Ep64. Mark Bryan: A.I. & the Future of the Built Environment & Smart Cities

[00:00:00] Mark: What’s going to be challenging, though, is that everybody’s just focusing on AI right now. Not that they shouldn’t be, but what we need to be prepared for, is that AI and the internet of connected things and biotechnology are going to start to really fundamentally change the way that we operate, the way that we interact with each other, the way that we take care of ourselves.

[00:00:20] Mark: And so I think businesses, consumers need to recognize that there is uncertainty here, but there is also opportunity here, too.

[00:00:29] Helen: Ever wonder how AI and smart technology might transform your city, home, or workplace in the coming years? Mark Bryan joins us today to weigh in. He’s a Senior Foresight Manager at the Future Today Institute, helping clients navigate uncertain futures with data driven insights and scenario planning.

[00:00:51] Helen: Mark leads the company’s built environment, hospitality, retail, restaurants, and CPG practices. He also authored many reports on the same topics in the 2024 Emerging Tech Trend Report, which is released annually by the company’s renowned founder and CEO, the futurist, Amy Webb at her equally famous South by Southwest keynote.

[00:01:16] Helen: With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Mark transitioned from commercial design to strategic foresight. His work spans the future of workplace culture, urban planning, smart cities, and the impact of AI on our physical spaces. Located in neighboring Columbus, Ohio, and after having fellow Future Today Institute colleague Sam Jordan on the show,

[00:01:41] Helen: I couldn’t be more excited to bring Mark on to explore the future of our built environment and share his insights on preparing for the massive transitions ahead with you. In this episode, you’ll hear Mark’s perspective on how AI is reshaping architecture and urban planning, the potential of digital twins and smart cities and the revolutionary impact of 3D printing in construction.

[00:02:09] Helen: We discuss the convergence of AI, the Internet of Connected Things, and new materials in creating more sustainable and responsive spaces. We also dive into fascinating trends like AI generated materials, the future of shared public spaces, and the importance of data interoperability in shaping our cities.

[00:02:32] Helen: Mark shares his thoughts on balancing technological advancement with human centered design and the need for proactive AI governance in businesses. How will AI transform the spaces we live and work in? Listen in to find out. Enjoy.

[00:02:57] Helen: Welcome to Creativity Squared. Discover how creatives are collaborating with artificial intelligence in your inbox, on YouTube, and on your preferred podcast platform. Hi, I’m Helen Todd, your host, and I’m so excited to have you join the weekly conversations I’m having with amazing pioneers in this space.

[00:03:16] Helen: The intention of these conversations is to ignite our collective imagination at the intersection of AI and creativity to envision a world where artists thrive.

[00:03:32] Helen: Mark, welcome to Creativity Squared. It’s so good to have you on the show.

[00:03:36] Mark: Thanks so much for having me.

[00:03:37] Helen: So Mark is with the Future Today Institute. So we’re in for another treat. Our 50th episode, we had Sam Jordan also from the Future Today Institute. And as everyone who knows, I’m a big fan of Amy Webb. She’s the CEO and founder of the Future Today Institute and does one of my favorite South by Southwest sessions every year where she drops an enormous future trends or emerging tech trends report.

[00:04:03] Helen: So this episode, we’re going to get another glimpse into the future with Mark, but before we dive in, for those who are meeting you for the first time, can you introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, and a little bit about your origin story?

[00:04:18] Mark: Absolutely. Yeah. Again, thank you so much for having me, Helen.

[00:04:21] Mark: I’m really excited to be here to talk about, you know, technology and creativity, which are actually two parts of my background. So, I actually worked in the built environment industry for about 20 years. I started off as a commercial designer and I did everything from workplace to healthcare, to retail, senior living, a little bit of everything in between, including like multi-family. As I grew throughout my career, I was always using data, looking at trends, trying to find like the insights of, you know, why are people behaving the way that they’re behaving?

[00:04:54] Mark: I always, was told in grade school that I asked too many questions, which I actually found, served me really well later on in life, especially as I started to move into doing more white papers and secondary research. And so the firm that I was working for, I actually became the director of innovation and research.

[00:05:12] Mark: And then started to notice a trend with my clients and that they were getting stuck. They would, you know, we would present our designs and our ideas for how the projects could move forward. And ultimately, maybe we would show them a rendering or we would show them a video. And they would keep asking, they kept asking the question, you know, what is the actual experience going to be?

[00:05:36] Mark: And so I noticed that they were looking for ways to pre-experience the future, really. And so I started to do what any good nerd would do, which is try to throw data at a data problem and ultimately realize that I needed to find another tool and other methodology. And so I actually found strategic foresight, which is a very rigorous data driven process where we can then map out scenarios and I use that to help my clients pre-experience their future spaces and I found that it made them more willing to be more innovative.

[00:06:10] Mark: I found that they would feel more comfortable with what the end product would actually look like. And so then fast forward, to a couple of years and I am now doing it full time at Future Today Institute, where I am a senior foresight manager and I lead our built environment, hospitality and supply chain and logistics and manufacturing, and CPG
[00:06:32] Mark: practices and so, for me now, I get to keep doing the data nerd part of it, but then also working with clients just in a different manner about their futures.

[00:06:44] Helen: And you’re also based in Columbus, and I’m here in Cincinnati. So it’s nice to have someone else in Ohio. And you spoke at Cincy AI week, [at] which we were super excited to have you.

[00:06:58] Helen: You mentioned a strategic foresight, so I want to come back to that cause that’s a big part of what the Future Today Institute does. And you mentioned how you were addressing a data problems with more data, but one of the great things that you all do is the scenario, so people can understand what’s to come and not just data.

[00:07:17] Helen: So can you kind of talk about the scenarios and how that plays into strategic foresight and how those are used? I love how you said experiencing the future now, but how it makes it more robust than just sharing stats.

[00:07:30] Mark: Yeah, absolutely. I think, so FTI is a global leader in strategic foresight. So we’re really, we’re consultancy that, we work with businesses, governments, nonprofit organizations, to really help understand and deal with the uncertainty and volatility in the world.

[00:07:48] Mark: And the way that we do that is we, do research. So we do customized proprietary research where we collect data, and then we use that data to understand what does that mean about today? So that’s what we call trends. Trends are the things that we can know about the future right now. Part of our process is then to map uncertainties.

[00:08:09] Mark: So what are the things about the future that we cannot know? which really is, something that a lot of leaders don’t sit very well with. They don’t like uncertainties and they try to often use data to solve uncertainties, which can work. But often what we need to do is take both what we cannot know and put that together into a scenario about the future.

