The changing pace of technology poses both challenges and opportunities. At MIT IDE 2015, Wikibon analysts Steve Chambers, Stu Miniman and Dave Vellante summed up a lot of the themes of the conference and its vision for the future. Miniman urged both excitement and caution.

“As technologists, we kind of say that understanding technology and being an enthusiast for it means you’re optimistic about the future and what this can bring.” he stated. “That said, I’ve got kids and I’m worried about jobs. The productivity piece is the one thing that I’m a little bit still not satisfied with the answers I heard today.”

Innovation waits in the wings

This caution seems warranted, given that even as productivity has increased over the past decade, the median income has not, especially since the last recession. But given the rapid changes in technology and the economy over that time, there’s no telling what innovations are waiting in the wings. Chambers discussed one of his favorite talks of the conference: “It told us something we all know. You talk about Apple and the way the builder ecosystem, it all looks kind of obvious. But it wasn’t obvious a few years ago.”

Miniman agreed. “We don’t have all the answers yet. What we know is, it’s changing really fast. As long as we don’t come after the computers with hammers … technology is going to move forward and innovation is rampant. There’s always the ‘oh no, we’ve reached the end of the life cycle of this technology,’ but then there’s something new. It’s the combinatorial pieces that are coming together.”

And hopefully, with the right changes in education and some good old-fashioned human willpower, these challenges will be nothing compared to the opportunities they bring.

Watch the full segment below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of MIT IDE 2015.