Preparing for a World with Highly Advanced AI

What might it feel like to Design & Make in a world where highly advanced artificial intelligence systems are woven into the fabric of everyday business, collaborating across disciplines, making decisions alongside people, and reshaping the pace of innovation? This was the question at the center of a recent immersive foresight experience by Autodesk Research’s Strategic Foresight group. Through an interactive installation and facilitated war-gaming exercises, participants were invited into a future world where AI capabilities had advanced significantly, prompting conversations about governance, workforce transformation, and the evolving needs of customers. Rather than offering predictions, the immersive experience was designed to help technical research leaders consider a range of potential futures.

The installation drew from the Foresight group’s multi-month research on long horizon AI scenarios. A cross-disciplinary team of research scientists, including those with expertise in economics and social systems, investigated how increasingly capable, autonomous, and embodied AI systems could influence the social, political, and economic landscapes in which Autodesk customers operate. The research explored both opportunities and risks, examining how AI of increasing capability parity might change how organizations design, make, and operate, as well as how businesses, institutions, and government might choose to adapt.

By exploring possible futures before they arrive, Autodesk Research is helping Autodesk better understand the world its customers may one day navigate amidst the broader impacts of technological change.