"We live in an exciting time of change"

For over 20 years, the trained physicist, author, and TV presenter Ranga Yogeshwar has been explaining the world and captivating the German television audience with educational programs such as "Quarks & Co" or "Die große Show der Naturwunder". He is the most influential German science journalist and does not shy away from complex topics or daring self-experiments. In a conversation with Speakers Excellence, he explains the opportunities of digital transformation.   Speakers Excellence: Mr. Yogeshwar, you deal with the topics of innovation and digital revolution. Your new book is titled "Next Exit Future". Why is looking towards the future so important to you? Ranga Yogeshwar: The future means change. The impact of electrification led to more people learning to read and write, thus influencing the education of our society. The use of the refrigerator has demonstrably improved our nutrition. These were significant but simple processes compared to the complexity of today's change. Communication, shopping behavior, banking, travel, media, manufacturing techniques, politics, or production processes... processes are changing in fundamental ways everywhere. We are just at the beginning of the digital revolution. We are currently experiencing an epochal hinge phase, just as when the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance or when modernity shook society. In such historical epochs, technical innovations changed society and human self-perception. Speakers Excellence: Some people are afraid of the future – why? Ranga Yogeshwar: That's true, we are experiencing growing uncertainty in almost all areas of life. Although most people in this country are materially well off, diffuse fears about the future are spreading. A study states: "In Germany, 57 percent of respondents say that the speed at which new business ideas are developed and product worlds change is too high for them. Globally, people are also skeptical of the ever faster changing technological landscape: 51 percent of opinion leaders in 27 countries believe changes are happening too quickly." Today, it seems that the future itself is being questioned. Speakers Excellence: But at least we have gotten used to the internet and mobile phones. Ranga Yogeshwar: The telephone is a good example: Just a few decades ago, telephone booths had the sign "Keep it short!" Today, in the age of constant communication, this sentence seems like a relic from a bygone era and illustrates how quickly technical innovations also influence our behavior. Let's not forget, the smartphone is only 10 years old. The human of the future thinks and feels differently, their dreams and ideals will be different, as well as their language, customs, and self-perception. Through constant interaction with virtual worlds, the order grid of everyday life is breaking down. Constant availability blurs the line between work and leisure. We are "on" all the time, from morning till night. A study by the University of Bonn shows that participants activate their phones 80 times a day - on average every twelve minutes during the day. So much has changed in a short time. Those leading companies today are faced with a new society that thinks increasingly digitally. This change in mentality has a direct impact on many business models. Previously, the customer went to the bank, now they do almost everything online. In terms of mobility, we see a similar shift away from owning a car towards sharing models. It is crucial to react quickly and understand the new mentality. Speakers Excellence: You delve deeply into the impacts of artificial intelligence in your presentations. Ranga Yogeshwar: With the emergence of machine learning, a new chapter in computer history begins. In March 2016, there was a historic showdown: The computer system AlphaGo defeated the South Korean Go champion Lee Sedol in a competition over five rounds. AlphaGo won four out of five scheduled games. Go is one of the most complex board games in the world. There is huge potential in the field of artificial intelligence. In my presentations, I show with concrete everyday examples how far the development goes. The impact on the job market will be enormous, but there are countless opportunities as well, but we need to engage with it more actively than before. Speakers Excellence: There are now ethical debates surrounding algorithms. Ranga Yogeshwar: Sometimes I wonder if our cultural categories are even suitable for capturing the spectacular future explosions of our time. Our thinking always lags behind development – whether it's the digital revolution or biochemically uncharted territory. Take, for example, the debate on autonomous vehicles. The numerous ethical discussions, the adaptation of our laws, the regulations of new work processes, all of them happen – if at all – afterwards, often when the power of facts makes retreat impossible. Thus, we miss the chance for active shaping. We need to be faster and engage with developments beforehand rather than reacting afterwards. Speakers Excellence: Why should companies engage more intensively with the topic of the future? Ranga Yogeshwar: Change is always initially a painful process, for entire companies and for each of us individually, forcing us to step down from the throne of past successes. Sometimes, due to entrenched perspectives, we are blind to the new. In dialogue with many companies, I often experience a wonderful sense of renewal after this change in perspective. Companies start to reinvent themselves. So, if we have the courage to change our perspective, we will discover promising opportunities in dealing with the new. There are good reasons to be optimistic, because we live in an exciting time.