[00:08:27] Mark: And those scenarios can look very different depending on the clients that we’re working with. Sometimes clients want very white paper esque, scenarios that are very data heavy. It’s, you know, and they’re very long. Sometimes clients just want short brief scenarios that describe an act, an event or a day in the life.

[00:08:46] Mark: You know, we’ve worked with some companies where we have created a scenario that is just about a certain type of interaction or about a certain type of way that a consumer would purchase. So it kind of just, scenarios depend. They’re, sometimes people think they’re these big, they have to be overly worked, and very long, and unapproachable, and that’s not the case, because if that’s what it is, then nobody wants to read it.

[00:09:07] Mark: For us, scenarios though, are really just the beginning part of our work, because what we do really well, and I think, better than anybody is we then translate that into corporate strategy because scenarios are great but if they don’t give you an action, if they don’t give you a way to take what you’ve seen about the future and then bring it back to today’s context then it’s just it’s a fluffy story it may have a lot of data behind it, but it doesn’t actually help our clients move forward.

[00:09:33] Mark: And so that’s why at FTI, we talk about how we help our clients proactively own their future and our scenarios. We usually are doing multiple scenarios with the client. It’s usually never just one scenario, because if you’re doing one scenario, then it’s like you’re trying to predict the future. And that’s not what we’re about.

[00:09:48] Mark: We’re not trying to predict anything. We’re really trying to help our clients be prepared for eventualities, which is why we explore uncertainties. Because really, if you think about time, it’s not in a linear fashion. Time is more like what we think of as a cone where all of these different uncertainties and trends can interact with each other to create kind of like a cascading effect that just grows more exponentially wider as you move further out into the future.

[00:10:13] Mark: And so what our scenarios enable our clients to really do is to examine those multiple plausible, probable, possible futures, figure out what are the key metrics for success that they could start to implement today and then start to track those metrics today. Because the other reason that we are trying to help our clients is because we want to make sure that they know what it is that they should be tracking.

[00:10:36] Helen: I know there’s so much uncertainty in the world. So I’m super excited to have you on the show to kind of help some of our listeners and viewers maybe be a little bit more certain about the possible futures. And I know Sam talked about it on episode 50, but for those who might not have heard that episode, or maybe could use a refresher, one big trend is the tech super cycle.

[00:11:01] Helen: So can you tell us a little bit about thoes key trends and then we’ll dive into some of the chapters and trends that you specifically contributed to the trend report too.

[00:11:12] Mark: Absolutely. So like you said, Amy presents and keynotes at South by Southwest every year and we drop our massive trend report

[00:11:21] Mark: which I know we’re going to talk about here in a little bit. But so as we’re doing our research, we’re always looking for what are the red threads. What are the key themes that we’re seeing? And so in the last couple years, we’ve really seen, some leaps in technology, AI, of course, being one of them, but then also the connected ecosystem of things.

[00:11:41] Mark: So like connectables or IOT sensors that are connecting us all with more data information and then biotechnology. And really what we’re seeing is that each of these three technologies have become more of a general purpose technology. And you can think of a general purpose technology like electricity or the steam engine or the internet.

[00:12:01] Mark: Traditionally, just one technology alone is enough to create what we call an economic super cycle. And an economic super cycle is where one of these technologies radically alters the way pretty much everything the way that we live. I mean, think about what the internet has done for us from a society standpoint, from a business standpoint, you know, just from a search and understanding and finding information standpoint as well.

[00:12:26] Mark: We’ve been tracking these trends for a while, but what we’ve started to notice, especially starting last year is that they’re starting to converge and really create major breakthroughs. You know, AI is enabling, biotechnology advancements, wearables are providing more data and AI is enabled to use that data to create more, proactive health care plans. And so because of this, we’re starting to move into what we’re actually doing research on of what we’re calling a technology super cycle, where it’s not just one general purpose technology that’s driving the change, but all three. And so these three technologies are touching every single sector that we’re seeing and it’s really providing great opportunity.

[00:13:10] Mark: What’s going to be challenging though is that everybody’s just focusing on AI right now. Not that they shouldn’t be, but what we need to be prepared for is that AI and the internet of connected things and biotechnology are going to start to really fundamentally change the way that we operate, the way that we interact with each other, the way that we take care of ourselves.

[00:13:29] Mark: And so I think businesses, consumers need to recognize that there is uncertainty here, but there is also opportunity here too. Because just as everybody’s been talking about how there are new job types that haven’t been created today that will be created in the future, that means that there’s opportunities for your job to evolve, to change, for the way that you practice your processes to grow and expand and potentially provide new services to clients in new ways.

[00:13:57] Mark: And address some of the longstanding problems that we’ve had with the workforce.

[00:14:01] Helen: And what were the chapters that you specifically worked on, for this year’s emerging tech trend report?

[00:14:08] Mark: So I was able to work on three books for the trend report this year. I worked on the built environment trend report book, and then the hospitality trend report book and the, supply chain logistics and manufacturing trend report book.

[00:14:26] Mark: I will say that’s not the only trends that I’ve been putting together this year. I’ve also been doing a lot with some CPG companies looking at different consumer behaviors as well. But those are the three books that I included in the trend report this year.

[00:14:39] Helen: Fantastic. Well, let’s dive in and get your debriefs.

[00:14:44] Helen: And I want to focus more on the, design and built environment. Cause that’s your background. And we’re, the show is about the intersection of AI and creativity. And we haven’t really, Lori Mazor, who was a guest on the show, used to be a practicing architect, but we’ve dabbled in it a little bit, but haven’t done a deep dive.

[00:15:05] Helen: So could you give us a debrief of like what you’re seeing right now in the space, related to the trend report and of course, how AI and biotech and the internet of connected things are all playing, specifically to the book that you wrote on this subject.

[00:15:22] Mark: Absolutely. So I think it’s probably good to maybe set the stage when we say built environment, what do we actually mean?

[00:15:28] Mark: Because sometimes when people say built environment, the first thought is architecture or interior design, which it absolutely does cover. So we cover the buildings, exterior and interior. Built environment are also includes the manufactured products that go into the built environment. So that could be anything from lighting to flooring to thinking externally, the roadways, the sidewalks that are being used, built environment also includes urban planning and city development.

[00:15:55] Mark: It also includes infrastructure. So think bridges and roadways, as well as then the engineering field. So the mechanical engineering, which is like the duct work, electrical engineering, which is like all of the power, plumbing, as well as then, site development. So, it is a very big area of focus.

[00:16:14] Mark: What I would say is that AI is doing four key things when it comes to the built environment. The first is probably pretty obvious where it’s really helping about automating the design and construction process. So we’re seeing a lot of AI tools like Market AI and Archie AI that are being used to automate the design practice.

