100 episodes

Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experiencing is the fastest humanity has ever seen. Stay informed as Mark simplifies the complex technological and societal changes we face. How we will work, connect, use money, drive, eat is all changing at a rapid pace. For more information on The Next Billion seconds with Mark Pesce, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com 

For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

Chief Audio Officer: Josh Butt
Edited by: Isabel Vanhakartano
Mixed by Carter Quinn

Mark Pesce - The Next Billion Seconds Ampel

    • Technology
    • 4.6 • 85 Ratings

Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experiencing is the fastest humanity has ever seen. Stay informed as Mark simplifies the complex technological and societal changes we face. How we will work, connect, use money, drive, eat is all changing at a rapid pace. For more information on The Next Billion seconds with Mark Pesce, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com 

For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

Chief Audio Officer: Josh Butt
Edited by: Isabel Vanhakartano
Mixed by Carter Quinn

    VALE: Vernor Vinge - creator of a "Technological Singularity"

    VALE: Vernor Vinge - creator of a "Technological Singularity"

    Science fiction legend Vernor Vinge inspired the title of this podcast - and his influence extends far beyond fiction. His novella "True Names" gave readers a first taste of the metaverse, and in a 1993 talk for NASA, Vinge described a 'technological singularity' - a time when computers get so good so fast that they 'run away' from human control. It's a scenario that haunts every big company working in AI today, possibly an element in the behind-the-scenes dynamic that got Sam Altman (briefly) fired as CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI in November 2023. This 2019 interview - one of his last, before his passing on 21 March 2024 - explores Vinge's thinking about 'The Singularity' - and asks what happens when a goldfish tries to talk to a human...Over a billion seconds ago, sci-fi legend Vernor Vinge conceived of a “Technological Singularity”, when our machines outthink us. Should we worry?

    Be sure to read Vernor’s 1993 paper, “The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era” – it’s linked here.

    A rerun of an earlier episode of The Next Billion Seconds. 

    For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

    Chief Audio Officer: Josh ButtEdited by: Isabel VanhakartanoAudio Mixed by: Carter Quinn
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 43 min
    Cryptonomics - So long and thanks for all the grift!

    Cryptonomics - So long and thanks for all the grift!

    Mark started working with cryptocurrencies back in 2014. Ten years at the coalface has convinced him that - despite incredible promise - cryptocurrencies are pwned by gamblers and grifters. After a decade advising financial institutions, regulators and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, Mark explains why he's chosen to leave it all behind - and might never mention cryptocurrencies publicly again.

    For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

    Chief Audio Officer: Josh ButtEdited by: Isabel VanhakartanoAudio Mixed by: Carter Quinn
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 27 min
    The Next Billion Cars - What Happens in Vegas, Part DEUX!

    The Next Billion Cars - What Happens in Vegas, Part DEUX!

    Despite some new car announcements from Honda, this year's Consumer Electronics Show reveals a stagnant automotive sector that seems to have lost its way in the transition to EVs. Co-host Sally Dominguez, Special Correspondent Drew Smith and Mark Pesce find a few bones to pick with the future on offer in Las Vegas - but a surprise from Sharp left the team smelling roses. It's Las Vegas, baby - with the pedal to the metal, and one foot in the future.

    For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

    Chief Audio Officer: Josh ButtEdited by: Isabel VanhakartanoAudio Mixed by: Carter Quinn
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 22 min
    CES 2024 - What Happens in Vegas, part one!

    CES 2024 - What Happens in Vegas, part one!

    The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the biggest conventions in the world, featuring gadgets of every size and description. It’s also the most important car show in the world. Cohost Sally Dominguez, special correspondent Drew Smith and host Mark Pesce share some of their highs and lows of this year’s show. 

    For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

    Chief Audio Officer: Josh ButtEdited by: Isabel VanhakartanoAudio Mixed by: Carter Quinn
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 17 min
    The Next Billion Cars - Year in Review (2023)

    The Next Billion Cars - Year in Review (2023)

    The year of 'brolectrification', artificial intelligence working its way into car dashboards, a Chinese EV invasion - and Cybertruck's domination. At the end of 2023, what have we learned? Co-host Sally Dominguez and Special Correspondent Drew Smith sit down with Mark Pesce to augur the entrails of a very weird year, then look forward to the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show.

    On this final episode of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest growing app in history, then found itself the weapon of choice in the longest running war in the technology industry - the feud between Microsoft and Google.

