Millennium Project

Summary

The Millennium Project is a global participatory think tank established in 1996 under the American Council for the United Nations University. We became an independent non-profit in 2009 and we now have 72 Nodes (a group of institutions and individuals that connect local and global perspectives) around the world.

Purpose: Improve humanity’s prospects for building a better future.

Mission: Improve thinking about the future and make that thinking available
through a variety of media for feedback to accumulate wisdom about the future for better decisions today.

Vision: A global foresight network of Nodes, information, and software, building a global collective intelligence system recognized for its ability to improve prospects for humanity. A think tank on behalf of humanity, not on behalf of a government, or an issue, or an ideology, but on behalf of building a better future for all of us.

OnAir Post: Millennium Project

News

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World Futures Day 2025: Join the 24-hour global conversation shaping our future
Futures Digest, Mara Di Berardo – February 26, 2025

Every year on March 1st, World Futures Day (WFD) brings together people from around the globe to engage in a continuous conversation about the future. What began as an experimental open dialogue in 2014 has grown into a cornerstone event for futurists, thought leaders, and citizens interested in envisioning a better tomorrow. WFD 2025 will mark the twelfth edition of the event.

WFD is a 24-hour, round-the-world global conversation about possible futures and represents a new kind of participatory futures method (Di Berardo, 2022). Futures Day on March 1 was proposed by the World Transhumanist Association, now Humanity+, in 2012 to celebrate the future. Two years later, The Millennium Project launched WFD as a 24-hour worldwide conversation for futurists and the public, providing an open space for discussion. In 2021, UNESCO established a WFD on December 2. However, The Millennium Project and its partners continue to observe March 1 due to its historical significance, its positive reception from the futures community, and the value of multiple celebrations in maintaining focus on future-oriented discussions.

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State of the Future — Version 20.0
February 18, 2025

The State of the Future 20.0 is a 500-page whopper with a unique and extensive overview of Future Issues & Opportunities compiled by The Millennium Project.

It provides a broad, detailed, and readable look at the issues and opportunities on the future of humanity, and what we should know today to avoid the worst and achieve the best for the future of civilization. The Millennium Project, a global participatory think-tank, distilled countless research reports, insights from hundreds of futurists and related experts around the world, and 70 of its own futures research reports, to make this report of immense value. It offers an Executive Summary on the prospects for civilization.

The Executive Summary offers an overview of the entire book, representing a short report card on the future of humanity as a whole.

Part 1 summarizes the 15 Global Challenges on sustainable development and climate change, water, population and resources, democratization, foresight and decision-making, ICT and AI for all, rich-poor gap, health and disease, education and learning, war and peace, changing roles of women, organized crime, energy, science and technology, and global ethics. Each topic includes a brief overview, a list of actions, along with their regional considerations.

Part 2, State of the Future Index 2035, integrates 29 variables to show if the future is getting better or worse, and where we are winning and losing.

Part 3, Governing the Transition from Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), distills insights from 55 of the world’s leading AGI experts on 22 questions on the future of AGI. Drawing on these insights, it identifies 40 national and international regulations and 5 governance models that are assessed by an international 299-member panel.

Part 4, Beneficial AGI Competition, discusses the world of 2045, its issues and opportunities, offering a scenario about a day in 2045 and how AGI could greatly improve life in that day.

Part 5, Five UN Foresight Elements of Our Common Agenda, provides an international assessment of the five foresight elements of the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report to make the UN more relevant to the future.

Part 6, World Futures Day, synthesizes the 11th Annual World Futures Day – the 24-hour, around-the-world open discussion on the future, with trend and pattern analysis from previous World Futures Days.

Part 7, Robots 2050, illustrates the future possibilities of AI robots in governments, in daily life, in bed, in the oceans, and in space.

The Conclusions offer some policy recommendations and actions to address the challenges and issues discussed in the report.

The State of the Future 20.0 is one of the largest, broadest, most detailed publications on future issues and possibilities written. It covers what the globally-minded citizen should know about the future and decision-making today.

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Phase 3 of The Millennium Project research on AGI governance
Millennium Project, Mara Di Berardo – July 6, 2024

Phase 3 of The Millennium Project research on AGI governance has begun with initial drafts of five AGI governance scenarios out to 2035. The study on International Governance Issues of the Transition from Artificial Narrow Intelligence to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is composed of 3 phases.

Phase 1 of the AGI study collected the views of 55 AGI leaders in the US, China, UK, the European Union, Canada, and Russia to the 55 questions.

Phase 2 of the research consisted of a Real-time Delphi Study that assessed 40 potential regulations for developers, governments, Multi-stakeholder/UN organizations, and users for trusted global and national governance of AGI. The RTDelphi is now closed and report is being prepared.

