In the Futures Toolkit, which was developed by SAMI Consulting in coordination with the Government Office for Science, we included a section on Experiential Futures. We describe them as “Experiential Futures are methods and tools where people get a visceral experience of a range of futures. This can be valuable as a way to start a creative and productive discussion about different possible futures”. As part of our series of blogs focussing on elements of the toolkit, we wanted to explore this in a bit more detail.
Experiential futures bridge the gap between the conceptual or textual, which often remain detached from everyday understanding to bringing future possibilities to life, engaging not just the intellect but also the emotions and senses. This approach prioritizes the human, focusing on how potential futures might feel, not just how they might function and by doing so increases the reach of potential future states. By passing the agency of experiencing the future to participants, it improves engagement - people are more likely to engage with and influence the future if they feel part of it, not as passive observers of an already created future but as active participants in feeling and experiencing it. The more immersive and engaging these approaches are, linking the senses and emotions to scenarios, the more likely they will act as catalysts for conversation; and for policymakers, give a rich and engaging way of exploring options before acting.
The Toolkit refers to several experiential methods. Narrative and Storytelling includes our always popular “Day in the Life” exercise, and personas and storytelling, particularly those used by the Wales Future Generations Commissioner’sOffice and Public Health Wales. We include speculative fiction, such as the RAF’s Stories from the Future. We look at Artefacts – such as the Royal Society’s Museum of Extraordinary Objects. And we review Images, Videos and Speculative Design, as well as Gamification.
Futures is a constantly evolving field – indeed, SAMI itself develops new methods, often using gamification and narrative, throughout our practice on a continuous basis. Recent developments, including the ability to use AI illustration apps on the fly to create images through prompts, or 3D printing which can bring true realism to “objects from the future”, continue to change the field.
So, here’s some things we didn’t include in the Toolkit.
Design fiction is being used in exploring human-computer interaction. An interdisciplinary approach brings together human-computer interaction and design fiction to understand “the problem of the future and understanding the acceptability and adoption challenges that future and emerging technologies face from the viewpoint of their being situated in everyday life.” Speculative scenarios reveal underlying assumptions and foster a deeper understanding of how future technologies might integrate into society.
The frankly brilliant use of puppetry and artificial intelligence is being used to work with children in the imagining of future public space. This is an astonishingly innovative and clever way of engaging the young in creating visions of their own future spaces. “Through a workshop designed around kids of age 9-12, we investigate if novel technologies like artificial intelligence can be integrated in existing ways of play and performance to 1) re-imagine the future of civic spaces, 2) reflect on these novel technologies in the process and 3) build ways of civic engagement through play. We do this using a blend of AI image generation and Puppet making to ultimately build future scenarios, perform debate and discussion around the futures and reflect on AI, its role and potential in their process.” (Pait et al, Playfutures: imagining Civic Futures with AI and Puppets). Extremely innovative, very clever and impactful with an audience for whom the future will really matter, this is a great example of how experiential models can truly make a difference in futures work.
We know that the pace of change, and overwhelm, can adversely affect policymakers’ ability to make reasoned, clear decisions, particularly when under stress. We also know people love inventing new terms and abbreviations. Sanchez and Epp have proposed what they call Experiential Futures in-the-wild to inform policy design: “As technological innovation continues to shape our world at an accelerating pace, policy makers struggle to keep up with the unintended consequences of these new technologies. To address this policy-novelty gap, Responsible Research Innovation (RRI) has been proposed as a way to drive science and technology innovation towards socially desirable goals.” This method emphasizes the importance of experiential learning in the policymaking process, promoting more agile and informed decision-making.
And, of course, there is generative AI. There’s a lot of literature on this – and we know from speaking with futures colleagues around the world that a lot of people are using large language models to cocreate scenarios, to write “Day in the Life” exercise, and to flesh out detail in scenarios. We are a little torn here – futures thinking is an intensely collaborative effort, and replacing workshops with an AI runs the risk of removing human agency, serendipity and comprehensive 360 degree thinking from the futures development process. This one will run and run, as the art of futures thinking and foresight comes to grips with what AI can bring – and what it cannot. It is, though, important to remember that AI cannot think. People in workshops can. And until AI can think, it will always be a less valuable resource in foresight work than people.
This is only a small example of what is happening with experiential models in the real world. As more methods are used, more will develop – the examples I’ve given here are all post -2023, for instance. Such things as ethnographic insights, design fiction, generative AI, creative play, and immersive field interventions offer new ways to engage with and shape the future. They not only enrich the foresight process but empower and engage people in the creation of their, and our, future.
Written by Jonathan Blanchard Smith, SAMI Director and Fellow
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily of SAMI Consulting.
Achieve more by understanding what the future may bring. We bring skills developed over thirty years of international and national projects to create actionable, transformative strategy. Futures, foresight and scenario planning to make robust decisions in uncertain times. Find out more at www.samiconsulting.co.uk
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