question What if? What happens if what we heard and saw becomes reality? We want to encourage everyone to ask you the same question themselves. What will happen to you, your organization, Sweden, the world, if these signals of change turn out to be true?

Discovery 1: The internet is dead - long live the internet

The Internet, as we know it, is dead. What happens when the AI services absorb more and more information from the internet and are also taught by the users' questions and texts as more and more people now use the AI services? Siri and Google Assistant already know most of our everyday life and have the ability to predict what information we need. All of this reverses how the internet works. Instead of us seeking information, the information will seek us out when we need it. Even the way we experience the internet is about to change, and not just via VR where we are completely surrounded by technology. If the rumors turn out to be true and Apple soon releases its version of augmented reality hardware on the market, the change could happen quickly. Because when they do something, even if they are second or third on the ball, it usually resonates in society.

Intelligence 2: The role of humans in an increasingly digital world

The AI services have become increasingly smarter, and are now starting to become faster and more efficient than us humans at a number of tasks. What will our role be at work and in society going forward? Most scouting during SXSW meant that AI will not take over our jobs, but rather change our role descriptions and affect how we work, in the same way that digital technology development has actually since the 90s changed and often made our jobs easier/more efficient.

Kevin Kelley, founder and editor-in-chief of Wired magazine put it like the generative AI services rather becoming a partner, an intern or an assistant to us. They are creative but at a basic level and if used properly they can help us humans to increase our creative ability.

The human is still needed, but it is also more difficult to be human in the digital world. How do we take advantage of the best of technology without losing the human element? A nice presentation was given by couple therapist Esther Perel, who gave an hour-long speech about human vulnerability, without any presentation pictures. Among other things, she highlighted that the friction that only occurs in a meeting between two people who meet is needed, that is where the magic is created.

Scouting 3: Future physical and mental health

How we can live a long and healthy life in harmony and balance was a theme that got a lot of space at SXSW. The longevity industry is growing incredibly fast. It is about everything from technology that measures our biological age, to research into which genes control aging and how to manipulate them. One area was about biohacking, how you can manipulate and control your mood in different ways, with the help of technology or substances, and how it can be made more accessible to a larger audience. And how can we look at aging differently? Instead of seeing it as a downhill slope, see it as getting stronger, gaining more experience and thus being valued in a different way in working life. There was also a lot of talk about spirituality, awareness, and how we can reach other dimensions in aim to feel better as humanity but also find new ways to solutions to our big societal problems. Psychedelia received specific attention, where the question was asked whether we should rise above the stigma surrounding drug-classified preparations and research how this type of substance can help us deal with mental health.

Exploration 4: Who writes the story of the future?

SXSW is a mecca for futurists, but we can't really predict the future. Everything is just forecasts, thoughts and feelings. There is great power and influence in being the one who makes the forecasts and these are of course colored by those who make them. Initiativet Curious Futures 2030 has produced statistics that behind the most influential future and trend reports are a number of large companies and 2/3 men and 86% white people with an average age of 52 years. Thus, there are a number of signals that are never picked up and it can be stated that it is not representative by any means and that there is a lack of perspective. Curious Futures has therefore gathered over 500 futurists and combined 123 different trend reports internationally in order to produce broader and more inclusive trend scouting for 2030. Of course, this also links to AI development as data in guides data out and in turn further cements it in many cases outdated images. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to take diversity seriously in technology development.

Discovery 5: The big companies that have the power - can we trust them?

Who do we dare to believe? Big business has a lot of power, can we trust them? There is a polarization among the companies where some take a clear role as socially driven and others pursue a more purely commercial agenda and are seen as a bit unsightly - or perhaps cross a border and become persona non grata like Tiktok in the EU. When Tiktok is under the blue light, Facebook takes the chance to talk down its competitor, takes over the ad money and at the same time continues to collect our data. Do we trust certain companies too blindly? What is a sustainable business in a quarterly economy? How can you combine it in a good way? And can we control who has access to our data? I Hong Kong, do you now set up peer to peer networks where you can communicate between phones without a central point and without the risk of being intercepted to get around unwanted surveillance In what way can it spread?

Discovery 6: Creativity a human or digital ability?

Under SXSW, there were also many who talked about creativity and innovation connected to AI. A number of presenters chose to use image and content-generating tools to produce parts of their presentation. Tech entrepreneur, William Hurley, Whurley, founder of, among other things, the quantum computer startup Strangeworks gave an hour-long presentation and only revealed at the end that the entire content was produced with the help of an AI tool. He believes that with AI and quantum technology we are facing the greatest period of technological progress in human history, but that most people are completely unaware of how revolutionary it will be. With his presentation, he wanted to put the spotlight on it. So does human creativity stand a chance going forward? Have recent breakthroughs opened up or inhibited new creativity and innovativeness? Whurley is in the camp that believes AI will be a positive injection for human creativity and help overcome creative barriers. Others believe that AI can become a completely independent creator who can write an entire short story without human intervention. But if AI bases everything on what we input and we stop doing that, what will feel new and who is responsible?

Presentation from the event

Watch the video from the foresight morning