The Economic Singularity Course

The Economic Singularity is an online series of five live two-hour sessions (across two weeks) aimed to equip learners with a comprehensive understanding of policy and systems building to make positive outcomes a reality for Organisations integrating AI technologies into their workflows.

In the past, automation has boosted productivity, and therefore wealth - and in turn, employment. But past automation has mostly been mechanisation – the use of machines to replace human or animal muscle power. Increasingly, AI and other technologies are causing cognitive automation, with machines taking over tasks previously carried out by doctors, lawyers, drivers, telemarketers, and others.

Sessions

Dates

Price

5x2hr live sessions

New Dates Launching Soon !

$500 USD

Expense through Learning & Development

Learn live from experts in Artificial Intelligence, Economics and Public Policy spanning more than 4 decades of experience.

Taught by the author of the bestselling book, "The Economic Singularity: Artificial intelligence and the death of capitalism", along with the Chief AI Officer at WPP, a senior BBC journalist, technology leaders from Deutsche Bank and Logicalis, and a senior cognitive scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Designed for Business and Technology Leaders Policymakers, Researchers and Consultants

Business and Executive Leaders

Responsible for leading the AI transition for their organisations from a systems, governance and planning perspective.

Academics and Policymakers

Understanding the implications of exponential growth of AI and building policies around it.

Consultants and Journalists

Looking to gain a deeper understanding of the implications of AI, Ethics and Governance

Meet your Instructors

Calum Chace, "The AI Guy", is a best-selling writer on artificial intelligence. His non-fiction books on AI are Surviving AI, about superintelligence, and The Economic Singularity, about technological unemployment. He is a regular contributor to magazines, newspapers, and radio. Before becoming a full-time writer and speaker, Calum had a 30-year career in journalism and in business, as a marketer, strategy consultant and CEO. He studied philosophy at Oxford University, where he learned that science fiction is philosophy in fancy dress.

Watch what Calum will be sharing and discussing during the course

Daniel Hulme is Chief AI Officer at WPP, the world’s largest communications and advertising group. He joined WPP when they acquired Satalia, London’s largest independent AI consultancy, which he founded and still runs. Satalia’s 100+ people use innovative AI techniques to solve hard problems for multinationals around the world.

Watch what Daniel will be sharing and discussing during the course

Mark Mardell was one of the BBC’s top reporters for more than 30 years. He has interviewed all the UK’s Prime Ministers from Thatcher to Johnson. He was the BBC’s Chief Political Correspondent, then its first Europe Editor, and then its North America Editor. Returning to the UK, he presented Radio Four’s ‘The World At One’ and ‘The World This Weekend'. He is currently writing a book on the roots of Brexit.

Watch what Mark will be sharing and discussing during the course

Charles Radclyffe is Managing Partner at EthicsGrade, the only ESG ratings and research agency to specialise in the ESG risks of tech companies, and the tech risks of everyone else. He was previously Head of AI at Fidelity, Head of Emerging Technology at Deutsche Bank, and CEO of BIPB Group (now Keyrus), an early leader in the data analytics industry. He has written and presented extensively on the topic of digital ethics.

Watch what Charles will be sharing and discussing during the course

Edward Charvet is a successful entrepreneur and business leader with 25 years of experience. He is currently CEO at SortYourFuture.com, which has enabled over a million young people around the world to chart their way into rewarding careers. Previously, he ran the EMEA operation for Logicalis, one of the world’s largest cloud solutions providers. He joined Logicalis in 2015 when they acquired the data services business he had founded in 2007. Ed is also an adviser to Coller Capital, one of the largest players in the global private equity secondary market.

Watch what Ed will be sharing and discussing during the course

Simon Thorpe is a Research Director with the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), where he has carried out cognitive science research for 40 years. Until recently, he was also director of both the Brain and Cognition Research Center (CerCo) and the Toulouse Mind and Brain Institute (TMBI). His research on the brain mechanisms underlying perception and memory has helped develop artificial systems that draw inspiration from biology, and which could replace humans in a wide range of situations.