[00:16:37] Mark: And what I mean by that is it’s being used to speed up the creation of like the blueprints or the drawings that are being used to create things, generating specifications, which are specifications in the built environment are we’re going to specify using this type of lighting or this type of component or material, and then for synthesizing consumer insights.

[00:16:57] Mark: And so this is also being used by real estate developers to plan out their sites, just like to figure out which sites are most optimal for the development of maybe a community center or maybe a retail center. It’s also starting to automate things like planning and scheduling, where it’s optimizing the construction process for, you know, when do things actually arrive on the site?

[00:17:22] Mark: When do projects go into production mode. So all of this is really leading to faster project completion and cost savings and just more efficient processes, which is good because unfortunately, one of the problems with the built environment is that it is one of the most wasteful industries. You know, it tops the chart along with like fashion and some of the other industries.

[00:17:48] Mark: However, AI is helping to make more sustainable and what I would say regenerative infrastructure. And what I mean by regenerative is that it actually gives back. So I’ve seen projects, and this is not AI related. It will be in a second, you’ll see; where they are using solar panels to not provide a cost saving to the building, but to defray costs for Wi-Fi for the entire neighborhood.

[00:18:14] Mark: So that’s what I mean by regenerative. It’s giving back to the community that it sits within. AI is being used to optimize these outputs. It’s being used to optimize things like, how much concrete do we use? Or our carbon emissions, to improve things like water management. There’s actually a tool called Concrete AI that is about more sustainable building practices.

[00:18:37] Mark: And so again, we’re seeing environmental sustainability with the use of AI. The other two things that are, they’re kind of linked together, that it’s happening within the built environment with AI is we’re seeing a lot of predictive maintenance and urban planning, as well as digital twin, and IOT integration.

[00:18:55] Mark: So I’m going to start with the digital twin first, because it actually feeds into the predictive maintenance. So digital twins are the virtual replica of a physical thing. So there are digital twins for buildings. There are digital twins for roads. There are digital twins for entire neighborhoods.

[00:19:16] Mark: There’s actually a digital twin for the entire world looking at modeling extreme weather patterns. And all of this uses AI. So it uses Data that are collected through the internet of things like sensors to then plug into the digital twin model. So a digital twin is different than what some people may think of is that, it’s not static.

[00:19:36] Mark: It’s constantly taking in information. And so these digital twins are being used to create reports. So we’re seeing a lot of firms and companies building digital twins of their developments, of their cities, of their, entire building itself, so that way they can then monitor and predict when things might break down.

[00:19:57] Mark: We’re seeing a lot of this in manufacturing spaces right now predominantly, because what they’re using it is to track, you know, is there a piece of equipment that’s going to fail? I’ve seen digital twins for roadways to say, when they are going to need to be patched and replaced, and so that’s why they’re really tied together.

[00:20:15] Mark: You know, there’s a lot of research institutes like, the Korea Institute and Civil Engineering Institute that are researching how to create AI tools, for urban management and safety. So using the digital twin to predict when there’s going to be traffic congestion, when there’s going to be potentially an issue that might cause public harm that they need to deal with.

[00:20:42] Mark: That’s kind of how AI is shaping the built environment. What I would also say is that a lot of companies are using it to iterate the design process, meaning that it’s changing the way that the traditional practice occurs. So in a traditional design process, you’ve got site selection, and then you are designing the parameters of the building and the space, and then you’re designing the space itself, and you’re designing the user experience, and so on and so forth.

[00:21:08] Mark: AI is really being used to provide multiple opportunities earlier on, and to streamline the efficient design process. So there are firms and companies that are using AI to come up with hundreds of floor plans and then to act as kind of an editor versus the genesis point where they’re editing the selections that they’re making which is changing how they’re being creative; it’s giving them new opportunities to really explore what is possible that they didn’t consider first go around as well as again then to streamline, okay so if I want to be more sustainable, maybe if I put into my AI model that we want to, you know, reduce waste or use less, or more sustainable materials.

[00:21:56] Mark: We can, you know, plug that into the model and it can give us either the product or the space that would meet those parameters as well.

[00:22:03] Helen: Thank you. Yeah, that covered so much in different places that we can dovetail more into. But yeah, I feel like a big opportunity for any real estate developer when it comes to construction, if you can use AI to stay on time, you know, opportunities.

[00:22:22] Mark: In Ohio or in Columbus where I’m based, there is a freeway. It’s 315 that feels like it’s constantly under construction. And I really wish that there was a digital twin of that roadway so I can see, and when they are going to predict that it’s going to have construction.

[00:22:41] Mark: So I think that’s one way that I think that everyday people could start interacting with digital twins and, you know, they’re impacted by their route planning and maybe, you know, the digital twin could say, “Hey, don’t take 315 today. You should take, you know, a different way to get to work.”

[00:22:57] Helen: I feel like a Google maps is kind of like the default, already doing that and probably impacts these apps like Waze and stuff of traffic flow more than anything else, right now.

[00:23:09] Helen: But I digress. One thing, I guess, that’s a little top of mind. So we’re recording this at the end of July. And you’re listening to it after September, but we just experienced a major cybersecurity breach that has impacted all of the airlines and it’s been an entire hot mess and the more I hear of this tech super cycle of everything relying on the internet of connected things, IOT and, all of this being more tech enabled than what we already live, what does that mean when stuff goes wrong with like the cyber attacks or how are you thinking about the Future Today Institute because it seems like, oh, the opportunity is amazing, but it’s so fragile.

[00:23:54] Helen: The system underneath, even though it doesn’t seem like it is, it seems like more of these cyber attacks that it actually is more fragile that I think a lot of people realize. So yeah, just curious your thoughts because it’s top of mind right now.

[00:24:05] Mark: Absolutely. Yeah. I think, it’s kind of, it can be scary.

[00:24:10] Mark: I think one of the challenges is that, you know, these companies are moving very fast. They are trying to be the first to market. And so sometime, not in the case that you’re mentioning, [they’ve] been around for awhile, but with the newer technologies and the ways that they’re being implemented, it does mean that, you know, when you’re thinking about the creative process, you do have to be aware of where the data is coming from.

