Jacob Ward & Matthew Ball: A Conversation

Jacob Ward is a technology correspondent for NBC News and previously worked as a science and technology correspondent for CNN, Al Jazeera, and PBS. The former editor-in-chief of Popular Science, Ward writes for The New Yorker, Wired, and Men’s Health. He is also the host of the 10-episode Audible podcast series Complicated and the four-hour PBS documentary series Hacking Your Mind, which discusses fundamental scientific discoveries in human decision-making and irrationality. Artificial intelligence is going to change the world as we know it. In The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back (Hachette Books), Ward argues that the real danger isn’t some robot enslaving us: It’s our own brain. Our brains constantly make decisions using shortcuts, biases, and hidden processes – and we’re using those same techniques to create technology that makes choices for us. Be it the biometric surveillance state in India to the risky multiple-choice simplicity of automated military action, we are poised to build our worst instincts into our AI, creating a narrow loop where each generation has fewer predetermined and even dangerous choices. AI, says Ward, is poised to use our decision-making patterns to manipulate us.

Matthew Ball is the CEO of Epyllion and the former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios. He has written for The New York Times, The Economist, and Bloomberg. His self-published essays on the metaverse have been read millions of times and cited by leaders at Epic Games, Facebook, Tencent, and Coinbase. The term “metaverse” is suddenly everywhere, from the front pages of national newspapers and the latest fashion trends to the plans of the most powerful companies in history. It is already shaping the policy platforms of the U.S. government, the European Union, and the Chinese Communist Party. In The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything (Liveright), leading theorist and venture capitalist Ball explains what the metaverse is, what it will take to build it, and what it means for all of us. He presents it as a persistent and interconnected network of 3D virtual worlds that will eventually serve as the gateway to most online experiences and underpin much of the physical world. For decades, these ideas have been limited to science fiction and video games – now, they are poised to revolutionize every industry and function, from finance and health care to education, consumer products, dating, and beyond.

Natalia Martínez-Kalínina was born in Cuba and grew up in Havana, Moscow, and Mexico City before being granted asylum in the United States. She is an organizational psychologist and holds degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University. She works primarily at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, economic progress, and urban development, and is deeply passionate about connecting across geographies, access gaps, and narratives of otherness. Most recently, Martínez-Kalínina is founding Principal at NMK Group, where she advises clients on economic development, human capital design, and impact strategy. Previously, she was the founding general manager and Latin America lead for Cambridge Innovation Center and the chief innovation officer at Roots of Hope. Martínez-Kalínina has also been the founder of Awesome Foundation, Aminta Ventures, and Immigrant Powered, among other organizations. She has been a contributor to outlets such as HuffPost, the World Economic Forum, Mic, La Nación, and the Miami Herald.