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Hello, and welcome to the HORIZON weekly newsletter. Particularly warm greetings to our many new subscribers - please do forward this on to colleagues and connections in your network who would also enjoy the insights.
Below you will find some hand-picked fresh thought-leadership content, giving you an overview of recent developments, topical innovations, and what we're seeing and hearing out there towards the digital frontier.
Welcome to Q2 of 2025; there are no April Fool's Day jokes or hoaxes contained inside HORIZON though.
Thank you for reading and being a part of the HORIZON community.
If this Email has been forwarded to you, you can access previous editions and sign-up to receive future instances for free at: https://future-horizon.kit.com/posts
Recent articles
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Done in 60 Seconds.
2025 sees the arrival of Generation Beta - the next demographic cohort, being born this year out to 2039.
Many of this group will live to see the 22nd century.
Unlike their predecessors in Gen Alpha, Beta will not only adapt to technologies but will immerse themselves in them fully from the outset - growing up in an era characterised by exceptional technological progress.
Given the macro challenges their world will inherit - such as climate change - Beta will need to be adaptable, responsible, innovative, and resilient.
According to the World Economic Forum: "Since Gen Beta will make up 18% of the world's population by 2050, how they grow, move and spend their money will affect the global economy".
Much of what is advanced today will seem quaint in the year 2050.
Our future, and what will become their present, will undoubtedly be one which is digitally saturated; the effects we already see now will likely be profound as the years roll on.
A 2015 study conducted by Microsoft indicated that the average attention span reduced from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013.
Whilst they accept content anywhere between 3 seconds and 30 minutes, the average length of videos on TikTok is around 40 seconds.
During the COVID pandemic, micro-dramas (shows cut up into short episodes, each only 60 or 90 seconds long) became a billion-dollar industry in China with huge audiences; now the US is following that trend.
Despite the knowledge that Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) output often has subtle errors, most people don't catch these (magnified by many defaulting to acquiesce that the machine is probably correct anyway).
We're already seeing more content being produced autonomously by adaptive algorithms not just for us carbon bipeds to consume, but also for other digital machines as more actions become automated.
As well as personalisation and instant gratification already becoming the expected norm in many sectors or interactions, we may in the future also become much more impatient.
While it's difficult to definitively say whether humanity as a whole is getting more impatient, there's a strong perception and comprehensive body of anecdotal evidence suggesting less tolerance across societies.
A reduction in conversation increases the chance of collision - or conflict.
What your business provides - and how - right now is unlikely to remain static for future generations; Gen Beta will demand nothing less than speed, satisfaction, and sustainability.
Is your organisation peering sufficiently into the future right now, strategically and judiciously examining how the coming generations will necessitate adaptation of products, services, and markets?
Those actively collaborating with Future Horizon are: developing views on what may come next and how that affects decisions made today.
The screengrab image accompanying this piece comes from 1989 film Back to the Future Part II.
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Number 5 Is Alive.
The classic 1986 film "Short Circuit" is about an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains human-like intelligence, prompting it to escape its facility to learn more about the world.
We're not quite there yet, but it's getting closer.
A recent Google patent outlines a system for imitating robotic movements virtually; this will generate an abundance of training data for real-world bots powered and controlled by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
To train algorithms for robots repeatedly in real life for tasks is time intensive plus results in mechanical wear-and-tear; it is thus highly expensive.
The "simulating multiple robots in virtual environments" approach is noteworthy as virtual environments may reduce (or avoid) this spend by simulating many robot operations in digitalised sensor-rich environments.
Already well established in factory production, a significant area of future opportunity for robots and AI is in the movement of goods.
According to the President of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLBA), 2025 will be a breakthrough year for their logistics industry.
The Vietnamese logistics sector today is worth in excess of USD$40 billion annually.
Per the VLBA, the domestic industry contributes 20-25% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is projected to grow by 12% annually in the coming years.
The country has a population in excess of 100 million, with a relatively young median age plus a large (and expanding) urban populace.
Due to this, it's also the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia; logistics companies are struggling to meet demand.
However, the sector grapples with limited capacity, inadequate infrastructure, and fragmented transportation systems which result in high costs; around 17%, compared to the global average of circa 10%.
Viettel Post - which provides express delivery, logistics, fulfillment, and e-commerce services - is investing in robotics and AI to modernise its operations, optimise productivity, and enhance accuracy.
According to reporting by Rest of World, the introduction of robots and other warehousing technology has helped the company shorten delivery times by 8-10 hours and grow output by 3.5x.
Viettel Post is a subsidiary of the wider state-owned conglomerate Viettel Group, which more broadly is also betting big on these emerging technologies to increase scale, service quality, and efficiency.
Spanning operations including multinational telecommunications, technology and manufacturing, Viettel has its own AI Robot Platform.
This uses 3D and wide-angle cameras to identify and classify the environment, with bots automatically navigating and avoiding obstacles.
Frontier technologies such as dynamic robotics and adaptive AI also enable logistics firms to enhance delivery productivity through the likes of intelligent route planning.
"Johnny Five", a big fan of input...would no doubt approve.
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This video really got us thinking.
The excerpt was recently doing the rounds on social media, demonstrating how UK Police completed a "hat trick" of uninsured vehicles seizures (you can watch the short 17 second clip free here: https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c39vpgeg170o)
As important and welcome the work of law enforcement officers to do this obviously is, in the near future this sort of situation won't even occur.
The limitation to the changes not being in effect already today is not technological; everything required is already here.
Inhibitors are societal, cultural, and above all political.
Regardless of level of autonomy, or whether powered by internal combustion or batteries, motoring is inevitably going to become more Orwellian.
Via digital means, contemporary vehicles simply will be locked unless all appropriate criteria are satisfied.
If a biped mammal is still required to pilot, then data like biometrics - potentially via implants - will be used by the vehicle to verify that the driver is well (including sober) and currently licensed to drive.
If the driver is deemed to be unfit, or not possessing the correct credentials, the vehicle - via software - will not function.
This of course may be largely positive if it stops insurance evaders or selfish drunk-drivers from getting behind the wheel at the risk to others.
Furthermore, if the vehicle has detected a technical malfunction or is lacking the appropriate current administrative credentials - like valid insurance or paid road tax - then the All Seeing Eye won't let it move.
The question is what options may be available when "the system" doesn't work as expected.
If we automate too much (especially to opaque, non-deterministic, Black Box algorithms that we don't properly understand) then there may not be any form of effective recourse to account for exceptional circumstances.
"Computer says No".
Such could be the future we build for ourselves if insufficient care is combined with overly-optimistic faith into algorithmics which may eventually fully control important aspects of our lives.
At the moment with all the hype around "AI" there is scant evidence that sufficient caution is being exercised, nor that informed decisions are being mindfully and consciously made when handing over control to systems which exert significant influence - it could be a slippery slope.
Dystopian perhaps, but eminently plausible when the macro view is taken.
Will we have the drive (pun-intended), individually and collectively, to ensure our future is what we really want...rather than merely what we're given?
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Thank-you for reading and being part of our community - we trust you find these original pieces on emerging technology and digital innovation useful, valuable, and thought-provoking as we bridge the gap between today and what future tech might bring tomorrow in Plain English.
When you're ready, contact us to discuss how we can deliver independent, objective, and unbiased strategic foresight around the implications of emerging technologies for your organisation -
https://www.futurehorizon.digital/
Think bold.
Think broad.
Think beyond.
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As ever, we welcome all forms of feedback: compliments as well as constructive criticism! If there are particular topics you want to see more - or less - of, please let us know. You can reach us at horizon-weekly@futurehorizon.digital
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