[00:24:34] Mark: You do have to be. There’s still a human in the loop part that is going to be required for verifying that, it does meet code. I mean, so in AI terms in the built environment, there are AI models now that can verify if your model meets building code, which would be great from a permit standpoint, however, you’re still going to need a human to review the output to make sure that no harm is being done, you know, because right now I have seen very little work and actually integrating things like DEI into a models for the built environment, which means that, the data that those models are trained on is still more biased based off of the data was trained on. Now, to answer your question from a cyber security standpoint, I think that as we’re starting to see more and more cities become smart, this is going to become increasingly critical for them to make sure that they do have very robust cyber security systems, because these systems are soon going to be managing a lot more if they’re not already managing a lot more, even down to waste collection.

[00:25:37] Mark: And so I think, you know, there is a, I think it might have been, it was either a movie or scenario that I read one time about how, you know, if we completely integrated AI into everything and then the AI decides to lock us out of the building because there was a hack, that’s a potential risk area.

[00:25:56] Mark: Now that’s what foresight is meant to help us do is to be able to identify those risk areas ahead of time. So that way we can mitigate them today. Again, all strategic foresight is about being better prepared for eventualities. And so I think when we’re thinking about these developments, are the opportunities tremendous?

[00:26:16] Mark: Yes. Are the risks just as tremendous? Probably so. So that’s why we need to look at both sides and not just think about what is the, you know, like all of the sunshine and daisies of things. We need to make sure that we’re thinking about what are the practical areas that we need to be aware of.

[00:26:31] Helen: And I appreciate you mentioning the data not being as inclusive as it could be either.

[00:26:39] Helen: And, right before this, we had a special series on data justice, that came from the Data for Public Good [conference]. So if you missed that, I definitely recommend to go back and listen to that special series. Okay, so you mentioned smart cities. I think one thing that’s interesting, a lot of people in the U.S. think we’re so far ahead technologically, but when it comes to smart cities, we’re actually very behind. So I was wondering if you could give us a glimpse at like, what are some smart cities that are really far ahead? And that might be some trends coming to the U. S. I’d love to kind of get the pulse on smart cities and what’s happening on that side of things.

[00:27:16] Mark: Yeah, I think we do have smart cities, or I should say we have smart city initiatives within the United States. So a smart city is one that has really integrated AI, you know, sensors and management processes. The technology is really doing a lot of the management. It’s doing a lot of the planning.

[00:27:36] Mark: So I think it, it always depends on who you ask. But there’s a smart city index, and I believe that Zurich is actually at the top of the list for smart cities. And in Zurich, what they’re doing is they’re looking at everything from streetlights that are able to have sensors on them to change the timing of the lights so that it helps to mitigate traffic.

[00:28:01] Mark: A lot of smart city initiatives are based actually around sustainability. What are the ways that we can save on energy? What are the ways that we can, you know, if we are looking at traffic patterns, make sure that the traffic flow is actually reduced. So that way we’re putting less carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

[00:28:20] Mark: You know, there’s also a lot of sensory technologies that are collecting data to measure things like, you know, what is the oxygen level?n There’s actually, in Singapore is also one of the top smart cities in the world. They are doing a lot, when it comes to waste management.

[00:28:44] Mark: So like I was talking about earlier, they’ve got a system that, will automatically help collect trash. It’ll also help to collect, you know, water information. Now, all of this to say is that, you know, the US is not behind. I mean, we’ve got Chicago is doing a lot with like energy management. Seattle is doing a lot with waste management.

[00:29:08] Mark: Denver, Colorado, just this last year is actually looking into interlocking smart pavement slabs that use wifi and detect, when crash, occurs, which could then alert, emergency services. So a lot of this kind of can feel a little bit big brothery, but what the smart city index is also looking at is, how do the residents feel about this?

[00:29:32] Mark: Are they willing to share their data? Are they willing to opt in for these things that will really benefit them in the long run? I think where some of the opportunities lie also thinking about, you know, places like Texas right now, where we’re seeing a lot of issues with the infrastructure, especially the electrical, you know, grid that we’ve got, some of the smart city,

[00:29:53] Mark: technologies are looking at creating things like virtual power plants that use AI to know when they can take energy that was generated through a sustainable method and then pass it along to different parts of the city. It’s using AI to help us know, okay, this building, you know, right next to us for some reason, the power is down so we can share power between buildings in order to make sure that we, our life and businesses are not interrupted.

[00:30:21] Mark: I actually wrote a scenario about a year ago about how we could see in smart cities, more directed traffic, where we have, you know, not only vehicle traffic, but foot traffic where, you know, there’s a technology that allows you to harvest kinetic energy from people walking. And so what I said is that, you know, If we had like an AI super app for our cities, you know, we allowed it to sync with our calendar.

[00:30:50] Mark: It would help us to then say, based off of your day to day, here’s the route that we suggest that you take because it’ll pass by the grocery store that you need to stop at. It’ll, you know, reduce your carbon footprint and it will help you to, you know, just save on energy, which could mean that certain streets are closed on certain days or they’re open on certain days.

[00:31:11] Mark: So I think there’s tremendous opportunity. I do think that a lot of the other regions in the world are integrating it faster. They’re also integrating it with their supply chains and logistics, especially like smart ports. The port of Rotterdam is the smartest port in the world because it’s tracking everything from water mobility, to the actual goods moving on and off the ships as well too.

[00:31:35] Mark: But this is again where digital twins could have a tremendous impact if we can build a digital twin of the city. Then we can start to use that to help plan out what smart city initiatives we want to accelerate first.

[00:31:47] Helen: And it seems a little obvious, but I’m going to ask it as well. Like on the business side, it seems like that makes, for a very competitive advantage if you’re able to restock or, you know, find equipment, fix it before it’s offline to keep it running.

[00:32:06] Helen: What is the, I guess, business case for cities to be more efficient? I’ll let you speak to that. Like, why should all these cities like get their communities involved and become more smart cities? And have you seen any backlash because of the big brother aspect to it too?

[00:32:25] Mark: Yes, there’s definitely been backlash.

[00:32:28] Mark: A lot of the backlash has come because of poor communication though. And so I think, you know, when we think about how these are rolled out, that’s definitely, you know, top of mind of what cities should be considering. The business case for using, you know, smart or helping build smart cities or digital twins is really that predictive, you know, maintenance, understanding demand forecasting, understanding when, you know, goods might be needed.

[00:32:55] Mark: You know, if you’re in the service industry and we’ll just keep with roadways for a second, if your job is to patch roads, you want to know when those roads are going to be damaged so you can be right there to fix it versus like waiting around to get the phone call to say, hey, there’s a pothole that needs to be fixed.

[00:33:13] Mark: I think the other part of it is, is getting more consumer data and on a more granular level, on a more neighborhood by neighborhood level. Where you’re able to then figure out what the actual community needs are versus just putting out products that, you know, maybe through some market research, which can’t have bias to it, might not ultimately meet the need at the right time.