Phase 3 has been just launched. It is planned to produce alternative AGI governance scenarios out to 2035 illustrating a range of possible futures from failure to success. The five authors are Ben Goertzel (author of Artificial General Intelligence in 2007), Mariana Todorova (Chair Bulgaria Node), David Wood (Co-Chair UK Node), Jose Cordeiro (Chair Venezuela Node and President of RIBER), and Jerome Glenn (MP CEO).

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About

Some accomplishments

System for people to think together about the future
— 72 Nodes (groups of individuals & institutions) connecting global and local perspectives
— Real-Time Delphi for rapid international assessment and feedback

Framework to understand and track global change
— State of the Future reports
— 15 Global Challenges updated continually on line

Educational contributions
— Over 400 Interns (since our founding in 1996) trained from over 30 countries
— Approximately 1,000 universities use The Millennium Project materials
— Millennium Awards that has involved over a thousand students from around the world

Inclusive and participatory system to measure global progress/regress
— State of the Future Index (SOFI) – Global and National Indexes

Largest collection of methods to explore the future
— 37 Methods, 39 Chapters, 1,300 pages, internationally peer-reviewed (Futures Research Methodology 3.0)

Previous Futures Research Studies:

  1. African Futures Scenarios 2025, and UNDP workshop at the UN (1994)
  2. Millennium Project Feasibility Study final report (1995)
  3. Global Issues/Strategies four-round Global Lookout (Delphi) study (1996)
  4. Lessons of History (1997)
  5. Global Opportunities and Strategies Delphi (1997)
  6. Definitions of Environmental Security (1997)
  7. Futures Research in Decisionmaking (and checklist) (1998-99)
  8. Exploratory Scenarios (1998)
  9. Global Normative 2050 Scenario (1998)
  10. Environmental Security Threats and Policy Leadership (1998)
  11. Factors Required for Successful Implementation of Futures Research in Decision Making (1999)
  12. Current/Potential UN military doctrine on Environmental Security (1999)
  13. Six Alternative Year 3000 Scenarios (1999)
  14. S&T Issues over the next 25 years (2000)
  15. Future Technological Implications for Society and the UN System (2000)
  16. World Leaders on Global Challenges; UN Summit (2001)
  17. Environmental Crimes in Military Actions and the International Criminal Court (ICC)––UN Perspectives (2001)
  18. Management Implications of Future S&T 2025 Issues (2001)
  19. New Military Environmental Security Requirements 2010-2015 (2001)
  20. Counterterrorism Scenarios; Scenarios, Actions, and Policies (2001-2002)
  21. Global Goals for the year 2050 (2002)
  22. Future S&T Scenarios 2025 (2002)
  23. Emerging Environmental Security Issues for Future UN Treaties (2002)
  24. Monthly Reports: Emerging Environmental Security Issues (2002-2011)
  25. Middle East Peace Scenarios (2002-04)
  26. Early Warning System for Kuwait Oil Company (2003-04)
  27. Nanotech Military R&D Health/Env Research Prevention Priorities 2004-05)
  28. Future Global Ethical Issues (2004-05)
  29. Global Energy Scenarios (2006-07)
  30. South Korea SOFI (2006)
  31. Future of Learning and Education 2030 (2007)
  32. Global Climate Change Situation Room for Gimcheon, South Korea (2007-2008)
  33. Conceptual design for global energy collective intelligence (GENIS) (2008)
  34. Status of Government Future Strategy Units (2008)
  35. RTDelphi for UNESCO World Water Report (2008)
  36. WFUNA Human Rights (2008)
  37. Decision Criteria Evaluation of Global Environment Facility (2008)
  38. South Korea SOFI and South African SOFI (2008)
  39. Early Warning System PMO Kuwait (2008-2009)
  40. Potential Future Elements of the Next Economic System (2009)
  41. UNESCO World Water Scenarios project (2009)
  42. Future of Ontologists (2009)
  43. Future Hopes and Fears: a Kuwait Perspective (2010-2011)
  44. Latin America 2030 Scenarios (2009-2011)
  45. Egypt 2020 (2010)
  46. Changes to Gender Stereotypes (2011)
  47. Azerbaijan SOFI (2011)
  48. Future Arts, Media, and Entertainment: Seeds for 2020 (2011)
  49. Cooperatives 2030: Factors Impacting Future of Cooperatives and Business (2012)
  50. Egypt’s national Synergetic Information System (ECISIS) (2013-16)
  51. Hidden Hunger: Unhealthy Food Markets in the Developing World (2013)
  52. Vulnerable Natural Infrastructure in Urban Coastal Zones (2013)
  53. FUTURES Dictionary/Encyclopedia (English and Spanish) (2014)
  54. SIMAD and Lone Wolf Terrorism Counter Strategies (2014)
  55. Czech Rep., Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Visegrad Region SOFIs (2014-2015)
  56. Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Context of Climate Change (2015-16)
  57. Pre-Detection of Terrorism Strategies RTDelphi, NATO Workshop (2015-17)
  58. Future Work/Tech Real-Time Delphi Studies (9 RTDs 2015-2017)
  59. National Strategy Workshops (30) on the Future of Work/Technology (2017-2019)
  60. Work/Technology 2050 : Scenarios and Actions report (2020)
  61. COVID-19 Three USA Scenarios (using 5 RTDelphi studies for input) (2020)
  62. Future developments and new industries EY (2021)
  63. Robots 2050 (2022)
  64. Future of Life Institute competition Artificial General Intelligence 2045 (2022)
  65. Five UN Foresight Elements of Our Common Agenda; Results of a Real-Time Delphi Study (2022)
  66. AGI Governance Issues: 55 AGI experts views on 22 questions (2023)
  67. FUTURES 2.0 Dictionary/Encyclopedia (English and Spanish) (2023)
  68. AGI Regulations and Global Governance Models: RTDelphi of 229 from 47 countries (2024)

