Speech Technopolitics 5: Can Artificial Intelligence Save the Climate?
This was the
fifth edition of Technopolitics.
It has been
five years since I founded this event. It was my
intention to spread my passion for technology and politics and to close the gap
between them because year after year technology is taking a bigger part in
society.
I wanted to
wake up some politicians to prepare our country for the technological
revolution.
And it has
been fruitful.
On a
political level there have been some positive changes in Belgium.
Five years
ago we didn’t have a digital agenda in Belgium.
Now we have
one.
Five years
ago our government did not have a plan for new technology.
Last week the
government launched an Artificial Intelligence platform.
Like I said,
a positive vibe has entered politics.
But a long
way is still ahead of us.
When it
comes to 5G for instance, we all know that political standstill still needs to
be beaten.
We also
need more political parties to engage in technology to make sure that society
is reached on a broader level.
At
Technopolitics, we had many interesting topics and speakers so far.
Remember
autonomous cars, car sharing, crispr cas, blockchain, bitcoin, 5G.
These were
all discussed here way before mainstream media picked it up.
Today
Artificial Intelligence took over.
I was
stunned to hear what it can do for us, humans.
Some people
freeze at the idea of all the risks.
Every new
technology scared the hell out of people.
Think of
the manifestations against electrical street lighting in the early twentieth
century.
And,
although I do understand the fear I think we cannot surrender to it because we
would miss all the opportunities AI is holding for us.
Like saving
the climate.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This event
wouldn’t be possible without my crew Steven Devloo, Marc Daniëls, Fleur Khani
and Renaud.
I also owe
a special thanks the organising partners: the Free University of Brussels,
imec, Iminds, the alumni association OSB, HuisvandeMens, Willemsfonds and LVSV
Brussel. I also want
to thank Peter Van Rompaey for introducing all our great speakers tonight. And off course
a special thanks to our speakers Stijn Christiaens from Collibra, Elias Fernández from the VUB AI lab and Nicolas Deruytter from ML6. Please give
them all a round of applause.
Els Ampe
26 march
2019