Events
Paul Clarke, Chief Technology Officer, Ocado
Paul is Chief Technology Officer at Ocado, the world’s largest online-only grocery retailer. Ocado Technology, with its 1,300 software engineers and other IT specialists, is responsible for building all the software and IT infrastructure that powers Ocado’s end-to-end e-commerce, fulfilment and logistics platform.
Hear Paul talk about next generation logistics, the non-linear impact of AI/robotics and what the UK needs to do to prepare itself for the future it must embrace.
Torsten Reil, founder and former CEO of NaturalMotion
Continuing our series with QuantumBlack on AI, we will hear from Torsten Reil about how his company used artificial evolution to train virtual creatures how to walk.
Originally a biologist, Torsten’s research into how animals move was the foundation for NaturalMotion’s AI-based animation technology, which powers some of the biggest blockbuster movies (e.g. Lord of the Rings) and video games (such as GTA IV and V).
In 2011, the company started developing its own game IP, resulting in the largest racing franchise on mobile (the 200m-user CSR Racing) and the award-winning Clumsy Ninja.
What AI does and doesn't change
AI is a general purpose technology which will optimise, accelerate and accentuate all our pre-existing systems, forcing them to metamorphosize, break or take us to unpleasant conclusions. Now is the time to figure out what we want our future to look like and which principles of value we should defend, because this ‘new machine’ is not bound by the speed of human thought.
What won’t, can’t or is less likely to change (things like subjective human experience, families, community, climate change, migration & power)? How will we reconcile the immutable parts of our human lives with the parts that are changing rapidly and profoundly? And where does the influence lie?
Big Tech and the politics of monopoly power
How do we create a framework for government oversight of Big Tech that protects consumer and societal interests, curbs growth-dampening monopoly power, and allows us to keep the internet services we depend on?
Rana argues that we need to focus on the principles of transparency, simplicity and size. At this Pi event she will talk about what she means and what she believes should be the way forward.
Who can you trust?
If you can’t trust those in charge, who can you trust? From government to business, banks to media, trust in institutions is at an all-time low. But this isn’t the age of distrust – far from it.
In her latest book, Who Can You Trust?, Rachel Botsman reveals that we are at the tipping point of one of the biggest social transformations in human history – with fundamental consequences for everyone. A new world order is emerging: we might have lost faith in institutions and leaders, but millions of people rent their home to total strangers, exchange digital currencies, or find themselves trusting a bot.
This is the age of ‘distributed trust’, a paradigm shift driven by innovative technologies that are rewriting the rules of an all-too-human relationship. If we are to benefit from this radical shift, we must understand the mechanics of how trust is built, managed, lost and repaired in the digital age.
Ben Rattray, Founder and CEO, Change.org
Many of us have taken democracy for granted in western countries, but few would do so now following the profound political change of 2016.
Recent Harvard research shows that the younger generation are becoming increasingly cynical about the value of democracy. What can be done about this and what role does technology have to play?
False information spread through social media is a key factor in reducing our trust in government. But there is also a positive side: well-designed technology offers the best chance of creating the political system needed to respond to current challenges: a more participatory, responsive, and informed democracy.
Hear from Ben Rattray of Change.org about how we augment the positive side and limit the negative side of this equation and what role the ‘crowd’ will play in the future of our democracies.
Past Events
Senior partner and global leader of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey
Generative AI: Beyond the hype
Author and Columnist for the New York Times
How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
