All the time in the world…

“No Time to Die,” with Daniel Craig as James Bond for the last time retains the melancholy and relative raw realism of the Craig-era Bond. More importantly, the movie retains the longer and deeper conversations introduced in recent Bond movies. The introductory conversation between Vesper and Bond in Casino Royale is classic; it starts with the quintessential Bond one-liners but goes on into a longer and lingering conversation in a train, marking the beginning of a fiery romance. Skyfall has the long conversation, too, albeit mostly one-sided, between the villain Raoul and Bond, with a homoerotic undercurrent and oedipal references. In No Time to Die, the conversation to highlight is the one between M and Bond, with Bond ending the conversation putting M in his place for a terrible decision, using the boss’ desk to relatively size his capabilities.

The future of conversations is very interesting, and maybe Bond reflects what people are looking for in real life – meaningful conversations that connect, nurture, and educate; and sometimes, the one-liners just to flirt, cajole, or irritate!

Of course, there is much more to conversations, as they turn into narratives. Narratives can help elect governments, incite violence, help provide justice, or fuel revolutions.

Technology has created the ability to turn conversations into narratives faster. Conversations are everywhere, from one-liners to tomes of text; from audio podcasts to short format videos to vlogging; from social media conversations to game platform discussions.

Storytelling has become mainstream. Leaders are told that they must be storytellers, much to the chagrin of the old guard. As conversations become narratives, companies are interested in finding out what products to build and where to sell; media is interested in tapping into narratives for news; the government is eager to understand the sentiments of its citizens. Fake news today travels faster and further than real news through social platform conversations.

Conversations are going digital with chat bots – both plaintext and photorealistic. Digital assistants are listening-in, to service you and even to have an intelligent conversation. Augmented reality and virtual reality can assist you with conversations. Amongst all these, there are swathes of population who are lonely and hungry for someone who will listen. Just listen…and maybe understand.

It is important to leverage technology, but also to keep it in its place as far as conversations go. It is important to get out and in front of each other, physically, as we have evolved to be social creatures. It is important to speak without fear and develop the fine art of conversing. It is important to develop empathy and to listen to understand. It is important to provide our diverse citizens platforms for expression. It is important for leaders to create narratives that matter to the planet and for citizens to feed conversations that inform policy. We must stop running around like squirrels in a race and make time for conversations. For as Craig’s last line as Bond goes, “You have all the time in the world.”

(Katragadda is the former CTO of Tata Group and founder of AI company Myelin Foundry. He is driven to peel off known facts to discover unknown layers.)