The weird thing about crypto currencies like Bitcoin is that although some people will sell them to you, you can’t actually spend them. Which is an odd sort of currency when you think about it. That may be about to change though, or so thinks Austin Kimm, chief operating officer of Crypterium; he has a particular angle on the topic but talks through why there needs to be crypto currency, how it’s a leveller and just who doesn’t like it.

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OK, look, it’s not the Near Futurist Guy Clapperton who ends up referencing Skynet and the Terminator in this episode – it’s Oliver Tavakoli, a serial executive who is currently CTO of Vectra. In this far-ranging interview he outlines the basics of artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, machine learning and deep learning – and also looks at where it’s all going. We’re not asking all the right questions about this – OK, we talk about eliminating boring jobs but what if one of those happens to be your livelihood?

Half an hour of thought-provoking dialogue with me, Guy Clapperton, and Oliver Tavakoli. If you enjoy it please do leave a review wherever you download from – and if you’re one of the people who’ve rated the podcast on iTunes and contributed towards its 4.8/5 rating, thank you!

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Do you own the computer, phone or tablet on which you’re listening to this podcast? How about your house, your car? You may not do so for long. Tien Tzuo, ex-Salesforce.com and founder of Zuora, has written books on why the subscription economy is on the way. In this episode of the Near Futurist he takes time out to talk to Guy Clapperton about what’s changing, why – and why making 90% fewer cars really isn’t a disaster for the motor industry.

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Near futurist Guy Clapperton talks to ThoughtSpot founder and CEO Sudheesh Nair. Are we wasting our time with traditional searches from the obvious contenders? We may be better advised to look elsewhere and opt for relational search that can see one piece of data relative to another. This wide-ranging discussion covers fake news, opinion passing for fact and then there’s the small matter of how voice devices will affect search in the future.

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Immigration is a problem and so is the skills shortage in technology. Karoli Hindriks, founder of Jobbatical, an IT recruitment company in Estonia, sees the clash and has been talking to governments including her own about setting up international visas so that the right staff can go to the right places as and when they’re needed.

In this episode, she discusses this and the reasons people might want to move on with Near Futurist Guy Clapperton.

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Near futurist Guy Clapperton speaks to Dr. Michael Brooks, a doctor who is also a computer coder – and who is determined to persuade the medical establishment that the still-used standard of storing loads of records on paper is harmful. He starts with the harrowing story of someone who had to go through an investigative procedure twice when the original results were lost – and the second time it didn’t go so well.

He also looks at human error and his ambition to get the medical industry’s error rate closer to the safety expected from the aviation industry.

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It started with a pitch about how people could effectively ‘teleport’ into Internet of Things connected devices, and how this could help make tech support easier than ever. It finished with a discussion on empathy, new and old skills needed for the new and connected world – and how customer experience is going to be even more dependent on empathetic skills than it was before.

Near Futurist Guy Clapperton talks to Andy Clarke, chief technology officer of RealVNC.

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There is enough electricity for electronic vehicles but have they stalled? (See what I did there?) Near Futurist Guy Clapperton talks to John Robb of Eaton about what needs to change before this technology really becomes mainstream, and shares a little about where not to put charging points. Will the government have us all using electronic vehicles by 2040? Robb may have some answers.

A 25 minute interview show with Guy Clapperton, technology journalist of 30 years’ standing. If you enjoy it why not leave a review where you downloaded it? 

And a warm welcome to the four figures worth who have joined our ranks of listeners over the last few weeks.

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We start in New York where Alen Paul Silverrsteein is picked up by “pharmacy executives” and carried into a room where there’s this guy…but that would be telling you the plot. We move through India, turning movies into 3D and discuss Pokemon, virtual reality and why augmented reality (AR)  apps will be more than a fad.

Alen Paul Silverrsteein is CEO of Imagination Park and we ought to have cut more but he’s such a terrific storyteller…

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Speaker and accountancy expert Mark Lee speaks to near futurist Guy Clapperton about why he’s an accountant and not a conjurer (no, he seriously trained and is a member of the Magic Circle), how accountants are going to need people skills rather than plain numeracy and how Blockchain is going to usher in the idea of triple ledger accounts.

You think your accountant lacks people skills? Lee predicts their demise in this podcast…

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