The topic of trust is a crucial context when we look at the current 2025 challenges, as described in my latest 2 speaking topics.

2025: Emergencies and Opportunities

The 3 challenges – 2025 is a fighting year

The year 2025 isn't just pivotal; it's a battleground. Trump's MAGA-USA has plunged diplomacy and economics into chaos, establishing ignorance, misinformation and intimidation as cornerstones of global interaction. Truth is negotiable, bullying normalised, and democracy perverted. As longstanding alliances strain and trust erodes, the critical question emerges: how long before democracy fractures completely, and what comes next? Or: which opportunities may result from this crisis (such as the USofE) ?
Simultaneously, the climate emergency is no longer just a potential threat— it's here, now; devastatingly real and relentless. Yet the new U.S. administration exists vital climate agreements and turns ecological disaster into economic catastrophe. And if that's not enough, humanity faces the rise of Artificial General Intelligence— potentially our last invention. Will AGI elevate humanity to unprecedented heights, or swiftly render us irrelevant? The fight for The Good Future is ON – and this keynote will show the way forward.

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HOW CAN WE TRUST EACH OTHER AGAIN?

Trust is the glue that hold societies together

In the past decade, turst been dissolving at an alarming rate. Trust in government, public organisations, media, and even in each other has eroded. ‘Too much technology’ might be at least partly responsible, as we increasingly spend more time with screens (and soon, AIs?) than with people, and our news is now fed to us by social media algorithms designed not to inform, but to generate the most clicks.

It turns out that ‘more technology’ does not inspire more collaboration and understanding; instead, it fuels mistrust and fear. As a result, democracy is in decline, while authoritarian and populist leaders gain ground. Is democracy likely to die in a digital-first world?

We’re already struggling with these issues today (in 2025) but what will happen when AI—specifically AI Agenting and AI Search—really takes off? When virtual reality, spatial computing, and the metaverse become as common as WhatsApp, will we remain trapped in our dystopian obsession, or can we steer technology toward Protopia—a world where progress, growth and trust coexist?

I think we must reclaim trust—not just in institutions, but in each other. That starts with a new narrative—one that reminds us why humans can be trusted and why a Good Future is entirely possible. But it doesn’t stop there. We must also take action: Reboot social media to prioritize truth and meaningful discourse over outrage and engagement. Rekindle public media to provide independent, trustworthy journalism. Regulate AI to ensure it enhances humanity rather than ending up dehumanizing us.

In this brand-new keynote, I first analyse what is happening, then share my key foresights for the next five years, and finally, propose concrete actions for rebuilding trust.

“We are to be architects of the future, not its victims.” —Buckminster Fuller

Below: Images from the Youtube video (March 7 2025), generated by DallE, Sora, Descript, Runway etc (our fav AI tools), and edited by my content team.

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