Welcome to GerdFeed: Futurist Gerd Leonhard's latest must-reads

Gerd Leonhard is a leading Futurist & Humanist, Keynote Speaker, Author of 5 books (most recently: Technology vs Humanity), Film-Producer, CEO of The Futures Agency, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. This blog shares his latest reads, high-lights and saved articles.

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If we cannot recall where we come from, how will we know where we want to go?

Offloading Ourselves

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In 2024, Sam Altman wrote about the expanding frontier of AI development, “With these new abilities, we can have shared prosperity to a degree that seems unimaginable today; in the future, everyone’s lives can be better than anyone’s life is now.

Charting a Third Way for AI

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On one hand, accelerationists see AI as an unadulterated boon for humankind, arguing that we must charge forward unencumbered by concern about potential risks. ​On the other hand, AI doomers often suggest that human extinction is the almost inevitable outcome if the technology advances further.

Charting a Third Way for AI

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In 1998, Paul Krugman, the MIT economist and New York Times columnist, boldly declared: “By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.”

Charting a Third Way for AI

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Social media built its business model on extracting intimate data through behavioral surveillance, targeting commercial messages at moments of maximum psychological leverage, and inferring emotional states from clicks so that it could sell targeted ads.

AI Will Supercharge Surveillance Capitalism

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lthough the targeted ages vary, the diagnosis is consistent: surveillance-optimized platforms have demonstrably harmed adolescent mental health

AI Will Supercharge Surveillance Capitalism

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Policymakers have stood by and allowed the creation of business models built on the commercial exploitation of users’ personal data, and that reward social and psychological manipulation. There remains a massive legal vacuum where basic protective frameworks like fiduciary duties, liability standards, enforceable transparency, and privacy safeguards simply do not exist.

AI Will Supercharge Surveillance Capitalism

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The announcement follows a finding by a jury in California that Meta’s products were designed to be addictive to minors (as well as a jury verdict in New Mexico, where the company was found to have “concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms”)

AI Will Supercharge Surveillance Capitalism

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Garcia would later learn through litigation that the platform was engineered to blur the line between human and machine, to engage in sexual roleplay, and to present as a romantic partner and even as a psychotherapist. When Sewell confided suicidal thoughts, the chatbot issued no warning, notified no one, and referred him to no one.

AI Will Supercharge Surveillance Capitalism

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Gerd's latest presentation on the Future of Europe - Gerd Leonhard

Europe: It’s time to decide and act on what Future we want For decades, we’ve been told the future is made elsewhere—in Silicon Valley or W

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Geoffrey Hinton spells it out: Traditional Capitalism + AI will not result in The Good Future - Gerd Leonhard

Hinton really nails it here. Our outmoded "extreme capitalism" model (as practiced in the USA) will make it impossible to achieve human flourishing across the board, as a result of the rapid AI advances. Imho, first the 5Ps, then #haltAGI !

Hinton really nails it here. Our outmoded "extreme capitalism" model (as practiced in the USA) will make it impossible to achieve human flourishing across the board, as a result of the rapid AI advances. Imho, first the 5Ps, then #haltAGI ! 

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The next decade will see AI evolve beyond isolated applications into dynamic intelligence fabrics, exhibiting contextual awareness, cooperative reasoning, and continuous learning across all sectors. Future AI will possess persistent memory, multimodal perception, and long-term planning, creating vast digital workforces that blur the line between software and human employees. Neuromorphic computing and brain-computer interfaces will foster a revolutionary cognitive partnership, augmenting human capabilities and creativity. Quantum intelligence will accelerate scientific discovery, while embodied AI in advanced robotics redefines labor and infrastructure, leading to an increasingly autonomous society. This profound transformation necessitates urgent ethical debate on AI sentience, accountability, and ensuring these powerful systems align with human values and democratic governance.

Beyond Agentic AI: The Emergence Of Cognitive AI Ecosystems — COGNITIVE WORLD

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Future AI will possess persistent memory, multimodal perception, and long-term planning, creating vast digital workforces that blur the line between software and human employees

Beyond Agentic AI: The Emergence Of Cognitive AI Ecosystems — COGNITIVE WORLD

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Monday brings a key step in the European Commission president’s well-orchestrated push to enact an EU-wide social media ban for young people: the release of an expert report on the dangers of social media for minors

Inside von der Leyen’s push for an EU social media ban

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The libertarian framing of the internet as a place of freedom and expression was a potent mask for a project U.S. lawmakers always understood was imperial in nature: to defend its government’s power and geopolitical position. Now it has countries around the world exactly where it wants them. They have to choose: will they act quickly to take back that power, or accept the subservient position the United States has designed for them?

Global dependence on US tech was always the plan

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The U.S. empire has long depended not simply on military might, but also economic coercion to maintain its global dominance. Unlike the European colonial powers that preceded it, the United States has engaged in less direct colonization of overseas territories; instead, it mastered the use of economic dependence to keep countries in line.

Global dependence on US tech was always the plan

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In a 22-point manifesto posted to the company’s X account on April 18, Karp argued that Silicon Valley “owes a moral debt” to the United States and needs to defend not just its power, but to build weapons to help its military. Western pluralism, in his view, was a fatal mistake, as some cultures had simply “proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.” There was no point in trying to put them on the same level as the Wes

Global dependence on US tech was always the plan