Watch what Simon will be sharing and discussing during the course

See what people have said about the experts

“Calum stands out as one of the most insightful and entertaining speakers we have ever hosted. His presentation prompted many enthusiastic and meaningful discussions long after the event was over, which was exactly what we were aiming for!”

Entrepreneurial Society at Imperial College London

“Daniel is an outstanding speaker; thought-provoking, engaging, and eye-opening. In 20 years of event organising, I can remember a few examples of such positive feedback for a speaker. Thanks, Daniel, and I'm happy to be able to recommend Daniel to others looking for an energising speaker on AI.”

Ed Lawson, Director, SC&L Intent Group

“Charles is a very talented business leader and a great mentor from the Level39 ecosystem. He helped Jooxter to shape our go-to-market strategy and our business development approach. Very inspiring and motivating person, Charles brings extremely valuable experience and expertise with regards to Data Analytics strategy.”

Fabien Girerd, CEO at Jooster

" There are many people you work with who you would describe as "very good", but I would place Ed in a unique league of people who are simply bursting with talent and at the same time are an absolute pleasure to work with. Fantastic energy and ambition, mature judgement, the utmost integrity and immensely liked and respected - I would strongly recommend Ed in every professional capacity. I consider myself immensely fortunate to have worked with him in the past and continue to place huge value on his advice, insights and thinking.”

Rob Hamlin, Chief Strategy Officer at CityFibre

A Synopsis of The Economic Singularity Course

Cognitive automation and its exponential growth have resulted in many implications including:

The exponential improvement of machine intelligence means it will cover a greater range of jobs cheaper, better and faster.
Technological Unemployment is no longer a far-fetched reality, and observers think it will happen within one or two generations

Exponential growth is shockingly fast, so policymakers should take the idea seriously now, rather than waiting to see if it happens.

Course Syllabus

Session 1A - The History of AI and the State of the Art today

This introductory session will be led by Calum and will cover:

From ancient Greece to New Hampshire in 1956
Two tribes: symbolic AI and neural nets
Excessive optimism and AI winters
AI’s Big Bang in 2012
Google and Facebook snatch Murdoch’s ad money
Smartphones: the supercomputer in your pocket
We didn’t get jetpacks but we got omniscience
Exponential growth
Transformers and beyond
Privacy, bias, and transparency: regulators to the rescue?

Session 1B - How AI will be implemented in organisations in the next five years

This session will be led by Daniel and will cover:

RPA, Chatbots, Analytics
Face recognition, speech recognition
Natural language processing (NLP)
Robotics
Operations Research and Optimisation
Designing adaptive organisations
The T-algorithm
Business planning and prioritization
AI tools
Platforms: AWS, Azure, etc. Libraries: TensorFlow, Caffee, etc

Session 2A - Likely Medium-term Developments in AI

This session will be led by Calum and will cover:

A day in the life
Software eats the world, AI eats software
Digital assistants and “friends”
Self-driving cars
Robots
Healthcare: wearables and insideables, AI drug discovery and more
Education: a slow learner
The discomfort of disruption
Extended Realities: VR, AR, and MR
Singularities

Session 2B - Monitoring, Reporting and Regulation of AI and Automation

This session will be led by Charles and will cover:

AI governance in the context of innovation
Moving from principles through to protocols and to pronouncements
How to consider AI governance in the context of AI strategy
Managing technical risks
Mitigating ethical risks
Mature public policy engagement
Regulatory expectations – horizon scan
Regulatory expectations – forthcoming EU regulations
Investor expectations on Responsible AI
How organisations should integrate AI governance into their ESG strategy

Session 3A - Will Technological Unemployment Arrive, and When

This session will be led by Calum and will cover:

