Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!

Chase Peterson

Abstract:

Half the people in tech insist AI will usher in the apocalypse a la the Terminator: a military‑grade god‑machine that wakes up angry and decides we’re deprecated. Another half are sure it will hand us a post-scarcity utopia, complete with starships, replicators, and a benevolent computer that never blue‑screens, basically Star Trek with better CI/CD.

Still, an even larger third half quietly suspects we’ll get something much more familiar: a few dazzling breakthroughs, a constant sense that everything you know is out of date, and absolutely no affordable housing anywhere. AI won’t save us or end us; it will accelerate what we already have—robots and automation everywhere, one‑person labs with planet‑scale leverage, rapid prototyping on fast‑forward, and a thick layer of bugs, dark patterns, and misaligned incentives on top.

In other words, the future we’re actually steering toward isn’t Skynet or Starfleet—it’s Futurama.

Chase Peterson

Lighthearted and generally optimistic approach to serious tech

Chase is a professor of Artificial Intelligence and AI Faculty Fellow at Metro State University, where he teaches Data Mining Tools, Advanced Data Mining and Applied AI in Business. His journey began on the factory floor as a welder, grew through systems integration and building management systems, and landed squarely in the world of cybersecurity, AI, and Industrial Controls. With an MBA and CISSP, Chase bridges the gap between industry reality and academic insight. He’s been featured on Minnesota Public Radio discussing the changing role of AI in higher education, and has spoken at conferences like MWAIS, ICAIS, and IACIS. Known for his lighthearted and generally optimistic approach to serious tech, Chase’s talk explores the chaos found in the algorithm if you’re brave enough.