SXSW always feels like a special time of year - the capital of Texas turns into a cosmopolitan mecca where intellectuals convene, share ideas, and build new relationships. It's a magical time when the world, descends upon Austin, Texas, briefly converting this Texas city into a place where intellectual conversations between seemingly disparate subject matter experts frequently occurs. It's a convergence of multidisciplinary experts presenting progressive new ideas and a gesamtkunstwerk-style (more on this concept in a future blog post) creation of beautiful never before seen (or thought of) projects and collaborations.
After a whirlwind week of nonstop learning and connecting with new friends, I decided to decompress and organize my SXNotes as a way to understand and apply what I had just experienced. This year, one of my top SXGoals was to curate the top trends I witnessed/heard whether at a panel discussion or one-on-one interview. This exercise also helped me articulate the major trends and takeaways of my SXExperience so I could share them with family and friends.
While there are numerous trends one could identify at SXSW, I'll share the top three (3) trends, in no particular order, that resonated with me and highlight their importance in our lives. The top 3 trends at SXSW 2017 were 1) Artificial Intelligence, 2) Creating, New Realities (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality), and 3) Human Connection, Vulnerability, and Love. This post will focus on the first trend at SXSW 2017, Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Artificial Intelligence
Although people may not realize it or want to admit it, AI is already here. Has anyone used Siri on the iPhone to check the weather or Google Maps to locate a business? How many people have used delegated agents through our financial institutions (i.e., automatic bill pay) to make payments on our behalf? These examples of AI illustrate the variety of ways the technology streamlines our daily lives.
Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist and futurist with Google, argues that AI, when viewed as a "brain expander" or "brain extender," can help us leverage exponential technologies to develop cures for deadly diseases. Likewise, Melanie Cook, a strategy and lead consultant with Sapient Razorfish, believes we are now at an important crossroads where AI has the potential to "amplify our human power" by helping us make better decisions and allowing us to use our human potential for more innovative and creative endeavors. In other words, AI provides a new opportunity to explore unknown worlds and see beyond current limitations. AI, as an extension of human brainpower, provides additional mental bandwidth for humans to develop solutions that can help us live longer or build energy efficient transportation systems that link the entire world or create new methods of recycling to eliminate waste and landfills.
What does this mean for you and me? Are there any drawbacks? From an ethical standpoint, we are tasked with creating AI that will benefit all of humankind. When we consider that AI will be the structural backbone for exponential technologies like VR, AR, blockchain, chat bots, etc., we begin to understand that ethical considerations are vital because AI technology will be present in virtually all facets of our lives. As a first step, the IEEE has launched The Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. Some ethical considerations include determining who has access to an individual's data, who can modify or edit an individual's data, what limitations are placed on AI (if any), the best practices for eliminating biases in AI, the algorithms that teach AI which action is "best" (i.e., autonomous vehicles choosing between avoiding a pedestrian or causing a vehicle crash), etc. Ethical considerations also include building AI software and use cases in an open and transparent community. This strengthens the community and builds trust by allowing anyone to view the projects the community is working on and collaborate with other AI teams. As AI technology advances, the ethical considerations will need to be reexamined and modified.
What else does AI technology mean for us? While we do not know if the AI will take over and destroy humanity or augment our intelligence to help us create a better world, we can be certain that AI is a powerful technology, advancing each day. It's in our best interest to familiarize ourselves with AI and understand that we have an incredible opportunity to participate in shaping the ethical standards at the heart of AI.
In my next post, I'll discuss the second trend of SXSW 2017, creating new realities through VR, AR, and MR.
What were your top trends from SXSW 2017 and why did they resonate with you?
After a whirlwind week of nonstop learning and connecting with new friends, I decided to decompress and organize my SXNotes as a way to understand and apply what I had just experienced. This year, one of my top SXGoals was to curate the top trends I witnessed/heard whether at a panel discussion or one-on-one interview. This exercise also helped me articulate the major trends and takeaways of my SXExperience so I could share them with family and friends.
While there are numerous trends one could identify at SXSW, I'll share the top three (3) trends, in no particular order, that resonated with me and highlight their importance in our lives. The top 3 trends at SXSW 2017 were 1) Artificial Intelligence, 2) Creating, New Realities (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality), and 3) Human Connection, Vulnerability, and Love. This post will focus on the first trend at SXSW 2017, Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Artificial Intelligence
Although people may not realize it or want to admit it, AI is already here. Has anyone used Siri on the iPhone to check the weather or Google Maps to locate a business? How many people have used delegated agents through our financial institutions (i.e., automatic bill pay) to make payments on our behalf? These examples of AI illustrate the variety of ways the technology streamlines our daily lives.
Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist and futurist with Google, argues that AI, when viewed as a "brain expander" or "brain extender," can help us leverage exponential technologies to develop cures for deadly diseases. Likewise, Melanie Cook, a strategy and lead consultant with Sapient Razorfish, believes we are now at an important crossroads where AI has the potential to "amplify our human power" by helping us make better decisions and allowing us to use our human potential for more innovative and creative endeavors. In other words, AI provides a new opportunity to explore unknown worlds and see beyond current limitations. AI, as an extension of human brainpower, provides additional mental bandwidth for humans to develop solutions that can help us live longer or build energy efficient transportation systems that link the entire world or create new methods of recycling to eliminate waste and landfills.
What does this mean for you and me? Are there any drawbacks? From an ethical standpoint, we are tasked with creating AI that will benefit all of humankind. When we consider that AI will be the structural backbone for exponential technologies like VR, AR, blockchain, chat bots, etc., we begin to understand that ethical considerations are vital because AI technology will be present in virtually all facets of our lives. As a first step, the IEEE has launched The Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. Some ethical considerations include determining who has access to an individual's data, who can modify or edit an individual's data, what limitations are placed on AI (if any), the best practices for eliminating biases in AI, the algorithms that teach AI which action is "best" (i.e., autonomous vehicles choosing between avoiding a pedestrian or causing a vehicle crash), etc. Ethical considerations also include building AI software and use cases in an open and transparent community. This strengthens the community and builds trust by allowing anyone to view the projects the community is working on and collaborate with other AI teams. As AI technology advances, the ethical considerations will need to be reexamined and modified.
What else does AI technology mean for us? While we do not know if the AI will take over and destroy humanity or augment our intelligence to help us create a better world, we can be certain that AI is a powerful technology, advancing each day. It's in our best interest to familiarize ourselves with AI and understand that we have an incredible opportunity to participate in shaping the ethical standards at the heart of AI.
In my next post, I'll discuss the second trend of SXSW 2017, creating new realities through VR, AR, and MR.
What were your top trends from SXSW 2017 and why did they resonate with you?