Skynet vs. Mad Max: Battle for the Future

A session at SXSW Interactive 2012

Forget the hype surrounding the social web for a moment, what about something a little further out? This talk will paint a picture of two possible futures, along the way asking the audience to help decide in 2012 if either has a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a reality. Choose between:

1. Brands and users operate in a future-perfect environment of algorithm-driven, sublime relevance, where no nanobyte of data is wasted. Brands display artificial intelligence - becoming, in effect, self-aware - able to determine without human intervention how best to serve their customers. This leads to a glorious future of zero spam and delightful indolence amongst humanity as AI machines do all the work.. for now.

2. Brands and their users seek to fight for discovery and serendipity. Attempting at every juncture to circumvent the algorithmic tramlines laid down for their own good. Co-creating an open web with benevolent, politically neutral technology partners and real-world spaces where tech simply does not penetrate, this is the Wild West, 2050.

About the speakers

This person is speaking at this event.

jeremyet

Ex-Publisher, now some sort of Creative Director @BBHLabs and @BBHLondon. Also, I like ideas. And maps. And stories. And ideas about maps and stories. bio from Twitter

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Mel Exon

Founder, BBH Labs

Mel Exon is co-founder and Managing Partner of BBH Labs, Bartle Bogle Hegarty's global innovation unit. BBH is an independently owned, global creative ad agency with six regional hubs worldwide. BBH Labs is the agency's outwardly-focused, technology-driven innovation arm focused on ensuring the company is as smart as possible when it comes to change and the embracing of emerging platforms, processes and partners. She writes about this and more at http://bbh-labs.com and tweets @bbhlabs and @melex. Mel is a shareholder of BBH and has been a partner of the company since 2001.

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Tom Uglow

Creative Lead, Google Creative Lab, Google Inc

Tom Uglow leads Google's Creative Lab in Asia, working on new ideas and global brand projects for Google, Android and YouTube. This includes launches for Chrome, Maps, Mobile, Google+ and campaigns such as Art Project, Life in a Day, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, Space Lab, StreetView, and more... He tweets as @tomux, writes two blogs, has appeared on the BBC's Culture Show, is a member of the D&AD exec, the European Internet Week Council, and has judged, presented, and enthused globally. He is a Sunday-coder, a traditional creative, a strategist and a book-artist.