Futurist Amelia Kallman details the technology renaissance at hand
By Jennifer Cloer
Q: How did you get started in the tech space?
Amelia: I grew up on stage as a child actress, then went on to own nightclubs in New York City and Shanghai where I also performed and directed shows. When I finally got a visa to work in the UK, I talked my way into a role at a creative technology agency where I worked my way up to become their Global Head of Innovation. It was my job to host and manage innovation labs in London and Dubai, as well as curate and design labs for companies like KPMG, EY, Accenture, and PWC. I was one of the first people in this country to have hands-on experience with Google Glass, Oculus Rift and IBM Watson, and helped organize the UK debut of Pepper Robot, Microsoft’s Hololens, and the Magic Leap. It excites me to be on the cutting edge where there is always something new to learn, so this industry suits me well.
Q: We’re particularly interested in your role as a futurist. It seems we are entering a massive change cycle as a society and in the tech industry. What should technologists be thinking about as we move into that future?
Amelia: I think we are at the beginning of a technological renaissance, one that is forever going to change the future of industry, society, politics, the environment and the global economy. This change is being driven by new demographics and evolving expectations, as well as the convergence of emerging technologies and the evolution of the internet. I believe that it is at the intersection points of new technologies (e.g. blockchain, AI, XR, etc.) where we can start to see a roadmap of both coming opportunities and disruptions.
Amelia Kallman
By 2030, 58 percent of the global workforce will be made up of Millennials and Gen-Z. Gen-Alpha will be entering the workforce, and we’ll also have the largest population of people over 60 ever, many of whom will still be working. In addition, 59 percent of experts believe that organizations will continue to reduce their real estate footprints in favor of short-term leases, coworking spaces, and continued home working. So we are looking at having the most disparate workforce ever - with a wide range of different levels of experience, expectations, and locations. Organizations are going to need new solutions to bring people together in engaging ways to enable collaboration, communication and training, as well as create a sense of camaraderie and culture that is a key differentiator in attracting and retaining talent in an increasingly competitive workscape.
MetaHybrid - a term I use to describe the future of work - is about creating one seamlessly integrated, consistent, and stimulating experience across all areas of work, including physical, digital, and now also, the virtual. When we work together in virtual spaces as avatars one added benefit is that we may find it’s easier to concentrate on the things we all have in common, rather than making conscious or unconscious judgments based on someone’s age or physical appearance.
Without a doubt, AI is also going to play a significant role in the future. For example, a recent study by MIT found that by giving workers access to a Generative AI assistant, they became 14 percent more productive, and workers with only two months of experience became equally competent to those with six months of experience.
“I think we are at the beginning of a technological renaissance, one that is forever going to change the future of industry, society, politics, the environment and the global economy.”
Q: What opportunities will women have in this future? Where should we anticipate ongoing struggle and what is your advice for women and other minorities that want to build, shape and influence this emerging world?
Amelia: Recently I have been concluding my keynotes by talking about equality. A new study by Revelio Labs has found that AI is set to disproportionately replace jobs held by women. This is mostly because today women are less likely to hold leadership and decision-making positions, which draws attention to existing deep-rooted bias within the current workspace. In tech, for instance, only 15 percent of leadership roles are held by women, and I was shocked to learn recently that a third of women in this field quit within their first year. But this forecast does not have to be inevitable. Significant evidence shows diversity is an advantage, and ultimately the people at the end of these decisions can choose not to let this technology set us even further back in terms of equality and diversity in the workplace.
My advice is always to speak up and be seen. We need representation, role models, allies, champions, and mentors. We need to support and stand up for each other. Be the change you want to see.
Q: Generative AI is a major topic lately. Can you tell us more about the emerging opportunities with generative AI? What risks should we be thinking most about?
Amelia: This is a topic I have been researching and speaking on quite a lot lately and there are many layers and complexities that I could probably write a whole book on! The main areas I talk about in terms of opportunities are Productivity, Personalization, Predictability, and Content. I also talk a lot about risk, including some of the following points:
Right now, we should be less worried about AI taking over the world and more worried about the general lack of education around it. ChatGPT got unleashed into the mainstream with no user manual or public guidance around understanding its purpose, capabilities, limitations, level of maturity, explainability, or accuracy. Many people have no idea that it was only trained on data up to 2021, or that it makes things up when it doesn’t know an answer.
AI is only as good as the data it is trained on. How are we vetting data? What are we doing to ensure data is fair and unbiased? Who sets the standards? At what point does bad data become a threat to human rights?
AI is forcing us into a new age of ethical discussion, regulation, and values. It is begging us to make decisions around things like: To what extent do I own my identity? What happens to a society when we can no longer trust what we see and hear digitally? Do AIs have rights? What happens if an AI is abused by a human? Who is accountable? How do we police AI? There’s also the environmental footprint to be considered.
“My advice is always to speak up and be seen. We need representation, role models, allies, champions, and mentors. We need to support and stand up for each other. Be the change you want to see. ”
Q: What are you currently reading? We host a popular Book Club and our community is always looking for recommendations, whether career-focused or just a great read.
Amelia: When I’m not working in tech, I’m writing my third book, tentatively titled The Remarkable Women of the Chelsea Hotel. Reclaiming forgotten female history, it is a collection of interconnected biographies that celebrates women in the arts and the history of feminism in America from the 1880s to today. It features former tenants like Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Nico, Edie Sedgwick and Nancy Spungen, but also lesser-known women, like America’s first female journalist, first female composer, first transgender film star, first female director to win an Oscar, and many others whose stories have sadly been forgotten. Until now. Thus, my bedside table is full of biographies and women’s history books. Two I’ve enjoyed recently are: Janis by Holly George Warren, and You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike.
For reasons too long to get into, recently I also reluctantly reread my first book, a memoir I wrote about my time owning and operating China’s first burlesque nightclub, Diary of Shanghai Showgirl. While I have grown as a writer, I was pleased to find that even I still found it a fun, entertaining read! I’m a very different person now, but it’s nice to remember those days and how far I’ve come.