TEDx Portand talk on generative design and human augmentation

Following up from last week’s post, which included a brief video showing where we’re headed with generative design, today’s post highlights a speech by my colleague in Autodesk’s Office of the CTO (OCTO), Maurice Conti. I’ve mentioned Maurice before: he has an Applied Research team working on Pier 9 that is currently hiring a Machine Learning + Robotics researcher.

Taming robots

Maurice gave a speech at TEDx Portland entitled “The Future of Human Augmentation”. It looks at how we’re being augmented, not only by computational systems (helping us think) but by robotic systems (helping us make) and by a digital nervous system that connects us together.

He makes the case that change is accelerating by looking at the various eras that have defined human civilization:

  • The hunter-gatherer age lasted several million years
  • The agricultural age lasted several thousand years
  • The industrial age lasted a couple of centuries
  • The information age lasted a few decades
  • The augmented age…

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