“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.”

~ Albert Einstein (from the memoirs of William Miller, an editor, quoted in Life magazine, May 2, 1955; Expanded, p. 281)

In a world where AI threatens to outpace human ingenuity, can curiosity be our secret weapon? If so, how can we inspire and maintain curiosity in the future? On April 20th, 2024, FuturistCircle, China’s first foresight practitioner network, asked these questions by conducting an experiment at the intersection of human creativity and AI. Partnering with Curiousness Design, we invited a diverse group of minds to reimagine the future of curiosity in an AI-dominated era.

This was the fourth event in our Future Design x AI series, which aims to evaluate the new relationship between designers and AI, and to explore the potential opportunities. FuturistCircle regularly chooses future topics we care about, such as design, happiness, and learning, and attempts to anticipate different possibilities following a Strategic Foresight approach.

For the specific workshop discussed here, we specifically sought to explore future opportunities that went beyond the common refrain or linear future that designers will lose jobs and be replaced by AI.

Gamification Makes Strategic Foresight More Accessible and Playful

In a 150-minute workshop, we gathered seven participants from various backgrounds, including educators, consultants, product managers, writers, designers, and college students. During the event, we divided the participants into three groups and used the Dreams & Disruptions cards, a game designed to stimulate creativity and challenge assumptions, to create future scenarios related to curiosity.

Why use game cards? Because many participants are unfamiliar with strategic foresight methods, we wanted to find an easy, hands-on way to lower the barrier of understanding.

We also adapted the card game to suit the workshop’s needs. Here’s how our process worked:

Step 1) Each group had to decide: How far into the future are we discussing? The next 10 years, the next generation, or a century? Each group selected a time horizon card.

Step 2) What kind of future are we discussing? Each group chose a future archetype card: preferred future, worst future, or weird future.

Step 3) What is the future like? Each group randomly drew 3–4 drivers of change cards. They needed to think about how these drivers would influence the future, and then try to depict this future.

Exploring the Future with Human-AI Collaboration

In the process of forecasting and scenario planning, we attempted to incorporate generative AI tools. IFTF’s Three Horizons of AI course I attended in March 2024 inspired this idea: when trying to understand the future of AI, why not start using AI tools ourselves? So, we encouraged each group to use AI tools they were familiar with, such as ChatGPT, MidJourney, and Kimi. We did not impose strict requirements on how to use these AI tools; each group had to explore a method that suited them, make forecasts, and co-create a future scenario with AI’s assistance.

For each scenario, members needed to demonstrate the following:

• What is the world and everyday life like?
• What is the relationship between curiosity and us in the future?
• What role does AI play in this?

The three groups independently explored different modes of human-AI collaboration, making a wide range of observations and insights:

Group 1 gave AI relatively open propositions, combining card content into prompts to form different forecasts, primarily in the form of text and images. Team members then reviewed and optimized the forecasts.

Headline from the future: Emotional experience trading market

Future archetype: The weird future

Time horizon: In a generation from now

Description: In this world, emotional experiences have become commodities that can be traded in the market. One can purchase others’ experiences on the app store, and immerse themselves in them by wearing an AI-enabled Mixed Reality headset. AI agents provide customers with a variety of emotional experiences recorded in large language models. Moreover, these experiences can be customized to meet individual requests.

Group 2 first brainstormed forecasts on their own based on the card content. Then, they prompted AI to extend the forecast into a short story with illustrations. (Notably, each group’s prompts included AI as a key element, but in the AI-written story endings, rebuilding the human society’s trust system did not involve AI.)

Headline from the future: The collapse and reconstruction of the social trust system

Future archetype: The worst future

Time horizon: In a century

Description: In 2124, as Deepfake technology is widely adopted, its misuse by mass media and social media influencers has become commonplace. Driven by curiosity but lacking rigorous fact-checking, people are frequently misled by the information they encounter daily. This leads to the collapse of the existing social trust system. In response, some individuals begin to rebuild a new system founded on honesty, information transparency, and a spirit of mutual support.

Group 3 formed their own forecasts and narratives, then handed them to the AI tool to improve the writing content and to generate future images.

Headline from the future: Develop inner growth when the external environment is limited

Future archetype: The preferred future

Time horizon: In a decade

Description: In 2034, we live in an affluent society characterized by peace and love. To ensure order and safety, AI surveillance is ubiquitous. As the exploration of the outside world becomes increasingly restricted by these surveillance devices, many people turn inward, seeking to explore their inner selves.

Some Insights

If we distill the core of the strategic foresight process into two main parts, it would be the following:

• Forecasting: Helps us broaden our perspective to see more possibilities.
• Expression: Extends future forecasts into future scenarios, presented in text, visuals, or other creative forms.

Overlaying AI tools to the strategic foresight process reveals three modes of human-AI collaboration:

Value of Generative AI Tools

A. Generates as many forecasts as possible without restrictions, overcoming our creative thinking limitations.

B. Further elaborates human-led forecasting, extending them into future scenarios; helps us deepen and refine our thinking.

C. Executes creative ideas according to human-led forecasting and future scenarios, improving efficiency and saving time.

Further Inspiration and Insights

• To our surprise, generative AI can be very imaginative and creative in forecasts and making future narratives. It makes us consider t the role of professional futurists in the future of human-AI collaboration.
• Only by continually thinking can we promote personal and social development. Therefore, when discussing the relationship between AI and curiosity, our primary focus should be on human curiosity and then on how AI can stimulate and expand this curiosity.
• While AI can bring great value to foresight work, we must be aware that over-reliance on AI suggestions can lead to predictable behavior patterns. AI tends to give responses more aligned with personal preferences, losing objectivity. Thus, we need to use AI more cautiously and be able to identify biases and errors.
• AI can break an individual’s cognitive limitations to some extent, but as a tool based on experience, it represents existing human knowledge and experience. Therefore, we cannot completely rely on AI to generate unique insights into the future.

Some Limitations

This was our first attempt to use human-AI collaboration in a Future Design x AI workshop, and with only three groups, the sample size is very limited. We hope more people can bring this method into foresight workshops on different themes and even foresight research projects to help us refine and supplement the above three modes of human-AI collaboration.

Special thanks to Ino from Curiousness Design for contributing to some of the ideas and visuals in this article!

IFTF Foresight Essentials

Institute for the Future (IFTF) is the world’s leading futures organization. Its training program, IFTF Foresight Essentials, is a comprehensive portfolio of strategic foresight training tools based upon over 50 years of IFTF methodologies. IFTF Foresight Essentials cultivates a foresight mindset and skillset that enable individuals and organizations to foresee future forces, identify emerging imperatives, and develop world-ready strategies. To learn more about how IFTF Foresight Essentials is uniquely customizable for businesses, government agencies, and social impact organizations, visit iftf.org/foresightessentials.