Byron Reese (@byronreese) is the CEO and publisher of Gigaom, an industry-leading technology research company. Byron’s also an award-winning author, speaker and futurist with a strong conviction that technology will help bring about a new golden age of humanity. Byron holds a number of technology patents and hosts two podcasts about artificial intelligence. He gives talks around the world about how technology is changing work, education, and culture to combined audiences well in excess of 100,000. His newest book, The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity tackles the issues of artificial intelligence, robots, automation, and the future of work. Byron is also the author of Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War. Bloomberg Businessweek credits Byron with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times of London reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.” Byron and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, NPR, and the LA Times Magazine. “The biggest problems of tomorrow will not be a lack of jobs but a shortage of humans to take advantage of all of the opportunities technology will offer.” – byronreese.com

In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:
- Why the world is fundamentally improving and Byron is an optimistic realist
- How AI will transform the labor market and economy, leading to better jobs
- The reason optimism and pessimism are incredibly important to humanity’s survival, and evolution
- Why forecasting artificial general intelligence is just silly
- Will AI become conscious
- Why we’re entering a fourth era of humanity
- The reason Byron is a little worried about the prospect of bioterrorism
- How 25 years in the internet industry has evolved Byron’s view of the future
- Why the news drives fear and separation among us
- What to say to naysayers about technological progress
- Why social media will ultimately be a net positive to society