When: Thursday 1st March 2018, 7.30pm
Where: New Cross (map)
Digital Humanism – shaping a future for people and robots
We all have a vague idea about a digital future, if only from watching movies like Bladerunner, I Robot, or Terminator. But what’s the reality? What exactly are artificial intelligence, machine learning and neural networks? What are their potential benefits and should we be concerned about their risks? When might this stuff affect us? Most importantly, can we establish some rules and conditions which align with humanist principles and that ensure the continuation, success and primacy of the human race?
Tony Brewer will give an introduction to developments in this field and particularly to the potential risks and benefits. Then we will work together in small groups to try to give some reality to ‘Digital Humanism’ and to shape the sort of world in which our children, and certainly our grandchildren, will be living in.
Please also see, of interest and relevance to the topic being discussed, the attached exhibition manifesto of the 2017 Venice Biennale entitled Dimensions of a new Digital Humanism here : Vienna Biennale Manifesto
Tony Brewer studied chemistry at Cambridge University and then worked mainly in the field of business systems and IT, advising company boards and IT directors on the development and implementation of IT strategy. Since retiring he has devoted his time mainly to a little bad golf and a lot of good music. Locally, he has served as chair of the Blackheath Conservatoire and chair of Friends of Blackheath Halls. Brought up in a mildly-religious family, he drifted away from the church while at university and towards a sort of informal humanism. He joined Humanism UK about four years ago and now helps out on the SELHuG committee.
