Kevin Kelly – co-founder of WIRED and one of the world’s most influential technology thinkers – explains why you shouldn’t try to be “the best”, but “the only”, why your most “wasted” year might become the engine of your future, and why we’re still at day one of AI. Kevin is the founding executive editor of WIRED magazine and now its “Senior Maverick”. For decades he’s been known as a “cool hunter” of the future – predicting trends in technology, culture and work long before they go mainstream. He’s the author of books like What Technology Wants, The Inevitable, Excellent Advice for Living and his new photography book The Colors of Asia, based on 50 years of traveling and shooting across the continent. In this episode, you’ll hear what it’s like to build a life as a project-driven creator rather than a career employee, to help invent internet culture at WIRED, and to spend half a century documenting a disappearing Asia – all while thinking deeply about the future of AI, work and meaning. He explains, among other things: ◼️ Why “follow your bliss” is terrible advice for most young people – and why mastering anything first is the real unlock if you don’t know what to do with your life ◼️ How to design a life where you’re the only one who does what you do, instead of competing to be “the best” in a crowded field ◼️ Why time off, “goofing off” and even taking 6–12 months to do something that looks like failure might become the most important period of your life ◼️ How to think in projects and seasons instead of a linear career – the “Hollywood model”, 5-year projects, and moving between the “cave and the commons” ◼️ His honest reflections on WIRED: what they got right, what he regrets, and why he thinks they could have invented Google-style ad auctions ◼️ Why he believes we’re still at day one of AI, what surprised him about large language models, and why intelligence is not a ladder but a “high-dimensional space” ◼️ Why he thinks truly practical AI needs bodies (robots), what’s missing from today’s language-only systems, and how self-driving and embodied AI may really unfold over decades ◼️ The four books that shaped his worldview – from the Bible and Walden to Finite and Infinite Games – and how the idea of “infinite games” changed how he designs his own life ◼️ The deeper message behind The Colors of Asia: how paying close attention to “ignored” things can become a source of joy, creativity and even a career Explore Kevin Kelly’s work ◼️ Books (selection): What Technology Wants, Out of Control, The Inevitable, Excellent Advice for Living, The Colors of Asia ◼️ More of Kevin’s essays, talks and projects: search for “Kevin Kelly” and “The Technium” or “The Colors of Asia” The Colors of Asia: https://kevin2kelly.myshopify.com/products/colors-of-asia-a-visual-journey Connect with Robin / more episodes ◼️ All my work, newsletter & socials: https://robinduijvelshoff.com
