Trends & Signals
Explore the latest insights, thought leadership, and research from FCAT®
The Upswing: Q & A with Robert D. Putnam
November 3, 2022
By many measures, Americans are more polarized than ever. Can we come together to solve our biggest social, economic and environmental challenges? After a recent Speaker Series event, legendary political scientist Robert D. Putnam shared some...
Commitment After Collapse: Code Contributions in the Terra Ecosystem
October 10, 2022
Before its historic collapse, Terra became one of the highest valued crypto ecosystems with a strong community of developers. But with a relaunched chain and a damaged reputation, are these developers still committed? An analysis of GitHub code...
A Timely Review of Bitcoin Narratives, Performance, and Trends
September 16, 2022
Bitcoin’s revolutionary design offers a new approach for financial inclusion, distributed ownership, and enforced scarcity. As it has grown in value, however, new narratives surrounding bitcoin’s utility have also emerged. A rocky performance...
Human Centered AI: Q & A with Ben Shneiderman
August 18, 2022
The remarkable progress in algorithms for machine and deep learning have opened the doors to new opportunities, and some dark possibilities. However, a bright future awaits those who build on their working methods by including human-centered AI...
Web3: The Tokenized Web
August 10, 2022
Built on public blockchains, Web3 aims to diminish single point of failure risk and afford users more opportunity to be fairly compensated for their contributions. It’s only beginning to emerge, but once fully operational, Web3 has the potential to...
Synthetic Biology: No Longer Life As We Know It?
May 10, 2022
Synthetic biology is the promising and controversial technology platform that combines biology and artificial intelligence, opening up the potential to program biological systems much as we program computers. FCAT recently hosted Amy Webb, founder...
DAOs: What Are They Good For?
May 5, 2022
Over the past year Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have emerged as a much hyped yet intriguing new way to organize communities online. Owned and run by their users, these digital-native collectives operate transparently via smart...
Can a Machine Be Moral? A Q&A with Jean-Francois Bonnefon
April 13, 2022
FCAT recently hosted a presentation by psychologist and author Jean-Francois (JF) Bonnefon on his latest book, “The Car That Knew Too Much”. The book discusses a groundbreaking experiment, the Moral Machine, that allowed millions of people from over...
Lydia Chilton on AI Creativity: What’s the Big Idea?
March 10, 2022
Can the design process be enhanced or improved by the power of AI? After a recent Artificial Intelligence Club event, Columbia University’s Lydia Chilton sat down with FCAT’s Sarah Hoffman to discuss the potential of AI as a creative tool. Chilton...
Life and Work Through the Anthropological Lens: A Q&A with Gillian Tett of the Financial Times
February 3, 2022
FCAT recently hosted a presentation by Gillian Tett, Chair of the Editorial board and Editor-at-Large, US, of the Financial Times. Her recent book, “Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life”, has just been published. Following her...