AI and the human experience: Will humans be superseded by the technologies they’ve created?
Dr Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation, Goldsmiths University and Founder of the Centre for Creative and Social Technologies
Research into the everyday interactions between people and emerging technologies reveals a worrying trend. Namely that as humans we are at risk of being marginalised by the very technologies we have created. Superseded by the innovations we imagined would improve our lives. The risk is a grave one with consequences that threaten our future. And it can only be averted by taking action today. The development of technologies, Chris argues, must be guided by the principal that it is humanity that gives meaning to technology, and not the other way around. The telescope, for example, becomes a useful device to investigate the cosmos only when it is placed against the human eye. His presentation investigates our future relationship with technology and the actions we need to take now to ensure an equal partnership that enhances human experience and extends personal potential.
Chris is a Canadian-born academic and entrepreneur living and working in London. He revels in the intersections between humanity and technology and works with industry partners to investigate the interaction between people and AI-driven technologies including connected homes, wearables and cryptocurrencies. He is a frequent media commentator on digital media, emerging technologies and digital economics and politics. He is Managing Director of Smoothmedia, a research-based consultancy that helps businesses create technologically enhanced human experiences. He holds numerous non-executive and Chairman roles with UK organisations and manages creative industry investments for London-based investment bank Clarity Capital.
