Jason Crawford is the founder of The Roots of Progress, where he writes and speaks about the history of technology and the philosophy of progress.

He has written for the MIT Technology Review and given interviews as a spokesman for the progress movement to BBC and Vox. Vox named him to their “Future Perfect 50” list alongside Will MacAskill, Jennifer Doudna, and Max Tegmark. He consults for Our World in Data, and advises fellows at the Foresight Institute. He has received grants for his work from the Mercatus Center and Open Philanthropy.

Previously, he spent 18 years as a software engineer, engineering manager, and startup founder. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Philipp Lenssen created this art piece with the help of generative AI. Philipp is from Germany and has been exploring technology and art for all his life. He developed sandbox universes Manyland and wrote a technology blog for 7 years. He's currently working on new daily pictures at Instagram.com/PhilippLenssen

Jason Crawford envisages a future marked by dynamic, continuous progress, encapsulated in the concept of protopia. This vision diverges from a traditional notion of a utopia, and instead embraces a reality of constant, incremental improvement. In Jason's view, progress is an ever-evolving journey, not a destination. It's a series of small, significant steps that, over time, lead to profound transformations in our world.

Central to Jason's perspective is the transformative potential of AI, paralleling historical technological leaps like the steam engine and personal computing. He views AI as a catalyst for a new era in human history, one that could redefine societal structures by making high-quality services accessible to a broader demographic. This democratization of resources, akin to services becoming as affordable as a Netflix subscription, could bridge gaps across wealth and intelligence. However, Jason emphasizes that this protopian future requires collective agency, responsibility, and a balanced understanding of our role in shaping it. He believes that progress accelerates over time, with each innovation building upon the last, thus speeding up future advancements.