Author Archives: Jon Perry

c48: Script Draft 1, Beats 37-41



Script Content:
-Zoya gets caught by Alltaf and assigned the task of killing Tim
-The leadup to Tim’s death from Zoya’s perspective
-The aftermath of Tim’s death: burying the body and lying to Cranium
-Caught by Cranium, Csaba knocks out Cranium and takes his conjuring stone
-Armed with the stone, Tim and Zoya head for the portal inside the church so they can escape Katall

Discussion:
-Conjuring staff was changed to a stone so that it can be smuggled into church.
-Do we need the scene of them getting to the church early and waiting to get in?
-What are the mechanics of the portal? What prevents Tim and Zoya from simply sprinting for it? Is it a one way door that is easier to enter than to leave? Is it only open during a key moment of the church ceremony?
-The sequence where Zoya lies about stealing the hunt-master’s axe is at odds with earlier scenes where she has ready access to an axe without needing to steal one.
-Does it make sense for Csaba to be behind a barrel when Tim and Zoya are talking? What is Csaba’s motivation for hiding?
-What is the POV of Zoya’s voiceover? We had discussed it originating from her trial testimony, but that seems probably too limiting of a rule.

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c46: Script Draft 1, Beats 27-31



In this double episode, we get pages from both Ted and Jon.

Script Content:
-Tim, Zoya, and Csaba build shelters on Katall
-Tim hunts for a suitable murder target
-Zoya offers Tim an out (he doesn’t take it)
-Tim discovers Cranium’s secret TV lair and decides to make Cranium the target
-Tim goes to murder Cranium, while Zoya and Csaba tag along
-Zoya kills Tim before he can kill Cranium
-Flashback to Zoya’s childhood education with Mr. Hygge and her parents

Discussion:
-Where is Tim’s head at during this period of murder planning?
-How does Tim feel about Csaba?
-Would the Katallians have IVs in their infirmary?
-Tim might justify killing a Katallian with the logic: “They’ve already chosen to die, this is just altering the timeline.”
-What tastes in television would Cranium have? If he’s not zero gen, then he’s not nostalgic, just enamored of old timey stuff for aesthetic reasons.
-Do we need to backfill Tim’s apparent contempt for Cranium and hypocrites who don’t stick to their principles? Or is it not real contempt and more just an attempt to justify what he is doing?
-Does Cranium hear Csaba say “Now, you got him!” And is it possible that Csaba was talking about Tim and not Cranium, anyway?
-How many pages are we allotting for Zoya’s flashbacks? Is the school scene too long?
-This is our introduction to Richard and Alexis so we should describe them more.
-The schooling scene needs to be a blueprint that can be referenced by two future scenes: the indoctrination of children on Applonia and Zoya’s Alltaf initiation.
-What is the underlying motivation behind Zoya’s voiceover? Makes sense for it to be anchored in the moment that she’s just killed Tim, since that’s when it begins.

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c45: Script Draft 1, Beat 26



Tim, Zoya and Csaba enter Katall, learn about the naturalist entrance contract, witness a service that includes funeral rites and penitence for conjuring, join the Katallian religion, receive the assignment of building a shelter. Discussion: nailing down Ocean’s gender, considering whether this sequence could be shorter, proposing the addition of Tim’s voiceover, flagging the moment when Zoya and Csaba are momentarily alone in the lobby (which we may see dramatized in Zoya’s storyline).

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c44: Script Draft 1, Beats 23-25



Tim meets Csaba for dinner at a fancy Magnurbia restaurant, Csaba tells the story of Alltaf’s founding, Tim receives instructions for the third trial, Zoya offers Tim the chance to back out. Discussion: whether Tim should know who he’s meeting for dinner, whether Csaba should be a well-known figure, whether the voiceover should be past/present, whether the dangerous world from the founding story was randomly generated or just randomly found, and whether Csaba should give off more sinister vibes, possibly threatening Tim’s family or hazing Zoya.

