WEB SUMMIT 2019: 5 INSIGHTS FROM LISBON

Data protection vs. relevant data collection

The issue of information collection and data protection is so important that the summit opened with a speech by Edward Snowden, who reiterated that total and uncontrolled data collection by governments and information giants creates privileges and can endanger citizens. He noted that the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation - ed.), of course, looks nice, but is still just a “paper tiger.”

Snowden believes that the problem today lies not in data protection, but in the way and to what extent it is collected - Internet giants today know literally everything about users, every step of the way. And to solve the problem of violation of users' privacy and possible manipulation, companies should limit data collection, and users should provide only relevant information.

Data protection vs. relevant data collection

The issue of information collection and data protection is so important that the summit opened with a speech by Edward Snowden, who reiterated that total and uncontrolled data collection by governments and information giants creates privileges and can endanger citizens. He noted that the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation - ed.), of course, looks nice, but is still just a “paper tiger.”

Snowden believes that the problem today lies not in data protection, but in the way and to what extent it is collected - Internet giants today know literally everything about users, every step of the way. And to solve the problem of user privacy violation and possible manipulation, companies should limit data collection, and users should provide only relevant information.Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Technology vs politics

Despite the technological nature of the conference, a large number of presentations dealt with globalization, sustainable development, and climate issues in particular. Perhaps the most interesting of all the speeches was the discussion between former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Congressman Ro Khanna.

Technology development and globalization are two related processes that, unfortunately, do not always complement each other. This is due to the fact that politicians, as people responsible for the development of society, and scientists, as people who invent tools for the same development, do not work together.

"How do we unite people who make policy and those who make changes? That is the most important question we have to ask ourselves," said Tony Blair.

Due to the rapid development of technology, the world is being deformed - someone gets everything and trusts artificial intelligence to optimize their lives, while others still do not have access to the Internet. Technology ownership is a new lever of influence, the basis of inequality. Once upon a time, the world was ruled by those who had land, then by those who had money. Now the world will be ruled by those who have technology. And the task of politicians and scientists now is not just to develop technologies, but to learn how to manage them together, leaving no one behind.

Unfortunately, governments are not up to it - they are so focused on some crazy power struggle. Or it is not profitable for governments, because they base their influence on populism, which, in turn, effectively exploits pessimism. And the more pessimistic a society is, the easier it is to govern. Technology, on the other hand, inspires hope and optimism, providing opportunities for development, improving health and quality of life. With new technologies, we become optimistic, realizing how much we can do. And thus, we become uncontrollable. And politicians do not need this.

Therefore, the full development of the global society is impossible without an equal distribution of access to technology in all, even the most remote, corners of the world.WEB SUMMIT 2019: 5 INSIGHTS FROM LISBON

Conversation with android Sophia

Artificial intelligence vs emotions

Of course, such a tech event as Web Summit 2019 could not take place without discussing artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI), which is perhaps the most vivid and controversial topic.

The ability of robots to recognize faces is a thing of the past, now they can recognize emotions and react to them accordingly, imitating empathy and emotions. Does this make them human? Certainly not, but their function reduces people's fear of the new technology. That's why one of the tasks voiced several times on the summit stage is to develop emotions in AI and give drones this capability.

Does it sound fantastic? Not at all. According to Google representative John Martinez, developers have already managed to solve this difficult task with the help of a quantum computer. This means that the next stage is to work on endowing AI with emotions, which can be based on the probability theory underlying quantum computing, rather than the rigid logic on which neural networks are currently built. Probability allows us to make mistakes, and mistakes are what make us human and help us create new entities.

I think that within the next 10 years, our personal assistant or, for example, a smart fridge, will break the program one day in the fall and order us a bottle of wine and a cake to improve our mood. Because it will understand everything. And politicians don't need this.

That is why the full development of the global society is impossible without an equal distribution of access to technology in all, even the most remote, corners of the world.WEB SUMMIT 2019: 5 INSIGHTS FROM LISBON

Лісабон

Класична освіта vs наставництво

Поширення технологій має зворотну сторону медалі – величезна кількість інформації, доступність і швидкість отримання якої трансформує цілі галузі. Наприклад, освіту. Складно зараз стверджувати, що вчитель (при всій моїй повазі до вчителів) – це головна людина у житті дитини, яка допомагає зрозуміти світ та отримати знання про нього. Він уже не може конкурувати з Google, соціальними мережами та іншими сервісами, які надають інформацію. Технології дають доступ до всього швидше, точніше і у більш зрозумілій формі. Тому роль вчителя у класичній освіті змінюється – тепер він повинен стати поводирем у світі величезної кількості інформації, щоб допомогти дітям структурувати, аналізувати, синтезувати її. А головне – навчити ставити правильні питання. Фактично роль вчителя трансформується у коуча.

Основна мета освіти, на мій погляд, – прищепити дітям креативність, відкритість мислення, гнучкість та емпатію. Навчити відсікати зайве. І критично мислити, впевнено орієнтуючись в інформаційному океані.

Christina Figueras, Founding Partner at Clobal Optimism

Sustainable development vs. environmental disaster

And finally, the most important topic, in my opinion, is sustainable development. You've probably heard this term more than once - “Sustainable Development Goals” or “environmental sustainability” (sustainability is the ability of the environment to withstand human impact). Today, this terminology is not only on the lips of environmental activists.

Global warming, large-scale plastic pollution of the soil and oceans, carbon emissions - more and more companies are raising these issues at the level of development strategies and developing projects aimed at solving them. For example, Google, which uses a huge number of data centers that consume a huge amount of energy, has already completely switched to alternative energy sources. These are large investments, which, however, did not stop it from modernization.

But Google did not stop there. At the summit, Google's Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt said that the company would soon launch an accelerator, a six-month program for developing startups that are aimed at solving environmental problems. Google does not guarantee that it will find investments for these projects, but promises to present the projects to potential investors after six months of training. Moreover, when developing such startups, it will be possible to use all Google's technological resources absolutely free of charge. As a person who was selected for the acceleration program for digital agencies in Ukraine, I believe that this is a great opportunity and a really useful experience.

How would I like to end this column? As it should be, with a conclusion. Technology can lead to class inequality. We are very lucky in Ukraine to have access to information, almost 100 percent network coverage, and the opportunity to learn new things. It is up to us to decide what we will do with these opportunities - just read and be surprised, or try to dig deeper and think about what can be applied right now.

The material was published on telekritika.ua