The Future is Now
Tomorrow's world is today - talk of driverless cars and delivery bots, has turned to reality as I witnessed in Austin, Texas when I attended SXSW, a global conference and festival that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. No-one batted an eyelid as driverless Ubers drove by and cute little Uber-eats robots navigated a course along downtown sidewalks. It's amazing, isn't it how we very quickly get wooed by and used to technology? But in actual fact much of it has been around our entire lifetime, and there is leaning we can take from that.
You will know the name, Alan Turing who used computers to break the code of the enemy's Enigma Machine in WWII - laying the foundations for artificial intelligence in the 1950's. Arguably AI has been in existence since then, and in that time it's increasingly been integrated into many processes, products and services without us really noticing. It reminds me of the introduction of the internet to our lives and how we reminisce about life before we some how ‘severed' our world into online and offline. With change often comes fear, which is understandable and necessary, but if managed ethically that change can be of benefit to all. As we face so many geopolitical uncertainties, it makes me more determined than ever to ensure we use technology as a force for good.
Our smart glasses accessible solution brought us all the way to Austin, Texas where we demonstrated our product at SXSW
While in the US I attended a Tech For Good meet up, and chatted to many like minded folk. Tech for good is the "deliberate and purposeful use of technology to address social, environmental, and economic challenges, aiming to create positive impact and improve lives". And that definition fits neatly with what we are achieving with The Includiverse. I believe we all have a responsibility to be on the side of good and be deliberate and purposeful in addressing inequalities and to remember heroes like Alan Turing who despite his monumental achievements for the safety and security of our nation, was persecuted for his sexuality. Let's not make those same mistakes - in a world where a drive for equality appears to be in decline, and "wokeness" has been weaponised, let's stand together against that tide, as a force for good.
Because we know that a world rich in difference and diversity, where everyone is valued and welcome, is the world we want to be part of.