[00:33:38] Mark: I’ve seen some major shoe manufacturers that are actually doing this with AI, and they’re using it for demand forecasting to know when to put out certain footwear. So for example, they would produce more weather resistant footwear in certain regions based off of if there’s going to be more rain or inclement weather during that timeframe.

[00:34:00] Mark: And that means that they don’t have a lot of stock and backlog, which means that they can actually shrink some of their footprints in the warehouse, you know, as well as it impacts their supply chain from a logistics and delivery standpoint. If you think about how, one of the biggest costs is actually getting the good to the consumer, if they can predict that better, as well as route it better, that means that they’re saving money.

[00:34:28] Mark: So I think that’s the business cases, it does provide cost savings. It can help make you more sustainable and really meet your consumer needs. Again, the backlash is when these things are done in isolation. You know, I think we’ve all had that experience where there’s been an update, whether it’s through a virtual meeting platform or, you know, on our phones

[00:34:52] Mark: and we didn’t really know what the change was until, you know, somebody on social media says, “Oh my gosh, did you see that they are now tracking your data?” and you have to opt out. I think we are seeing more and more companies that are doing things and not telling their consumers.

[00:35:11] Mark: And then the consumers are reacting negatively and they’re losing market position. So I think that’s some of the challenges that we’re seeing with AI, as well as then in smart cities, too, where you have people who are altering their behavior patterns because they know that they’re being tracked, which means that then they are creating false data sets.

[00:35:31] Mark: So all of this could be addressed if they just had some better communication plans to help citizens and residents understand what they’re actually doing with that data. Some are looking at it from a security standpoint, but most of it is just for looking at improvement of the way of life in the community.

[00:35:49] Helen: I love the pun, I’m not sure if you caught it, that shoe manufacturers are using AI to impact the footprints of the manufacturers.

[00:36:00] Mark: I didn’t plan that, I love that. That was unintentional.

[00:36:09] Helen: And you mentioned, also just that smart cities make for better communities because things are more efficient as well. And one thing that we had talked about ahead of recording this interview, is that the built environment really impacts the future of community as well.

[00:36:30] Helen: And I’m a big believer that the future is community, but I’d love to hear your take on how the built environment and the future of community are intertwined, from the seat that you sit.

[00:36:41] Mark: The question that I often get asked is, because of all of these new technologies, are we going to see less value placed on the actual physical space?

[00:36:51] Mark: And my answer to that is no, because people often think that the future is going to be vastly different from what it is today, that it’s going to be something so completely different that they can’t even imagine what it’ll look like. And that’s historically not been proven to be the case. What we’ve found is that it changes slightly.

[00:37:11] Mark: Think about what it looks like, you know, today with cell phones, when first versus when they first came out, we thought, “Oh my gosh, things are going to be so different,” and they are, but it’s not like we’ve completely changed who we are as a society. So the thing about the built environment, and we did a project recently where we were looking at the future of communities within the United States at 2029.

[00:37:33] Mark: And what we found is that. You know, the physical environment has a huge, tremendous impact on the formation of communities, especially for cities that are looking to combat things like urban decay. That is the opportunity space for them to create place in space to bring people together. So that way they can experience and they can have a shared experience to form those communities.

[00:37:56] Mark: But what we’re seeing is that communities are starting to become much more niche or focused on a specific topic. So we’re starting to see communities on things like whether or not they like Harry Potter or communities on things like whether or not they like just specific types of lizards or you know, if you’re a soccer fan. All of those individual personalized things means that we’re starting to create more personalized communities.

[00:38:19] Mark: And so this is what the physical environment should be allowing us to do is to come together to have shared experiences, not necessarily just to work, though, which I know can be a little scary because a lot of the workplaces are going empty right now. But we should be rethinking and reframing those spaces for what can we do to bring, you know, specific work communities together.

[00:38:38] Mark: And so I think this is where technology can be helpful, right? Where we can start to create more immersive spaces. We can use AI to make our places and built environment much more reactive to the users that are going to be in that space. So we could see, you know, wearables and AI being able to change the space of a room or the size of a piece of furniture.

[00:38:58] Mark: Because, maybe that person has a disability or maybe because, you know, the group that’s coming together needs it to perform in a certain function. That’s where I think also things like modular construction and, you know, there’s many modular, companies out there that can create, you know, kind of cookie cutter spaces, but they’re still customized and personalized that allow you to have a shared experience maybe in New York and then have that same shared experience over in London because they’re identical, which also means that things like AI can help create suggestions for communities.

[00:39:33] Mark: It can help to make you be able to contact those other global communities. But again, we still need to have the physical place in space. I actually think that neighborhoods are going to become much more important because of things like AI, where we’re starting to see, you know, specific neighborhoods with specific values starting to come together because we have a much more mobile population.

[00:39:56] Mark: But again, I think, you know, AI and the future communities is really about, enhancing public safety, creating better personalization and allowing for more tailored living spaces, to better meet individual needs.

[00:40:13] Helen: And it seems like I guess just a general vibe for lack of a better word is that there is overall, at least in the States, not as much public shared spaces than there used to be for like a lot of trends.

[00:40:28] Helen: And is that something that you already are seeing, like cities and different areas embracing more of these shared spaces, or is that something that, I guess, where are we at the state of like, I would love to see more just shared public spaces that are not just like sit in this coffee store and purchase.

[00:40:46] Helen: And then as soon as you’re done with your coffee, you know, get booted out. Is that something where you’re already seeing cities plan more of these just shared public spaces, or is it more like, we all need to because it’s for the betterment of our society to have these shared spaces?

[00:41:00] Mark: It’s the, “we need to” moment, where we need to start creating these shared community spaces.

[00:41:06] Mark: We’re seeing it actually a lot within the multifamily, amenity spaces where they’re starting to realize that the, so the amenity spaces are kind of like the shared communal areas within an apartment building. And so, those buildings are starting to realize that the community should be able to take part of those shared amenities to bring people into the space and become much more used than they are today.

[00:41:29] Mark: I have started to see some signals and data around what I’m calling kind of like siloed living buildings, where you’re able to have multiple mixed use of space within one, you know, complete building itself. One of the things that I have been talking to a lot of developers and people in the built environment is creating those flex spaces that can be, one function on, you know, Monday, maybe it’s your dry cleaning.

[00:41:57] Mark: And on day two is your pharmacy. And again, that’s where I think that modular construction can come into play to help make those spaces more changeable. But we need AI in the mix here to help us to analyze and understand what those use cases should be based off of the community data. And so I think one of the things that I often encourage with firms and companies is figuring out how we can use technology to increase community participation within the design process.

