September 15th, 2016 by
Category: Androrithms

One of the powerful key memes from the Technology vs Humanity book are androrithms.

Gerd Leonhard in his own words:

This is a key neologism in the book (i.e. a word I made up). I use the term to describe what really matters for most of us: human ‘rhythms’ not machine rhythms i.e. algorithms. A super-computer can win in chess or GO but can currently not talk to a 2-year old. A person that meets me in a hallway somewhere needs an average of 1.4 seconds to gain some kind of basic understanding about me, even without speaking – a computer still does not really understand my values and feelings after it has ingested my entire browsing and social network history of the past 7 years (an estimated 200 Million data points). 

Androrithms include human traits such as empathy, compassion, creativity, story-telling and soon to be relicts such as mystery, serendipity, mistakes and secrets.  “Computers are stupid – they only provide answers” (Picasso)  Computers are for answers, humans are for questions (Kevin Kelly). As I like to say: for every amazing algorithm we need to strengthen our already existing androrithm.  Every technological advancement impacts on how we interact as humans, and in many future cases we will need to safeguard, hedge or kind of ‘national-parkize’ those human idiosyncrasies so that they are not diminished or even eradicated by the tendency of technology to present itself as a solution to everything. (A great example would be how people are increasingly looking towards technology to solve social challenges: political activism on Facebook (press Like rather than making sure the right people get voted), or on increasing security and digital surveillance to ‘solve’ terrorism)


Watch Gerd’s first episode on Technology vs Humanity of his new video series entitled ‘conversations with Gerd’ see www.conversationswithgerd.com. These are short films with interviews on key topics such as technology versus humanity, digital transformation, the future of the internet, exponential change, artificial intelligence, the future of work and much more.

Produced and directed by Jean Francois Cardella, TFA Studios see https://www.futuristgerd.com/film-studio/

Author: Rudy de Waele

Rudy de Waele is a futurist, innovation strategist, keynote speaker, content curator and author. He assists global brands and startups with cutting edge open innovation strategy using new methodologies to re-invent and transform business. His unparalleled experience, knowledge and insight, propels leaders to stay ahead of the curve. Rudy specialises in giving technology trend forecasts, analysis and ideas exchange on how to thrive in the new economy and by facilitating Socratic Design workshops on how to create meaningful business.


Share it