By Tracey Follows
Author’s note: Mike Jackson's new AI-assisted service, PreEmpt, promises to democratize foresight. In my recent interview with Dr. Jackson, he delved into the origins, functionalities, and transformative potential of PreEmpt, offering a glimpse into a future where strategic foresight is accessible to everyone.
GENESIS OF PREEMPT
Mike Jackson's journey to creating PreEmpt began in November 2022, driven by a desire to move away from linear thinking and the exclusive nature of strategic foresight projects.
Jackson notes that these services were primarily available to large organizations with deep pockets, leaving small- to medium-sized businesses and individual practitioners without access to the tools necessary for effective future planning. This was a long way from Mike’s vision.
“I wanted to build a participative and democratic website that allowed all eight billion people to come and do foresight for free, whenever they wish,” he said.
PreEmpt's first product allowed users to write a short life story and use scenario planning to reimagine their future. “That's where the idea of reimagining came from,” said Jackson. “I started working out how they could reimagine what they always wanted to be, for free.” This seems to be a simple feature, but it has potentially profound effects because it is designed to help people envision the life they wish to lead, something that can be quite hard for people to do alone. When we solicit other people’s help, humans have a tendency to ignore friendly advice even from a loved one!
So, PreEmpt offers a more structured, interactive approach to exploring one’s personal and professional aspirations. The system has three components: you can look at your life, you can do team workshops with an AI companion, and you can ask the platform any question you like about the future and get detailed answers.
AI AT THE CORE
What sets PreEmpt apart from other foresight tools is its integration of AI along with a unique combination of foresight, strategy, systems, design, interdisciplinary, and critical thinking. The AI-driven aspect of PreEmpt is crucial, enabling the platform to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and efficiently, producing foresight reports that would traditionally take human teams months to complete.
The system brings together 650+ methods and more than 1,000 classic foresight questions to develop a fully evidenced, non-linear, holistic analysis in just a few hours. Jackson says that to do this manually is now almost impossible as the underlying AI is operating more than 2,000 times faster than humans can.
He attributes the genus of this tool to Wendy Schultz, who introduced him to the holistic concepts that now underpin the system, around the turn of the century. Jackson says that the system can look much wider and deeper than any human team can, including areas that would mostly be ignored such as new types of children’s toys, new art forms, music, and neologism.”
It never forgets to look everywhere for fresh insights,” he said. “and is a real Mechanical Turk, in aiding foresight and improving futures literacy.”
One of the notable features of PreEmpt is its ability to answer complex questions about the future of any topic, country, or organization, in multiple languages. Users can input a search query and context, and the AI will produce a detailed foresight report, complete with an implementation plan. This functionality is particularly valuable for organizations seeking to navigate the uncertain future, develop robust strategies, and do so in less time.
Additionally, all the tools work with each other in the right sequence, so the machine can self-learn as it goes. Once the system has looked at the past, it looks at the present, relating the past to the present. Then, it can look at the future and relate that to the past, the present, and back again. All time horizons are integrated.
REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS AND SUCCESS STORIES
Jackson shared several success stories that illustrate the impact of PreEmpt. For instance, a businesswoman used it after her first 60 days in a new organization to investigate and support recommendations she wanted to make to the Board. An early adopter noted that PreEmpt's capabilities could significantly reduce the need for traditional foresight education.
“My friend in America, a university professor, said, ‘Mike, you've just eliminated the need to teach people foresight. And I said, no, no, no, we still need to teach futurists how to do futures.’” But what Jackson did then was to put humans in the loop by integrating surveys that allowed users to say what they thought about what's going on in their world, how they would like it to change, and make all that machine-readable in order to include those perspectives in the AI’s answers. Either way, employing AI in foresight like this means the system can handle much of the heavy lifting of data analysis and report generation.
Despite its potential, PreEmpt faces challenges and skepticism from those wary of AI's role in strategic foresight. Jackson acknowledges that some individuals and organizations are resistant to change, preferring traditional methods over digital and AI-driven solutions. However, he once again argues that AI is not intended to replace human foresight professionals but to augment their capabilities, enabling them to achieve more in less time.
EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FUTURISTS
For young professionals entering the field of foresight, PreEmpt offers a powerful toolset to enhance their work. Jackson emphasizes that the platform's AI capabilities allow young futurists to engage with organizations confidently, offering valuable insights and facilitating strategic discussions. He draws parallels to the adoption of electric tools in woodworking and spreadsheets in business, highlighting how new technologies can enhance, rather than replace, human skills.
Looking ahead, Jackson envisions further enhancements to PreEmpt, including integration with quantum computing for instant foresight analysis. He also foresees the platform evolving to incorporate more complex visualizations and pattern recognition, helping users uncover insights that would be impossible to see manually, and greater use of synthetic personas.
One of the exciting prospects for PreEmpt is its potential to aggregate and analyze data from millions of users, providing a global perspective on trends and sentiments. This capability could offer unprecedented insights into societal changes, helping organizations and individuals make more informed decisions.
LEAP FORWARD
PreEmpt represents a significant leap forward in the field of strategic foresight, leveraging AI to democratize access and enhance the capabilities of futurists and organizations alike. Jackson's vision for PreEmpt is not just about providing tools but about transforming how we think about the future of futures. As AI continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping a more inclusive, informed, and on-demand approach to foresight, ensuring that the benefits of strategic planning are accessible to all.
Tracey Follows is the founder CEO of Futuremade, the futures consultancy, and Visiting Professor in Digital Futures and Identity at Staffordshire University. She is the author of the book, The Future of You, and host of the podcast of the same name.
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