[00:42:23] Mark: So that way we’re tracking what the actual community needs are versus just making assumptions.

[00:42:29] Helen: I’ll also plug the interview with Alejandro on the show who was talking about, he’s a human centered design researcher at the University of Cincinnati and using VR to show potential planning to neighborhoods so that they can do what Mark was talking about earlier, kind of experience what could be, and, you know, really understand the impact in their neighborhoods.

[00:42:51] Helen: So, another episode I recommend [that’s] related to this. One thing that you mentioned about, neighborhoods becoming more important. And I want to talk 3d printing, cause it’s kind of tied into all of this. And right now in Texas, there’s not only houses, but whole neighborhoods being 3d printed.

[00:43:11] Helen: So I would love to hear your thoughts on that, but I think one thing too, that I was thinking about recently is I’ve never really like jumped on the bandwagon of 3d printing like I did social media marketing, when I started my company or AI after the Chat GPT moment.

[00:43:29] Helen: But when I was at Joanna Pena Bickley’s last salon, she was talking about needing a door stopper for, to like open one of the doors. And instead of like running to the store or, you ordering it off of Amazon, which, you know, a couple of dollars and all the shipping, you know, so not environmentally friendly when we do this, but I know a lot of us do, I’m guilty too.

[00:43:52] Helen: but instead of doing that, she downloaded a design for a door stopper. She’s done it with like planters, and just 3d printed it, and I think she might have mocked it up in mid journey or one of the other tools and then printed it. And I, really, saw that as the future of, instead of going to stores to buy products that we might actually be buying patterns and 3d printing them, in our homes.

[00:44:18] Helen: But you kind of mentioned that was a little bit further out. So, Let’s start with neighborhoods and 3d printing and the potential feature in the near term and long term and kind of just also the trend of 3d printing for the built environment as well. So that was a word soup of a question, but I’ll let you take it and run with it Mark.

[00:44:39] Mark: 3d printing is one of my all time favorite things to talk about, quite honestly. So I actually couch it under the phrase “additive manufacturing,” which really is an umbrella term because we not only have 3d printing, but we have 4d printing; where 4d printing is about printing reactive materials so that they can change their state or shape.

[00:45:00] Mark: so that’s why I use additive manufacturing. So if I say 3d printing or additive manufacturing, I generally mean kind of the same thing. So where we are right now is, as you pointed out, is, we’re very much using additive manufacturing for printing homes and neighborhoods. Yes, the largest development is being printed in Texas right now, where they’re able to print entire homes in a matter of days and weeks.

[00:45:25] Mark: I believe I recall seeing a study that Habitat for Humanity was able to print a home in under 24 hours. I mean, that has incredible impact when you think about what it means for our unhomed population, what it means for being able to customize our homes, to be able to tailor make our homes. And what I love about your example is that this is something that we actually coached a client on of like a service that you should be selling is not like 3d printing something new, but 3D printing replacement parts, 3D printing, you know, like if you’ve got a doorknob, you know, of a historic home, you could 3D print that.

[00:46:01] Mark: So that way it matches the style of the home and kind of restores the historic component of the home. Now, 3D printing is again, kind of like digital twins is everywhere. Everybody’s trying to do a little bit. I’ve seen 3D printed food, which did not look appetizing, but actually was printed to be more nutritious.

[00:46:22] Mark: I’ve seen 3D printed furniture that what they were looking at doing was creating self assembling furniture, which I mean, sorry, Ikea, but that could be something that means that we don’t have to have all of the like little pieces and parts and packages. But you know, that could be something that could be then flat shipped, which means it helps save our shipping costs.

[00:46:43] Mark: And then it just puts itself together. So the thing about it is, that it is growing, it’s growing in certain sectors, the built environment being one of them, but it’s not really growing from a consumer adoption standpoint; we haven’t reached the Chat GPT level of 3d printing yet. And so I think that’s why we’re saying it’s still further out, because consumers are just becoming more aware of it, not even realizing that a lot of the goods that they’re probably are buying on Amazon and from food places are 3d printing those goods, but I think as it starts to grow, we will do something very similar to what you’re talking about.

[00:47:21] Mark: I actually wrote this in the scenario for supply chain and logistics and manufacturing trend report last year, where I talked about, we could see the potential for a convenience store or a pharmacy or grocery store come together and install their own 3D printed, kind of like kiosk within the neighborhood.

[00:47:42] Mark: Maybe it’s on an unused sidewalk or, you know, at the street corner and what we could see, and I do think this is possible in you know, 10, you know, 12 years from now, where we could see people bringing materials, raw materials to that kiosk paying for the designs that are on the kiosk to print the goods that they need.

[00:48:02] Mark: I don’t think that would be for maybe very, for like luxury goods, but that would be for more like everyday objects or everyday food materials that you might need. But then what that starts to do is to reframe what our waste actually means, because that could mean that people, instead of sending their recycling to the recycling facility, they may keep their plastic because they can reuse that plastic material as part of the 3d printing/purchasing process. That changes the business parameters dramatically, but it improves our sustainability possibly. This is where we need some foresight and some companies to come together, to figure out what it is that they want to do, and then move that forward. When thinking about AI, the opportunity space here is using AI to make our 3d printers much more sustainable.

[00:48:50] Mark: So I saw, there was a study that used AI to train a 3d printer, to print something that it had never made before, to be able to be more efficient and to use less materials. And so that’s why I think it has a tremendous possibility to reshape the way that we purchase and create goods if, and when it scales.

[00:49:10] Mark: And I’m more of the, when it scales in the next decade or so.

[00:49:14] Helen: I’m curious. I’m like, should I be buying a 3d printer and start playing with it? And I know I was trying to think, I was talking to a parent the other day and the parent I was talking to was like, Oh yeah, we 3d print these little toys that my kid uses all the time.

[00:49:26] Helen: And the little dragons or whatever, it seems like there is some adoption, maybe the early tech adopters using it. But as a consumer, should I jump in and get one and start playing? Or is it like, is it too early? And I should wait until they, they improve before I jump on the bandwagon.

[00:49:43] Mark: Well, so what I would say is I think you should probably gain some familiarity with it.

[00:49:49] Mark: The 3d printers are like the more basic ones are not wholly, you know, cost prohibitive. You there’s tons of different websites that you can download the design files to print things. So, you know, I would encourage people to start to test it out, to try it out. Maybe think about what are the things that you need on a daily basis and try to create those versus buying them outright, you know, buying virgin materials.

