Hybrid reality: the emerging human-technology co-evolution

The Information Age is giving way to the Hybrid Age, mankind's fifth major era of socio-technical relations. What distinguishes the Hybrid Age from previous periods is two-fold: the rapidly merging combinations of technologies with each other, and our increasing integration with technology. Together these trends portend decades of continuous disruption to our lives in the biological, social, economic, political, educational and other domains. In this lecture, Ayesha and Parag Khanna will discuss the main characteristics of the Hybrid Age, elaborating on the notion of human-technology co-evolution and the framework of geo-technology for interpreting historical change. Particular attention will be given to manifestations such as social robotics, the virtual economy, and smart cities. They will also present numerous scenarios for social, economic and geopolitical disruptions that might occur in the coming decades.