    For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

    Chief Audio Officer: Josh ButtEdited by: Isabel VanhakartanoAudio Mixed by: Carter Quinn
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 31 min
    BONUS EP: Tip for Superpowers School Podcast - featuring Mark Pesce

    BONUS EP: Tip for Superpowers School Podcast - featuring Mark Pesce

    RESHARE! Thanks to Paddy Dhanda for having Mark Pesce on his Podcast Superpowers school - we're happy to be sharing here! 

    🎧 Follow Superpowers School Podcast on: 👉 Apple 👉 Spotify 👉 YouTube 👉 Newsletter

    In this exclusive interview, Mark Pesce shares his journey of writing his new book published by the BCS, "Getting Started with ChatGPT and AI Chatbots." He was inspired by the realisation that billions of Windows users would soon need guidance on how to use powerful AI tools following Microsoft’s launch of co-pilot. The book aims to provide "rules of the road" for AI newcomers, avoiding technical jargon. Mark also discusses generative AI tools and the importance of understanding different AI models like Claude and Google Bard.

    👉🏽 AI's rapid evolution requires a balance between innovation and ethical regulation.

    👉🏽 Understanding various AI models and their uses is crucial for effective application.

    👉🏽 Proper prompt engineering can significantly improve AI's performance and output.

    👉🏽 While AI presents concerns for privacy and job security, it also offers opportunities for enhancing productivity and focusing on uniquely human skills.

    👉🏽 The future of AI should be approached with cautious optimism, focusing on its potential to augment human capabilities.

    🎁 You can purchase the book 👉🏽 https://rebrand.ly/3b93tly

    The book is illustrated by Grant Wright

    🎁 You can purchase the book 👉🏽 https://rebrand.ly/3b93tly

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    Mark Pesce (Author)

    Across a more than forty years in technology, Mark Pesce has been deeply involved in some of the major transitions points in the modern history of computing. After prototyping the SecurID card - the first 2FA device - in 1983, Pesce went on to develop firmware for X.25 networks, a forerunner of today’s Internet. At Shiva Corporation he developed software for a series of wide-area networking products praised for their ease of use and reliability. 

    Inspired by Ted Nelson’s hypermedia system, Project Xanadu, and William Gibson’s ‘cyberspace’, Pesce invented core elements of a consumer-priced networked VR system, reducing the cost of sensing an object’s orientation by a thousand-fold with his ‘sourceless orientation sensor’ (US Patent 5526022A). 

    After collaborating with Sega on Virtua VR, Pesce, working with visionary engineer Tony Parisi, blended real-time 3D with the World Wide Web to create the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). With VRML, Pesce and Parisi laid the foundations for today’s metaverse, culminating with its adoption as MPEG-4 Interactive Profile (ISO/IEC 14496) in 1998.

    Pesce wrote VRML: Browsing and Building Cyberspace - his first book - in 1995, followed by VRML: Flying through the Web in 1997. In 2000, Ballantine Books published The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming our Imagination. In that book, three children’s toys - the Furby, LEGO Mindstorms and Sony’s Playstation 2 - act as entry points in an exploration of how interactive devices shape a child’s imagination. 

    Appointed in 1997 as Visiting Professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, Pesce founded the School’s program in Interactive media. In 2003, Pesce moved to Sydney to found the program in New and Emerging Media at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, guiding postgraduates through a transition to digital production, distribution, and promotion. Shortly after arriving in Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation featured Pesce on their long-running hit series The New Inventors. Every Wednesday evening, Pesce celebrated the best Australian inventions and their inventors. A sought-after commentator, he writes a multiple award-winning column for The Register, and another for COSMOS Magazine.

    Pesce analyzed the impacts of media-sharing and social networks in two books: Hyperpolit

    • 45 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
85 Ratings

85 Ratings

SorbyAdams ,

Absolutely brilliant

This podcast is phenomenally well done. The music in particular—it’s appropriate without drowning out the speech as often happens. I can’t praise the production highly enough, from the point of view of the material presented but in particular regarding the way it’s presented. Well done!

Sleepyjackson ,

Format is very jarring

The content is interesting but the delivery is very jarring. I’m not sure exactly what it is that’s so irksome; mostly I think its that there’s a whiff of smugness to the delivery.

Turn the volume down a bit people. Less certitude and more humility would endear you more to your audience.

Macca_779 ,

Needs better research

Listened after being recommended. So many incorrect statements

A Genesis does not charge at 350kw. The limitation is at the car and rates drop as cars charge. The car is not capable of getting anywhere near 350kw. It’s ~230kw and not for the entire charge.

Battery swaps! Really Sally. Forget the servo fast charge/swap model. The vast majority are home charging which is far more convenient. People will adapt to a 20min charge. Get over it.

Charging off a 10A kitchen outlet even if you are limited to 8A 1.8kw not 1.3. Basic maths here 230v*8

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