[00:50:15] Mark: I think, as you were talking, I was kind of thinking about Play-Doh, where what Play-Doh does, is that you’re able to take the raw material, extrude it through, you know, the extrusion, and then you’ve got the shape of the toy product at the end. And then you’re able to, like, take that back and then kind of extrude it again into something new.

[00:50:35] Mark: That’s kind of what I think, you know, we’re going to start seeing with 3D printing is maybe we’ve got one object today, but tomorrow I need to change it into another object and I can use 3D printing to do that, so. Yes, I would say, get a 3D printer, just test it out, just to kind of understand the process.

[00:50:52] Mark: So that way, when it scales, it becomes much more familiar. I’m sure you talk about this with AI, similar to what we do. It’s why we encourage people to get familiar with ChatGPT, don’t be afraid of it. But there are some rules and parameters that you should know about, you know, from a safety standpoint too.

[00:51:06] Mark: Like, I would not just try to go out and 3D print your own food right now. I would leave that to the other experts for the time being.

[00:51:13] Helen: If there are any 3D companies out there who want to sponsor the show, let me know and I will be happy to test it. I think one of the more interesting use cases on 3D printing food that I heard was through some friends in Silicon Valley that were thinking about this, of how do you actually do recipe designs here on earth and then send them to like the space station or somewhere in space and just have it 3d printed that way.

[00:51:39] Helen: So it’s all data on, I guess, the patterns needed, but then it’s the, raw materials, which I know we’re running low on time, but I did want to mention this since it’s so close in your wheelhouse of that AI is creating new materials that’s never existed before. And I want to kind of have you just speak to this a little bit of like, what are these new materials?

[00:52:03] Helen: What does this mean in the implications? And what are you most excited about, related to new materials in this world, too?

[00:52:10] Mark: Yeah, I think, what you’re referencing is, I think it was, Google DeepMind, and a research institute were able to use AI to generate hundreds of thousands of new materials that had never been made before, discovered before.

[00:52:24] Mark: And what they were able to do is to use AI to kind of swap, different components in and out, you know, different elements in and out to see if it would be a stable material. And so, they were looking at everything from, I think it was like, you know, new materials that could go into like EV batteries or into building materials as well.

[00:52:45] Mark: And so I think this offers tremendous opportunity when we think about one of my other favorite topics [whch] is meta materials. So meta materials are smart materials, that can change their, shape or state or be able to self heal, like self healing concrete. So I think what’s really cool about this from the built environment standpoint is, we could use this type of 3D printing and generating new materials to create truly unique environments for people to experience that are one off that, you know, if we go back to that biotechnology, you know, we could create new types of materials that help clean the air in our homes that maybe help address some of our regional allergies.

[00:53:23] Mark: And so these things make again, personalization start to increase and expand exponentially as they start to scale. And so I think this could truly lead to more innovative projects, more innovative spaces, more innovative, you know, city experiences based off of the unique materials, maybe the regional materials that are created in those areas based off of what AI tells them, Hey, you’ve got a bunch of clay in your area.

[00:53:49] Mark: Let’s use that to create this new type of material that we become known as, you know, the clay city.

[00:53:55] Helen: And you mentioned metamaterials and you’ve also mentioned regenerative related to, you know, positive benefits. Because I don’t always want to assume that everyone knows the difference between regenerative versus sustainable.

[00:54:11] Helen: Can you just speak to what regenerative is related to this as compared to sustainable as well?

[00:54:17] Mark: Absolutely. So, and, this is slightly controversial in the built environment, but, I actually, again, use regenerative as an umbrella term. So in the built environment, you have sustainability, which is about creating more sustainable places that are more environmentally friendly, that use less materials.

[00:54:36] Mark: You’ve got the, you know, circular processes in economy where it’s about creating a cycle of, you know, kind of that closed loop where all the materials constantly are reused. And then you’ve got regenerative, which in my mind captures all of that, but then is also about giving back to that community.

[00:54:53] Mark: So that giving back takes on different shapes because it could be about giving back through energy. It could be about giving back through new types of job creation. And so that’s why I lump regenerative or I would lump those other terms under regenerative.

[00:55:09] Helen: So underlying everything that we’ve discussed is that tech super cycle that, you know, is data and internet of connected things, or the connected ecosystems as I think, FTI, the Future Today Institute likes to call it.

[00:55:22] Helen: How should we be thinking about it in your mind in terms of data related to the built environments and some of the topics that we covered in today’s show?

[00:55:31] Mark: You know, data is everywhere. I actually think that the built environment has more data than, especially on human behavior, than any other industry. And the problem is that we don’t have a lot of data interoperability, meaning that we have data in different formats and different areas that can’t speak to each other.

[00:55:47] Mark: And that’s problematic because we do want to train AI on our data, but we have to convert it. And that’s problematic again, because that’s costly. I also don’t think that we have a lot of data knowledge, just, you know, understanding the types of data that we have, and how data is being used. Not only do we have these problems with data within the built environment, We’re still collecting more data because we do have the internet of things, these connectables, these ecosystems that are creating more and more data.

[00:56:15] Mark: We are putting sensors into everything. There’s a sensor in a chair for you to be able to tell you if you’re stressed out and you need to take a break that’s being developed. So we’re collecting more and more data, but we’re not using it to do anything. And so I think this is problematic as we are starting to see more digital twins built because digital twins collect data.

[00:56:33] Mark: The future possibility is if we can get all of this to work out correctly, we can start to create digital mesh networks where we have digital twins that are speaking to each other because right now digital twins are typically siloed. Even if it is of an entire city, it’s still siloed. It’s not taking in necessarily all of the other information from the digital twin of the building within that model that’s been created.

[00:56:55] Mark: So I think we need to get better at harnessing our data, we need to get better at translating our data into things that AI can be used in a transparent and responsible manner, because I don’t think that we also, I think we have very low data literacy within the United States, within the built environment, in terms of like, what data we’re already giving away, what data we’re already creating, and what is being done with that data.

[00:57:19] Helen: Yeah, and I would say both on the people who are building, like to understand how the extraction of data can be areas for improvement. And on the consumer side as well. Just because you’re creating AI doesn’t mean that you automatically know all of the best ways to responsibly collect the data and deploy it as well.

[00:57:40] Helen: So I’ll plug the, Data for Public Good series one more time. Okay so, one thing that you mentioned before we started recording is short term planning. Cause I know, you know, we’ve mentioned a couple of scenarios that are 10, 20 years out, but what’s one thing that, especially our companies, and business leaders who are listening to the show, and we’re already in Q3 of this year.

[00:58:04] Helen: It’s like flying by, but what’s one thing that they need to be thinking about either for the end of this year or going into 2025?

