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Most of us are too busy with the present to think far into the future—work, kids, pets and other obligations can make it feel like planning for anything more than a week away is a fool’s errand.

But we also live in a time of rapid change, where technologies from biological design to artificial intelligence threaten to mold the future in ways we might have trouble imagining. So it’s comforting to know that we have bright, creative minds at work thinking about how we might change course to create a more positive future. 

Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley are the authors of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future. Both authors work at Stanford’s d.school, where Carissa is the academic director, and Scott is creative director. 

In this episode, we learn why they wrote the book, and how we might rethink our design processes in light of the rapid changes brought on by AI. We also discuss how we can shift our thinking from short-term gains to look at our moment in time from a broader perspective.

Bios

Carissa Carter is a designer, geoscientist, and the academic director at the Stanford d.school. She's the author of The Secret Language of Maps: How to Tell Visual Stories with Data, and teaches design courses on emerging technologies, climate change, and data visualization. Her work on designing with machine learning and blockchain has earned multiple design awards, including Fast Company Innovation and Core 77 awards. 

Scott Doorley is a writer, designer, and the creative director at the Stanford d.school. He has overseen everything from books to workspaces to digital products and initiatives focused on the future of learning and design. He co-wrote the book Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration and teaches courses in design communication. His work has been featured in museums from San Jose to Helsinki and in publications such as Architecture + Urbanism and the New York Times. 

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