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The Coming Wave with Mustafa Suleyman

"If we are to be able to harness the upsides [of these technologies], we have to take a cold hard look at their potential downsides. Too often, people fall into one or other camp—naive techno optimists […] or modern-day Luddites. That does not cut it anymore."

In his new book, The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and The Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma, Mustafa Suleyman discusses the new technologies that will transform society—chief among them AI and synthetic biology.

Suleyman is a renowned thought leader on this topic, having co-founded Inflection AI and DeepMind, and having served as VP of AI product management and AI policy at Google.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Suleyman discusses the threats and opportunities posed by AI and synthetic biology, whether and how they will confer competitive advantage, and how governments and companies can collaborate to contain their negative effects while ensuring that society reaps their benefits.

Key topics discussed:

[01:28] The threats of the coming wave of technologies
[06:43] A modern Turing Test for AI
[10:14] The competitive advantage conferred by AI
[15:25] The benefits and limitations of AI
[18:34] Containing the next wave of technologies
[22:09] Potential regulatory interventions
[23:46] Motivations for writing the book

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