ISAC "Mission in Plain English"

Mission in Plain English

What is the Importance of ASF's Mission?

Imagine you lived in the year 1800 and foresaw the transformative future of the steam engine, interchangeable parts, chemistry, electricity, and the railroad.
Or circa 1900 and predicted the future represented by the internal combustion engine, the mechanical census computer, the assembly line, radio, and television.
Now, imagine you live around the year 2000 and can foresee the accelerating future of certain forms of information and communications technology, automation, miniaturization, and artificial intelligence, as well as the limitations on other technological developments (including most biotechnology, space exploration, and some nanotechnology). How would you use this information to improve your world?

ASF is dedicated to helping you acquire that humane foresight – the ability to make significantly better decisions today with your limited time, energy, and resources.

Our foundation produces conferences, media, and publications on 1) the future of technology and 2) the meaning of the accelerating pace of change. We network a global community seeking to carefully investigate both of these topics, in concert. We realize that informed individuals create an informed community, thus we work hard to educate people on the future, given the expectation (a testable hypothesis) that we inhabit a world of continally accelerating technological change.

We aim to help individuals, business, and society realize (i.e., discover and intelligently choose) a future of 'exponential promise' (i.e., greater opportunities and benefits because of exponential growth in knowledge and technology). We attempt to do this by educating our community and the wider public on 1) near and longer-term technological futures and 2) the mechanisms and meaning of the accelerating rate of change.