The Good Future: Balancing Humanity and Technology, HI and AI

Abstract

This is an edited recording of my keynote at the AmCham Bulgaria Vision 2050 event in Sofia, on Nov 6, 2025, see https://amcham.bg/events/amcham-bulga… A big thank-you to@amchambulgaria2697 for inviting me. You can download the slides via https://amcham.bg/2025/11/09/amcham-b… !

The next 10 years will bring more change than the last 100. Nuclear fusion, renewable energy, AI that can learn and “think,” genetic engineering, quantum computing and synthetic biology – we are inventing tools that could solve most of our practical problems: energy, water, food, transportation, healthcare, even aging. But the very same technologies (in particular #artificialintelligence ) can also fuel misinformation, arms races, mass surveillance and deep social inequality. We’re standing at THE fork in the road: we can use technology to build #thegoodfuture – or let it pull us into something much darker.

In this talk, I explore why our biggest challenges are no longer merely scientific or technical, but cultural, political and ethical. We’re great at inventing, but not so great at collaborating. I look at AI as a powerful tool rather than a new “entity” – something that can boost and augment our capabilities instead of surpassing and replacing us, IF we design the right rules, incentives and social contracts. We’ll dive into ideas like protopia (step-by-step progress instead of utopia vs. dystopia, see @KevinKelly the shift toward green and sustainable economies, and how younger generations are already redefining success around what I call the 5Ps: people, planet, purpose, prosperity and peace.

Most importantly, this video is about why I believe the future is better than we think – if we make the right choices today. As machines take over more routines, and are “good enough” for more and more simple tasks, human skills like empathy, creativity, imagination, ethics and wisdom become more valuable, not less.

I’ll share why optimism is not naïve, why fear-based thinking traps us, and how we can use exponential innovations to enable human flourishing rather than undermine it. If you’re worried about where the world is heading – or excited but conflicted – this is an invitation to help design the future, not just watch it happen.