[00:58:13] Mark: So it’s funny. I know this is about AI. You know, we’ve been doing a lot of work with AI governance, and what’s funny to me about it is that not a lot of companies are putting together a good AI governance plan right now.

[00:58:26] Mark: They’re kind of being reactive. They’re thinking much more short term, quite honestly, versus longterm. And so we’re working with, you know, an association right now on their AI governance. You know, handbook and what it means to them, you know, what they want AI to use, what are the, or to do and what are the, threats, you know, so this governance is really about how to operate, it’s not the strategy, that’s very different.

[00:58:53] Mark: There’s AI governance and there’s AI strategy. So I would highly suggest that if you have not started to think about either, you need to start and they should speak to each other. Meaning like the handbook should highlight the risks. And then the strategy should highlight the opportunity. So I would say just start to think about like a simple step is asking your employees.

[00:59:14] Mark: What are the AI tools that they’re already using? What is their familiarity with things like IP, you know, intellectual property and what does the use of AI ideally look like within the company? Those are questions that I don’t think a lot of companies are asking because I think there’s, they’re uncertain themselves because it’s kind of that like double dutch thing where they’re waiting to get in at the right moment.

[00:59:39] Mark: And unfortunately, if they wait too long, It’ll just be over. So I think they need to just kind of dive in, put together a task force, start to consult with some experts, ask questions and to learn. I think unfortunately with some leaders, it’s what happened when the internet first came out.

[00:59:57] Mark: Leaders weren’t really sure about what it was, and they just sat back and waited. And I think we’re at that moment with AI right now where people are sitting back and waiting, and I think they need to take more decisive action.

[01:00:07] Helen: Oh, I didn’t ask to tee this up, but if anyone needs help, you know, there’s the Future Today Institute on the consulting side, and I also have a network of partners who can help on this as well.

[01:00:16] Helen: So feel free to reach out to either of us. Okay, I asked Sam this, and I have a feeling it might be on the, on the interview questions for the Future Today Institute that everyone likes sci-fi that I’ve met so far, who works there. But what are some of your favorite sci-fi that has influenced some of your thinking, related to the future of the work that you do today?

[01:00:40] Mark: Yes. I’m pretty sure that everybody, at FTI loves science fiction. I think it inspires us, you know, I will say that I am a huge comic book nerd. I grew up reading Marvel comics and falling in love with the different worlds that they explored, it actually led me to, to write my own book. If I can plug my own books for a second.

[01:01:01] Helen: Oh, absolutely.

Mark: So I wrote, two young adult novels on, Norse mythology called the, the series is called the Asgardian Exchange, and it’s really just about, you know, exploring new worlds. So Marvel Comics led me to write that. I think in my work today, there have been several movies, you know, things like Dune.

[01:01:24] Mark: I remember watching the original one and just being inspired, you know, with the way that the suits were able to Distill the water and to make it more sustainable. You know, I also grew up in the era of like animated movies like Transformers, which I think really inspired me thinking about like how place and space can be transformed.

[01:01:45] Mark: And that’s why I really also love like modular construction too. So I think there’s, just so much I could go into, but those are some of the top ones that come to mind.

[01:01:54] Helen: Yeah. Thank you. And I am a huge fan of Dune, the latest movies. And I think one thing that’s really interesting about a lot of the futuristic films like that is that it’s not very tech forward, like it’s tech enabled, but it’s like…

[01:02:12] Helen: There’s not devices everywhere. It’s just kind of in the background. And as I think about like sustainable and more green futures, I like those reference points. And if you haven’t seen Dune, like Denis Villanova is a master filmmaker. So highly, highly recommend. That’s one of my favorite of recent.

[01:02:28] Helen: Okay. So I ask this to all my guests, if you want our listeners and viewers to walk away with one thing, what’s that one thing that you want to remember from our conversation or just in general related to the work that you do.

[01:02:41] Mark: I think it’s that while there is uncertainty in the world, there are avenues to address and combat them.

[01:02:48] Mark: And it’s okay to be uncertain. I think sometimes leaders feel that they, you know, they should know everything and that’s just not humanly possible. So this is where again, strategic foresight can really help play a role. Start by creating a list of what are the uncertainties that you’re facing today. And then think about what are the ways that you could start to look for data that might solve.

[01:03:10] Mark: Some of those challenges or problems. Being reactive is not helping anybody. It’s not going to help your business. It’s not going to help you just plan your life. Being prepared will. So I think if you can start thinking about what the uncertainties are, you can start to figure out ways to address them today.

[01:03:26] Mark: And I think that would make our world, probably feel a little less, our futures feel a little less uncertain as well.

[01:03:33] Helen: So well said if people want to get in touch with you or find the emerging trends report from the FTI, where can we send them? And if there’s anything else that you want to make sure to include in today’s conversation, here’s your chance.

[01:03:48] Mark: Well, you can always find me on LinkedIn. Just search Mark Bryan and Strategic Foresight and I should pop up. Our website is FutureTodayInstitute.com. All of our reports are, open. So anybody is free to download them. You just have to provide us your email address and email address, you can have, you can download all of our, I think there’s 14 or 16 different books that we cover in that trend report. And then I think again, just, you know, I really like the, kind of merging of the creativity and AI as part of, you know, the show where it allows us to think about the opportunities for iteration and personalization.

[01:04:29] Mark: So again, This is an opportunity time to be thinking and investing in those strategies.

[01:04:35] Helen: Such a great way to end the show. So Mark, thank you so much for all of your time and sharing all of your knowledge and insights with us. And because we’re so close, I’m excited to meet you in the near future at one of our meetups or in one of our cities,

[01:04:49] Helen: but thank you again for, being on Creativity Squared with us today.

[01:04:53] Mark: Yes. My pleasure. I’m glad to have another fellow Ohioan that we can connect and talk about all of the nerdy tech stuff that’s happening in our world.

[01:05:03] Helen: Thank you for spending some time with us today. We’re just getting started and would love your support.

[01:05:08] Helen: Subscribe to Creativity Squared on your preferred podcast platform and leave a review. It really helps. And I’d love to hear your feedback. What topics are you thinking about and want to dive into more? I invite you to visit CreativitySquared.com to let me know. And while you’re there, be sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter so you can easily stay on top of all the latest news at the intersection of AI and creativity.

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[01:05:50] Helen: And premium newsletter subscribers will receive NFTs of episode cover art and more extras to say thank you for helping bring my dream to life. And a big, big thank you to everyone who’s offered their time, energy, and encouragement and support so far. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

[01:06:08] Helen: This show is produced and made possible by the team at Play Audio Agency. Until next week, keep creating.