An Introduction to our first Global Driver 2027+ : Colliding Technologies
Welcome to our Global Drivers methodology series where we unpack the key forces of change driving and defining trends and consumer behaviours for the coming decade. In the first of our series, we look at Colliding Technologies – how AI, quantum computing and synthetic biology are converging, collaborating and potentially kick-starting unforeseen consequences in their wake.
As we shall see in our six-part series, the most visible and volatile of all forces of change is the rapid acceleration and collision of transformative technologies that include everything from quantum computing to next-generation agentic AI.
‘Where innovation once followed a linear path,’ says The Future Laboratory’s co-founder Martin Raymond, ‘we now face a combinatorial explosion, as breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology amplify and collude with one another, creating unforeseen capabilities and sometimes unseen consequences in the process.’
Over the next two months, with one launching every two weeks, our Global Drivers series will provide just that, offering a strategic in-depth look into each of these six drivers – and how brands need to harness them.
Here’s an overview of our Colliding Technologies report:
‘We now face a combinatorial explosion, as breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology amplify and collude with one another’
Martin Raymond, co-founder, The Future LaboratoryAI Imagery by The Future Laboratory, UK
Hybrid humans
For many professions, the question will no longer be whether AI can assist the job, but how much of the job itself remains human. ‘The last decade was about addictive feeds,’ warns author and historian Dr Eliza Filby. ‘The next may be about ambient scraping, surveillance, fake intimacy and our complete inability to create a boundary between living a life and feeding one into a machine.’
Public concern about the power of technology platforms has grown sharply in recent years, as our full Colliding Technologies report will explain.
Cognitive Bloom by Map Project Office and Chanwoo Lee, UK
Digital sovereignty
And while people continue to use digital platforms every day, trust in the current arrangement of private power shaping public life is eroding. In response, European policymakers and civil society groups are demanding greater digital sovereignty; that is, the ability to build and govern certain technologies independently.
Brick, US
Human agency
Cultural signals of resistance are also multiplying. The popularity of ‘dumb phones’ and internet‑blocking devices like Brick reflects a desire to limit constant connectivity, while trends such as ‘analogue bags’ and the revival of film cameras and snail mail suggest renewed interest in slower, more tangible experiences.
‘This is the point about drivers,’ says Raymond, ‘but mapping and understanding them, we can better anticipate emerging trends as they happen – so that we can develop first responder brands ahead of our competitors.
Our new methodology series is exclusively for partners, who can access all six reports and video overviews presented by our co-founder Martin Raymond.
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