Key Outputs:

State of the Future reports
State of the Future Index
Futures Research Methodology 3.0
Special global futures research

Millennium Project Brochure

Training, Conferences, Lectures: Discover more & Watch on YouTube

Web Links

Videos

Transition from Narrow to General Artificial Intelligence

November 9, 2022 (03:25)
By: The Millennium Project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h6hKqqmwn4&t=3s&ab_channel=TheMillenniumProject

Jerome C. Glenn, Founder and CEO of The Millennium Project, explains why we need to study the transition from NARROW to GENERAL Artificial Intelligence now in order to get the initial conditions right in this short video made by The Millennium Project. For information and support to the study,

Artificial General Intelligence and the Future of Ethics

December 19, 2022 (01:32:00)
By: London Futurists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuiqo5XWwzY&t=1s&ab_channel=LondonFuturists

When artificial intelligence exceeds human thinking in all categories of reasoning and understanding, what conclusions will it reach about the future of ethics? Will such systems – AGIs – take greater care of us humans, than the regard we show to rodents? To what extent can design choices made by human developers influence the decisions that AGIs will take? Or is any such discussion premature or misguided, given apparently more pressing problems facing human civilisation as 2023 approaches? This London Futurists webinar took place on 17th December 2002 and featured the ideas of Daniel Faggella, the founder and CEO of Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. Daniel has researched and written extensively on topics such as: *) A forthcoming “moral singularity” *) Scenarios for the emergence of AGI *) Why ideas of “friendly AI” are fraught with difficulty *) Possible trajectories for posthumans in the wake of advanced AI The event also featured comments and feedback from *) Bronwyn Williams, Foresight Lead, Flux Trends *) Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fast Future It was introduced and moderated by David Wood, Chair of London Futurists.

AGI Scenarios

 

The Millennium Project is collecting the views from over 50 AGI experts in US, China, Europe, and Russia. About half have been interviewed, the rest have their views included from their recent online interviews and comments. A list of 22 questions were used.

We are currently distilling the answers. The idea is the get ‘all’ the views “on the table”  and then see the patters, where there is consensus and divergence, and what other questions arise from the analysis.

This could be the most comprehensive overview of the AGI issues so far. The results will be used for a Real-Time Delphi and the results from that will be used for scenarios.

Contact Millennium Project for more information on their five scenarios

  1. The role of the UN for AGI Governance
  2. Democratized ASI is born
  3. Too little, too late
  4. Humanity Gets Lucky
  5. Vision of a Beneficial, Decentralized Singularity

More Information

Wikipedia

This article is about The Millennium Project. Not to be confused with United Nations Millennium Project.

The Millennium Project is a think tank that publishes a State of the Future report.[2] In 2001 it was associated with the American Council for the United Nations University.[3] By 2007 it had become a part of the World Federation of United Nations Associations[4] By 2009 it had become independent.[2]

References

  1. ^ December 19, 2013, USA Today, Moogfest announces music: Kraftwerk, Nile Rodgers, Retrieved July 9, 2015, “..Jerome C. Glenn: Co-founder & director of The Millennium Project….”
  2. ^ a b Jonathan Owen (2014-03-16). “State of the Future report: Humans are doing OK, but nature suffers as a result – and we’ll pay for it – Nature – Environment”. The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  3. ^ ANDREW ZIPERN, November 8, 2001, The New York Times, Rewarding Technology That Benefits Humanity, Retrieved Aug. 23, 2014.
  4. ^ 11 September 2007, Julian Borger, The Guardian, Organised crime: the $2 trillion threat to the world’s security, Retrieved Aug. 23, 201


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millennium_Project

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