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c43: Script Draft 1, Beat 22



Visiting Pompeii, finding the clue “Come in, have a drink, stay a while”, getting attacked by a leopard, turning pain on to find the right door, turning mind altering substances on to cross the lava river, turning ejection off to unlock the final answer: “You must trust to be trusted.” Discussion: whether Tim should struggle more to complete the puzzle, the benefits of dramatizing regeneration in this part of the script, the possibility of drawing out the stone men sequence to really emphasize the world daring Tim to eject.

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Top 15 Episodes



As the Review the Future podcast ends and our new podcasting experiment begins, we’d like to share our favorite fifteen episodes, presented here in chronological order.

099: Review of Review the Future



After nearly 100 episodes, we’ve decided to dramatically change the format of the podcast: this episode will be the last traditional Review the Future episode! We are taking this opportunity to reflect back on six years of podcasting and review ourselves. Which predictions seem more or less correct given the passage of time? When were we right and when were we horribly wrong? In a wide ranging discussion, we return to all of our favorite topics, from privacy to technological unemployment to the rate of technological progress.

So what’s next for the podcast? Upcoming episodes will focus on the writing and development of our next graphic novel, a sci fi tale we are extremely excited about. The title will change but we’ll be using this same feed to broadcast, so we hope you will remain subscribed and stick with us on this new journey.

Episodes Referenced (in order):

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087: What is the Future of Sex Robots?



In today’s episode, we discuss the future of sex robots. Inspired by the book Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications, we consider various benefits and harms that sex robots might have on users, society, and even the robots themselves. Will sex robots be on balance a good thing or a bad thing? Will they provide a safe outlet for bad behavior or possibly just embolden it? And what will be the impact of sex robots on marriage?

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086: Discussion of Malicious Uses of AI



A team of 26 authors just published a fascinating new report on the malicious uses of AI. Inspired by the structure and content of this report, we decided to do a podcast overview of the various ways AI might be misused in the near future. Many discussions of AI tend to focus on either unintended consequences or on speculative concerns about a super intelligent takeover. In contrast, the issues brought up by this paper feel refreshingly grounded. Throughout this episode, we explore the concrete question: what is the intersection of criminality and artificial intelligence over the next five to ten years? Only time will tell, but we attempt to at least paint a picture of the possibilities.

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085: Grab Bag of Short Topics



In today’s episode we tried an experiment. Lacking topics that we felt were big enough for a whole episode, we instead discussed a lot of little topics including self driving cars, the philosophy of David Deutsch, cryptocurrency in the Marshall Islands, a new paper on AI dangers, durable goods increasingly becoming services, Walmart scanning robots, and the dynamics of status in the internet age. We hope you enjoy!

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084: Discussion of Conversational AI and Digital Currency



In today’s episode, we discuss Google’s new conversational AI, known as Duplex. Although impressive as a tech demo, this new technology has not received the warmest of receptions. We discuss the various ethical and possibly criminal implications of robots that can convincingly fool humans over the phone. Next, we discuss a possible shift to a fully digital currency. Though cryptocurrency is a hot topic at the moment, we do not expect that a real digital currency is likely to resemble today’s cryptocurrency. A likely digital currency would probably be centralized under government control and have resulting advantages and risks.

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082: Discussion of Subvocal Recognition and Domestic Robots



In today’s episode we dive into the implications of two recent news stories.  The first involves an exciting new tech demo that came out of the MIT Media Lab for a device called the AlterEgo. The AlterEgo combines subvocal recognition with bone conduction tech to create the external appearance of computer-aided telepathy. Does this technology have a future, and if so, what form will it take? The second news story involves the announcement by Amazon of plans to enter the domestic robotics space. With very few actual details to go over, we indulge in our typical wild speculation about the kinds of home robotics that might see use in the near future, and whether the concept of ephemeralization can be meaningfully applied to home appliances. We close out the episode by registering our predictions (hint: Alexa-roomba) of what we expect to see from Amazon’s eventual product.

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081: Discussion of Facebook and Privacy



In today’s episode we wade into the ongoing societal conversation around social media and privacy that has been taking place in the wake of the recent Facebook scandal. But before getting started we do some follow up on previous discussion topics: existential risk and self driving cars. Next, after a quick rehash of the Cambridge Analytica data breach, we discuss ways to think about privacy and data and consider some of the pros and cons of government regulation in this area.

