What we learned at TED: We get to choose the world we want to live in, let's do the hard work

By Jennifer Cloer

The TED conference was simultaneously strange and juicy. Strange to be at a conference. With people. Without masks. Juicy to be at a conference. With people. Without masks. 

But the juiciest part, of course, was considering what the future might hold. The conference theme this year was ‘A New Era,’ and it inspired talks and discussions about radical new ways of addressing really hard problems. Typical of TED, I know, but it seems more needed today than ever. On the heels of a global pandemic, in the throws of a disinformation media economy and looking towards a future with increasing climate mitigation and migrations, the energy in the room was one of urgency. We explored a new era of courage, capitalism, (artificial) intelligence, well being, regeneration, awe and more.

We heard from mRNA scientists about individualized vaccines for cancers and other disease, from brain researchers who are creating synthetic transmitters to address autism and schizophrenia and others who are building robotics that can be implanted in the brains of ALS patients to help them text or tweet with just their thoughts (mind blowing stuff).

Jennifer Cloer

We listened to the metaverse believers, olympians who are changing the game for female athletes and a teacher who fled Ukraine with her children (her spouse and parents remain there), who is using virtual learning tools created during the pandemic to educate Ukrainian children wherever they are in the world to ensure an even stronger Ukraine when they return.

But what I took away from TED most is that we have a choice about the kind of world we want to live in. It’s up to us (I heard this refrain many times during my four days at the conference). Over the last many decades we’ve made a collective choice to put profits above people and it has infiltrated every corner of society, influencing some of the biggest issues of our time and creating the world we live in today. It’s time to reflect on those choices, where they have gotten us and to quickly take action so that we balance economic prosperity with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people. Those of us in tech and media have an outsized opportunity to advance this work, from building the digital foundations that will influence the way we live and work to how we share and tag information for informed consumption. 

“Metaverses are inevitable, so let’s build them responsibly. ”

Metaverses are inevitable, so let’s build them responsibly. Similarly, artificial intelligence is all around us and will only become more pervasive, so let’s be thoughtful and intentional about how we build and do the hard work now to get it right for tomorrow. 

We’ve moved from prevention to mitigation when it comes to climate. It’s time to move on - past the debate and let the deniers go down on the wrong side of history. We must build sustainable technologies and cities that sustain human life and work on migration policies now that will support rehoming of millions in the years to come. 

We must reimagine media and journalism. Today’s models don’t work and are driving a stake through the very heart of our democracy. Headlines are written to invoke fear and algorithms are designed to spread hate, so much of what we see at the top of our feeds gives us angst about the future. But last week I saw and I heard the good news: inspiring stories of hope and change and new ways of thinking. I saw positive catalysts for a new change cycle across the globe. We can do more work to elevate those stories and to spread those ideas. 

There is so much opportunity for all of us in tech and across media to work on these issues together. We hope you will reach out to start a project with us or contribute to one we’ve already begun.