Engineering news
Dr. Peter Diamandis is best known for founding the X Prize Foundation, which offers large cash incentives to engineers who can solve technical challenges such as private space flight, low cost mobile medical diagnostics or oil spill clean up. He also has an ambition to commercialise space. He is co-founder of Space Adventures and Zero-Gravity Corporation and his company Planetary Resources aims to become the first company to mine asteroids. His latest book is a New York Time bestseller titled “Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think”.
Q: Why are you so optimistic about the future potential of technology?
A: The evidence suggests everything is getting better, that poverty is reducing, that the number of democracies are increasing, that life expectancy is increasing. We have better monitoring through satellites and sensor networks to make preparedness for natural disasters easier. Its the impact of technology that is making these advances possible. The underlying reason is the increasing power of the integrated circuits powering the software and making machines faster. We are in the fifth paradigm of computational power. This is one of the most extraordinary time to live. Bandwidth, computational power, data storage - the cost of starting an internet company for example has plummeted.
Q: You launched a spacecraft last year, and plan to launch two more in summer as part of your plan to mine meteorites. Are we ready for this kind of activity in space?
A: The Space Act of 1967 and the moon treaty mean that no sovereign national can own a celestial object. Asteroids are not seen as celestial objects and we’re not claiming an object, we’re mining them. Human exploration is driven by looking for resources. This is the same playbook that’s been played for thousands of years.
Q: What do you think the impact of the internet of things (IoT) will be on society?
A: IoT means a trillion sensors out there. It means the quality of the data you can get improves vastly. We will wrap this planet in layer upon layer of connectivity: satellites, high altitude drones, balloons, drones. Then IPV7 means everything can have an internet address and be smart and connected. Social norms will change as a result. Combined with population growth, it means more minds connected to the internet. That will create tens of trillions of dollars flowing into the global economy and a massive surge of people connected to creativity tools.
Q: A lot of technology firms are focussed on improving artificial intelligence (AI). Why do you think this is?
A: AI will democratise healthcare and education like google has done with knowledge. The rate of change is accelerating. When mass adoption is more difficult, generations can get left behind. There are what I call interface moments – when something is so easy to use even your grandparents could use it. AI is the ultimate interface. AI will one day be able to translate just your intention into action. That world is coming and it will be independent of technical skills.
Q: Doesn’t the strain on global resources such as energy concern you?
A: There is a massive inflection point coming in technology, that will cause 100 fold increases in efficiency for solar. Revolutions in materials science that will turn every window into a solar panel. There will be roads that generate electricity. Technology takes that which is scarce and makes it abundant and there will be massive advances in storage devices and power grids.
Q: What do you see as the biggest risk in the future?
A: Governments and political systems are one of the only things that worry me. Overregulation of technology is a danger. The challenge is that governments don’t want to change graciously. I spend a lot of time talking to government, but I give little credence that they can change anything. I’m focussed on engineers being able to change things.
Q: How do you juggle so many projects at once?
A: I don’t serve as chief executive at any of my companies. I fund them then take a chairman role. I appoint a chief executive and only get involve at times of crisis or to raise capital. This lets me jump from one company to company with renewed vigour. There is also a lot of cross-fertilisation from company to company.