Optimism and Opportunity: Faithful Perspectives on Technological Advancement

Is it correct or even possible to be optimistic about our future given the rapid pace of technological change and all the challenges these developments bring? Along with technology, our modern society has reaped great abundance and stands to gain more, but Christians must also think about how to steward a materially abundant society. What could a radically abundant future look like, especially for our children, and how might it be achieved? How might Christians think about a future of radical abundance enabled by advances in AI, energy, and the policy and cultural frameworks that will enable these technologies?

Join Rachel Barkley, President of RK Barkley Consulting, as she interviews and discusses these topics with Taylor Barkley, Director of Public Policy at the Abundance Institute.

Taylor Barkley is the Director of Public Policy for the Abundance Institute, a mission-driven nonprofit focused on creating space for emerging technologies. Taylor’s expertise is at the intersection of culture, technology, and innovation. His writing and commentary have been featured and published in outlets including Scientific American, USA Today, Fox Business, and Marketplace. He has extensive experience working with state-based technology policy projects and partners and most major federal technology policy topics at. He has worked at the Center for Growth and Opportunity, Stand Together Trust, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Mercatus Center. He is originally from southern California and a graduate of Taylor University in Indiana with a double major in history and political science. He and his family live and attend church in the Washington, DC area. Taylor’s hope is that the future will be so much better than today that we wouldn’t believe it if we saw it.

The Abundance Institute is a mission-driven nonprofit focused on creating space for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and new energy generation methods to grow, thrive, and have a chance to reach their full potential. Focusing on the societal and policy barriers that emerging technologies face, the Institute seeks to eliminate those barriers by investing in talent development and talent assembly; supporting a community of optimists, founders, and innovators; and shaping public policies before emerging technologies go mainstream.