Tech Trends 2025: Living Intelligence, Quantum Breakthroughs, and Beyond
This week's episode of Modem Futura focuses on Amy Webb's Future Today Strategy Group’s 2025 Tech Trends Report
In the latest episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and I discuss the just-released 2025 Tech Trends Report from Amy Webb's Future Today Strategy Group. As usual it’s a winding and serendipitous discussion (as ChatGPT informed me, rather censoriously, as I was preparing the summary below), but still full of our usual insights, humor, and unexpected connections.
Listen below on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify or YouTube. And if you want to jump to specific entry points, there’s ChatGPT o1-Pro generated summary with approximate time stamps1 following it.
Entry points from the brain of ChatGPT o1-Pro:
Introducing the 2025 Tech Trends Report
Why a 1,000-Page Tech Trends Report Matters
Approx. Timestamp: 15:12–21:50
The hosts open the show, welcome newcomers to Modem Futura, and introduce Amy Webb’s newly released 2025 Tech Trends Report from the Future Today Strategy Group. They discuss how the report is over 1,000 pages long, who it is aimed at (CEOs, investors, policy makers), and why understanding big-picture trends can help people and organizations “look around the horizon” in today’s rapidly shifting technology landscape.
Living Intelligence & Converging Technologies
When Biology and AI Collide
Approx. Timestamps: 21:50–28:15
The hosts explore the notion of “living intelligence”—where AI, sensor technology, and biotechnology begin to merge. They bring up ongoing research into blending biological neurons with computer chips and discuss how combining biology and cutting-edge AI may lead to systems that can learn and adapt in near-human (or beyond-human) ways over the next five years.
Robots Beyond the Factory Floor
From Assembly Lines to Living Rooms
Approx. Timestamps: 28:15–35:00
A major theme is the next generation of robots leaving tightly controlled industrial settings to enter everyday environments. The hosts highlight the push toward humanoid robots (like those from Tesla or Figure AI), the potential creepiness factor of having a “person-shaped machine” in your home, and the huge possibilities for assistive uses—for instance, helping older adults remain independent. They also connect this rise of humanoid robots to the “uncanny valley” effect and societal acceptance challenges.
Agentic AI & Its Breakaway Potential
When AI Sets Its Own Goals
Approx. Timestamps: 38:24–45:00
The conversation turns to “agentic” AI—intelligent systems capable of making decisions and carrying out tasks without direct human oversight. They mull over the near-term implications (like delegating complex chores or entire research projects to AI) and the alignment/safety questions that arise. The hosts imagine scenarios where an agentic AI runs a scientific lab, orders chemicals, conducts experiments, and writes up results—dramatically transforming research, discovery, and daily life.
Key Frontiers: Metamaterials, Quantum Computing, and Cislunar Space
Shaping the Future, From Atom-Scale Materials to the Moon
Approx. Timestamps: 43:45–end (1:09:42)
In the final major stretch, the hosts run through additional “top 10” tech takeaways from the report—particularly metamaterials (engineered at the nanoscale for novel properties), quantum computing (and the all-important challenge of error-correction), and private enterprise in cislunar space (the emerging economy between Earth and the Moon). They tie these themes back to broader forces—like the climate crisis accelerating tech adoption and the prospect of advanced AI guiding discovery in metamaterials, nuclear power, and space infrastructure.
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Thanks!
Andrew
As generative AI still struggles to accurately align themes and timestamps in fast paced conversations, I’ve tweaked these a bit. Plus, I was disappointed that ChatGPT completely failed to pick up on the Wallace and Gromit reference! Clearly there’s still some value in being human in the world …