Links Relevant to Privacy and Facebook

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Links That Benefit Us Personally

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080: Discussion of Self Driving Cars and Body Scanning



For the first time ever, today’s episode was recorded and uploaded on the same day, with no editing. As part of our push to get more content out quicker, we are taking steps towards a live radio format. On this podcast, we discuss coverage of the recent Uber self driving car accident. What does the tone of the coverage suggest about peoples fears and willingness to adopt this new technology? Later, we discuss the imminent rise of full body scans, and their potential usefulness as clothing models, fitness trackers, VR avatars, and even fodder for bizarre art.

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078: Discussion of Black Mirror and Altered Carbon



As part of our new casual discussion series, we do two mini reviews of recent science fiction TV shows. Jon shares his critiques of the the first episode of the new season of Black Mirror, while Ted offers his impressions of the new show Altered Carbon. Although we found some things to appreciate, in general we are not fans of these shows. We suggest reading Crystal Nights or The Peripheral instead. Or maybe watching Rick and Morty.

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077: Robin Hanson on The Elephant in the Brain



Today we are rejoined by professor and friend of the podcast Robin Hanson. Robin has just co-authored a fascinating new book called The Elephant in the Brain. This book examines our hidden motives, and while it has nothing directly to do with the future, it does have significant implications for policy and institutional design. Robin is also an accomplished futurist (as exemplified by his other excellent book Age of Em) and so were able to press him on the possible future implications of his thesis and come up with some interesting answers.

You can learn more about his book here.

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076: What Happens When We Design Babies?



In this episode we discuss the prospect of designer babies. As genetic engineering and reproductive technologies continue to advance, parents are likely to gain unprecedented control over their offspring. We discuss some of the recent progress in germ line engineering and speculate about the degree of manipulation that might be possible in the near term. But perhaps more importantly, we discuss some of the ethical and policy implications of such advances. Will designer babies pave the way for a healthier and happier society or are we in for a more dystopian outcome?

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074: Are We Living in a Simulation?



Thanks in part to Elon Musk and other popularizers, many people have encountered the notion that we might be living in a simulation. However, far fewer people are familiar with the exact details of Nick Bostrom’s “Simulation Argument”, the paper from which much of the conversation originated. In this podcast, we attempt to do justice to Bostrom’s argument by laying it out in a clear and organized fashion. After accomplishing that task, we devolve into our typical ad hoc speculation.  Should we be worried about being shut down? Are people living in other countries actually just illusions? What is the David Bowie Theory of Simulation and why is it so important? These questions and more on this episode of Review the Future.

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X011: Future Express | The Replication Crisis and Challenges to Progress



In this episode, we have a free-ranging conversation that begins by discussing the modern replication crisis in psychology and other fields. We examine how this development might affect our views on the pace of progress generally. Amidst our many tangents, we consider the possibility of getting tech companies to share their proprietary data for the sake of science research and wonder if becoming an increasingly globalized society imposes coordination costs.

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X010: Future Express | Attention Economics and Loyalty of Digital Assistants



In this episode, we discuss the modern Darwinian battle for attention currently playing out on the global internet. We consider some of the psychological methods that have been and will be developed for capturing and keeping people’s attention. We wonder whether the solution that will help us navigate this growing war for our eyeballs is digital assistant technology that can better help us cut through the noise.

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X002: Future Express | Autonomous Weapons and Brain to Brain Interfaces



In this second ever Future Express episode, Jon and Ted each bring a different topic to the table. Jon raises the issue of banning autonomous weapons, the subject of an open letter released last year and of an upcoming UN review conference. Ted shares an article about brain to brain communication, a pathway to technologically enabled telepathy.

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070: Review of BLACK MIRROR: WHITE CHRISTMAS



In today’s podcast, we review an episode of the British television series Black Mirror. Black Mirror is an anthology show that presents a dark spin on our relationship with technology. The series, despite its flaws, is highly entertaining and full of interesting thought experiments. Today we are focusing on the Christmas special, a longer episode that deals with some our favorite topics: augmented reality, privacy, and emulated brains. Although we recommend watching the episode before listening to this podcast, we do summarize the plot as we go for the benefit of people who have not yet seen Black Mirror.

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