l mentioned in a previous article  how I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Wozniak of Apple at the CXC Las Vegas Event. Founded by Al Rosario, BlockVentures S.A. de C.V. presented the CXC Experiential Technology Conference, a celebration of innovation for those who love to ponder what’s next.

During my time at the event, I heard so many thought provoking views on the viability of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Crypto, and in this phase of growth, these views and conversations are one of the most important elements. Collectively, this is the time we must use to imagine the possibilities, and inspire the expansion of capacity for opportunities that will (and already do) change the world just like the internet.

Get Rich Slow Schemes

As Gary Vaynerchuk pointed out during his time on stage, plenty of people in this industry are here because they believe they will hit big quick. “I am convinced that half the room is here for the lotto ticket and thinks this (cryptocurrency) is a quick score.” When, in all reality, we should be looking for more solutions, more world-changing applications, and taking the long-term view, to try and understand how we will impact the world twenty, twenty-five, and even fifty years from now. “The collective vulnerability is a lack of patience.” He pointed out that ninety-nine percent of the search engine browsers from the 1990s are out of business. This same reckoning will happen with Blockchain and Cryptocurrency because we are in the “early stages of the Internet” and don’t even know what it can do yet.

Are We Capable of Shifting from the Over-hyped Money View?

Microsoft has rapper and actor Common, who also attended CXC, in their latest ads encouraging people to think about the technological possibilities in front of them, in their hands, for most from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. We have a responsibility to empower innovation and bring “heart into tech” As Common so aptly put it, “Those of us with gifts… we owe it to the youth and people of this world to our gifts by doing something good. And when things are lopsided… we gotta even it out.”

Greed Is Always Damaging

I have heard whispers from so many people, like back table talk between partners in crime, wondering, “Is crypto the next big thing? Should they invest? Will their funds double… triple… quadruple…like that one guy so-and-so was talking about?” In the midst of those looking to hit big, we have others looking to steal whatever they can get their hands on. Another person heard from during the conference was Michael Terpin, a cryptocurrency investor who was just robbed of millions and is currently suing AT&T. Scenarios like this one make us stop and think, how can this be prevented? How can we get the big players on board, like telco giants, to bring the opportunities with crypto and blockchain more mainstream?

And Then There’s AI

The divide is so strong on artificial intelligence, at the conference all I had to do to hear an opposing opinion was step to the left… or the right for that matter. The thing that is missing from AI right now, and the reason we see such a divide, is trust. And trust is how we can bridge the gap. Without trust we cannot trail blaze. Without trust we cannot learn to be open to the opportunities AI will offer in the future. Tom Lee, Managing Partner at Fundstrat, talked about work he has being doing with the United Nations with AI to help educate about using it for social good, to help make the world a better place. By building trust with AI, we can begin to emphasize the value we can build for people, and we can put into motion new tools and resources to create a better world.

This is What Future Thinking Looks Like

My daughter is not happy with the big institutional banks and their fees, and she is one of millions of millennials, who will seek out alternative sources as soon as they become available. This is one example of so many industries ripe for change, that generationally speaking, are in danger of expiration. Too big to fail is an expression we should reconsider.  As we begin to clearly see applications and the uses become apparent, that’s also when we begin to see the tipping point… in tech, in banking, in spending, in connecting, in knowledge, in funding, and in everything in between. And I want to see the change do and be good. I want to see, in the next decade, the collective value we all have the capability to bring forth, in the name of humanity plus technology.