Several companies are working on flying taxi services. While none of them offer any services to customers yet, they are in different stages of pilot (pardon the pun) phases. It’s an important development because 1) it shows that the technology is there and 2) it highlights the need to carry the discussions about privacy, human error and automation also into transportation.
The biggest players in this field are Uber Elevate and Velocopter, there are also smaller firms such as Ehang or Kitty Hawk, and then there are very big players such a Boeing and Airbus who put their toes in the water through collaborations.
What makes this all work is not so much a breakthrough in a particular technology. Flying taxis are an example of what becomes possible when different technologies converge. In this case, the main converging technologies are battery technology, automation, big data, and artificial intelligence.
When we imagine the future of our work, we sometimes think of single technologies. Artificial intelligence often comes to mind. It’s much harder (but more impactful) to imagine what might happen when multiple technologies affect our work.
What opportunities arise for healthcare providers when wearable devices gather more deeply specific information about the wearer, and can relay them in real-time to pharmacies so they can offer you health advisory service or to pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce a small run of a customized version of your prescriptions?
What will cities be like when a myriad of sensors measure all types of city conditions so you can use an app to choose the route to walk to work with the lowest pollution in this very moment, and a fleet of autonomous and smart robots do repair work?
Are you leading your teams to be ready for the future of their work? Do you know what the work of your team will look like? Are you transforming the type of work you do to keep you at work? Are you leading your team into the future?
Make it real
Take a step into the future this week. With your team, colleagues and friends, brainstorm and imagine how new technologies (or the lack thereof) could impact your work. How do you shift your job into the areas that are least or last affected?
The first type of work to feel the impact of new technologies is on work that is predictable, repeatable and physical, then comes data entry and last comes everything related to creative and emotional intelligence.
As we think of the possible future, we may not get it right and our predictions may be wrong, but we can create different scenarios and we can get ourselves into a mindset that we’re ready for them.
Leading into the future is not about scoring correct predictions – it’s about getting us ready for what may lie ahead.