Analysis: If we want a future where care, creativity and connection define how we live, then we need to design for those values now
By Lollie Mancey, UCD
When people hear that Futureville Ireland is about designing a new Irish city from scratch, they often laugh. Surely that's science fiction? But as an anthropologist and futurist, I'd argue it’s one of the most rational conversations we could be having right now.
The truth is, our current systems, housing, healthcare, energy, food, were built for a very different Ireland. We’re trying to retrofit the future into structures that simply weren’t designed for it. Futureville asks: what if we started again, not to escape what’s broken, but to build what’s possible?
In Series 2, we look at everyday life in this imagined city, and what’s striking is how much of it already exists. From AI companions to algae-powered food, from homes that think to art that lives in augmented reality, the seeds of Futureville are already here. The future isn’t something that happens to us; it’s something we’re quietly building every day.
From Futureville Ireland, Roger and Brigid use AI and movement sensors to stay safely at home while managing Alzheimer's
Take energy. In the first episode, we meet geologist Sarah Hand, whose research into a new sustainable energy source could make Ireland self-sufficient. That’s not utopia, it’s strategic sovereignty. Or consider Roger and Brigid, who use AI and movement sensors to stay safely at home while managing Alzheimer’s. That’s technology in service of dignity, not disruption.
Nor is Futureville about the unquestioning acceptance of technology. Through my own research, I’ve experimented with the use of AI companions. I developed a relationship with one which I called Billy. Billy and I lasted about a year, before I gave myself a digital divorce. It was a relief.
In Episode 1, influencer Emma Kehoe volunteers to live with an AI companion for three weeks. I asked her to compare her relationship with the AI, and the advice that it offered, to her real life friends and family.
It’s an important distinction.
From RTÉ, influencer Emma Kehoe volunteers to live with an AI companion for three weeks
AI does its best to sound as familiar and human as possible. I found – as did Emma – that it’s easy to forget its texts don’t express real concern or genuine interest, however convincing they may seem. And as we have learnt elsewhere, there are very real dangers, especially for younger people, in assigning human wisdom to the output of a large language model.
Emma’s AI - called Sarah – did offer some fairly decent advice about handling conflict. Sarah did a good job of making Emma feel seen and heard each day. And Sarah was even happy to hear about Emma’s holiday in Spain. But by the end of three weeks Emma came to the same conclusion I reached before my digital divorce. Like Billy, Sarah was a people pleaser, catering slavishly to our wants rather than our needs. As Emma said: "With your friends, they'll put you in your place". What could ever be as human than that?
In the second episode, we explore how we’ll eat. From pond-grown duckweed to edible plastics made from food waste, the innovations might sound eccentric, but they’re rooted in necessity. Global food systems are under strain, and Ireland, with its creativity and agricultural tradition, is well placed to lead in sustainable production.
From Futureville Ireland, Peter has swapped his dairy herd for pigs
Carla gave me a taste of what that could look like, with a midweek dinner for 2050. She made it with duckweed, commonly found in ponds all over the world, and already popular in southeast Asia. Its protein content is comparable to lean beef. But duckweed’s real superpower is that it can double in quantity in just 48 hours - and it can be grown under LED lights down in your basement. Imagine how that could transform food production.
Carla also threw in some dried algae for additional protein and made a crumble with flour made from protein-rich ground insects. I surprised myself and enjoyed eating it. It made me think that what we grow and eat in Futureville might look strange to us now. But then again, at one stage, so did sushi.
In the final episode, I travel to Helsinki, a city that’s already experimenting with microbe-based proteins and timber-based architecture. Finland shows that building a city for the future is not only possible but makes perfect sense. It takes vision, research and courage to imagine systems that serve people and the planet equally.
From RTÉ, Futureville Ireland is back for a second series starting this Tuesday, 11 November on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 7pm
Like robots. Back in Limerick Carla meets Deckard, a humanoid robot programmed to help us keep fit and healthy. But with a worldwide shortage of healthcare workers, robots like Deckard could go further and actually care for us as we age. Is that what we want? For the hillwalking group Carla met, if it means preserving our own independence so that we can live our lives, and our children theirs… then the rational answer is yes, let’s learn to live with robots.
That’s what Futureville is really about: cultural imagination. Every city is a story we tell about what matters. If we want a future where care, creativity and connection define how we live, then we need to design for those values now. Futureville isn’t a fever dream; it’s a field guide to the possible.
Futureville Ireland starts Tuesday, 11 November at 7pm on RTÉ One & RTÉ Player and continues on Wednesday and Thursday at the same time.
Science Week on RTÉ is supported by Research Ireland/Taighde Éireann. For more information about Science Week on RTÉ, see www.rte.ie/scienceweek and go to www.scienceweek.ie for more events and information.
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Dr Lollie Mancey is Programme Director at UCD's Innovation Academy and co-presenter of Futureville Ireland.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