The industrial revolution
This is not the fourth industrial revolution
Exponentials
The Luddite Fallacy and the Reverse Luddite Fallacy
Is it different this time?
Self-driving cars (again)
Work, tasks, and jobs
Pessimistic sceptics
Artists: the last men and women standing
It’s all about timing

Session 3B - Possible Policy responses: UBI

This session will be led by Simon and will cover:

A solution to widespread unemployment?
Providing other basics – Internet, Energy, Water, Education, Health, Transport
Providing basic income via Negative Income Tax
Ending Means-Tested Benefits
Lifestyle choices
Impact on ecology and climate change
Impact on business flexibility
Financing global UBI with financial transaction taxes?
Financing global UBI with asset taxes?
UBI and the need for a gradual transition

Session 4A - Possible Policy Responses: Abundance

This session will be led by Calum and will cover:

The meaning of life
Aristocrats, retirees, and children
UBI and PCI (Progressive Comfortable Income)
Star Trek
Abundance
3As: Automation, Alternative energy, AI efficiency
Fully Automated Luxury Capitalism
Income vs wealth
The Gods and the Useless
Blockchain’s killer app

Session 4B - The Great Churn: How to improve Reskilling

This session will be led by Edward and will cover:

Knowledge, Skills and Ability
Evolving the skills agenda - Technical v Soft
Currency of skills in an AI world
Transferable skills confidence
The culture of lifetime learning
Diversified learning channels for job type awareness
Linked career pathways
Employer's responsibilities
Valuing neurodiversity – complementary not supplementary
Careers in careers guidance

Session 5A - Advice for Young People

This session will be led by Edward and will cover:

Define work, define purpose.
ROC – Resilience, Optimism, Creativity
Lifelong learning and adaptability
Innate ability v learnt skills
Exploration and the art of career discovery
The virtues of practical idealism
Plug into automation’s evolution
Find value in human interaction
Collaborate on a global scale
Mentorship

Session 5B - Summary: What Governments should be doing now?

This session will be led by Mark and will cover:

From Nowhere to Nightmare: the need for a positive narrative
Four scenarios. Doing nothing isn’t just lazy – it's dangerous
The lure of populism: panic and its pitfalls
The Big Churn and why we need to learn to love change
Is automation our friend? The baby, the bathwater, and luxury spas for all
Dystopia, Utopia, Protopia
The West and the rest. Same destination at different speeds, or different strokes for different folks?
The future can be cheap as chips. But how do we buy the chips?
Fully automated luxury capitalism won’t eliminate the allocation problem
We might muddle through again, but failing to plan is planning to fail.

Learn Live with a Cohort

Active Learning not passive watching This course is not about watching pre-recorded content. Each session is curated with hands-on activities and direct interaction with either Calum, Ed, Simon, Charles or Daniel. Learn more by doing.

Accountability and feedback You will progress through the course with peers who are looking to go through a similar transformation to yours. Getting stuck is not an option.

Life long professional network Learning won't stop once the course gets over. Learners will have lifetime access to the course community filled with the best minds to learn from and build with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to attend all of the sessions live in real-time? You don't, but we strongly recommend you do! We record every workshop and make it available for you to replay, at your convenience. However, live workshops will include live exercises, feedback and interaction that will keep you accountable for getting your publications set up.

How much access will I have to the Economic Singularity Foundation (ESF) and the community? Apart from the live sessions which the ESF will be hosting, learners will get to directly interact with the six instructors and the rest of their cohort through a private community set up specifically for this cohort.

Can I expense this course ? It's likely you can, even if your company doesn't have a formal training policy.

Send your manager an email with: 1. Details of the course 2. The time commitment 3. The benefit you'd receive 4. An ask for partial or full reimbursement Here's the template to follow - Learning & Development letter

Will I receive a certificate upon completion? Yes, each learner will receive a certificate of completion which will be sent at the end of the cohort.

I have more questions, who should I talk to? Simply send an email to the course support team at [email protected], and you will receive a response within 24 hours.

[email protected]

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