Do you see most of the value/impact/benefit that the Foresight Institute produces as coming from a few key outputs, or from a larger list of projects each of which only produces a fraction of your total value? If the first, what are your key outputs?
I think Foresight’s value comes from a larger list of projects each of which has a small chance at creating a large impact. This comes mostly from the fact that we focus on advancing the beneficial use of a variety of undervalued technologies, including nano, bio, neuro, computing, and space, whose trajectory is harder to predict. We do this through early ecosystem development in these areas, that usually includes tools like our fellowships, prizes, workshops, and virtual seminars. Given that different technologies impact Given that many of the technologies are influenced by the relative speed of other technologies, they will be advancing at varying rates, and tools to accelerate them are differently useful at different stages.
For instance, for driving progress in Molecular Nanotechnology, from 1986 onward, Foresight started hosting annual technical conferences, published research papers, developed a Nanotechnology Roadmap, and launched the Feynman Prizes to award work toward molecular manufacturing.
Today, molecular nanotechnology progress is accelerating faster, largely enabled by new AI simulation tools, such as AlphaFold, Rosetta, Samson, CanDo, and more. Simulation tools, combined with progress in newer approaches to molecular nanotechnology, such as DNA origami, led tech-analysts such as Eli Durado declare that it’s Nanotechnology’s spring: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/nanotechnologys-spring
We aren’t a leading driver in each of the technological areas in particular but by providing a container that enables for multidisciplinarity across fields such as ML and molecular machines, we hope to facilitate insight and tech transfer across them.
Do you see most of the value/impact/benefit that the Foresight Institute produces as coming from a few key outputs, or from a larger list of projects each of which only produces a fraction of your total value? If the first, what are your key outputs?
I think Foresight’s value comes from a larger list of projects each of which has a small chance at creating a large impact. This comes mostly from the fact that we focus on advancing the beneficial use of a variety of undervalued technologies, including nano, bio, neuro, computing, and space, whose trajectory is harder to predict. We do this through early ecosystem development in these areas, that usually includes tools like our fellowships, prizes, workshops, and virtual seminars. Given that different technologies impact Given that many of the technologies are influenced by the relative speed of other technologies, they will be advancing at varying rates, and tools to accelerate them are differently useful at different stages.
For instance, for driving progress in Molecular Nanotechnology, from 1986 onward, Foresight started hosting annual technical conferences, published research papers, developed a Nanotechnology Roadmap, and launched the Feynman Prizes to award work toward molecular manufacturing.
The road was incredibly bumpy, but in 2016, Sir Fraser Stoddart was finally awarded the Nobel Prize for his work “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines” (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) just nine years after he received Foresight’s Feynman Prize for the exact work: https://foresight.org/foresight-feynman-prizes/
Today, molecular nanotechnology progress is accelerating faster, largely enabled by new AI simulation tools, such as AlphaFold, Rosetta, Samson, CanDo, and more. Simulation tools, combined with progress in newer approaches to molecular nanotechnology, such as DNA origami, led tech-analysts such as Eli Durado declare that it’s Nanotechnology’s spring: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/nanotechnologys-spring
To streamline progress across tool builders, in 2022 we hosted a Design Tool for Molecular Machines Systems-focused workshop https://foresight.org/molecular-workshop, whose 2023 iteration will focus on opportunities for combining insights across tools to work to the design of more complex molecular machinery: https://foresight.org/foresight-molecular-systems-design-workshop-2023
We aren’t a leading driver in each of the technological areas in particular but by providing a container that enables for multidisciplinarity across fields such as ML and molecular machines, we hope to facilitate insight and tech transfer across them.