Wednesday 16 November 2016

SUNZ Summit - Day 3

When I think about genetically modified food I'm still not sure how this fits with me. When we look at what NZ uses to produce some of our export foods then I begin to be convinced that the future of solving the world's food shortage may very well be in GM food which would also reduce carbon emissions and use some of our precious resources like water.

Genome editing may be able to restore some of our extinct species - is this a good thing?

Will this technology decrease our sympathy to protect nature if we have the power to bring back the past?

It's not hard to see the link between medicine and how technology can enhance a range of areas in this field.  The latest trend is in 'carriables' - devices that plug into your phone to diagnose and collect personal medical information.  Technology is becoming more reliable and faster than human doctors at diagnosing medical conditions.  Everything has a genetic code and maybe the answer to many issues is in fixing the code before a medical issue can arise?  One of the most recent technological advances is in replicating a canine nose.  Dogs have proven to be able to detect cancers, epilepsy and low blood sugars etc.,  Imagine the possibilities of having an electronic canine nose app or carriable on your phone.

For every good and positive outcome technology can bring, there is alway a dark side that the same technology can be used for.  The underworld of innovation is using technology for evil means whilst the majority of the world's population use it to benefit others.  eg: Pokemon Go - players were drawn to a spot to tag a creature and were robbed.  Technology is helping the bad people rob us en masse. Hackers can steal information and money from the many without having to even meet their victims.

I was very surprised and elated to hear Sue Suckling from NZQA denounce the assessment system for NCEA.  She recognises that students are being assessed in conditions that are foreign to them.  We remove devices and information from our students when they sit and exam yet this isn't how the real world functions so why?
We all recognise the need for some foundation learning:

What was more exciting was the idea of 'verification vs qualification' 

Sue recognised the limits of disruption of assessment in education to involve:- Fear, Control and a new currency of qualification which is "YOU"
Will the future of quality assurance look more like the rating system we use online?

Up until now, I have had little understanding of exactly how artificial intelligence might impact directly with education. Today, Mark Sagar brought another dimension to how AI could be used.  Human's instinctively are seeking and collecting feedback with everything we engage with.  As we have a conversation with someone, we will be automatically scanning their body language, and monitoring their responses to what we say.  Mark has created a physical manifestation of our human body to help humans relate better to AI.  The Baby X4 has all the physical systems of a human and all our chemical responses can be manipulated by sliders.  The camera in our devices are the eyes of the AI.  Meet BabyX:


Variables that can be manipulated in this AI are: race, gender, spoken language, chemicals in the brain that influence emotion and behaviour.




Do we have the courage to make change?
If you don't believe it then you will not be able to do it!

If you are not seeing the failures, then you are not taking the (calculated) risks.





Monday 14 November 2016

SingularityU Summit - Day 2

Another full on day with speakers who are passionate about their fields of interest.

Biotech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were some of the main themes from today.
Will computer science or AI disrupt your job?


As computer speeds and technology develop, more data is being collected.  AI is the only practicable way in which humans can make sense of the volumes of data being gathered.

Artificial Intelligence is changing the playing field
AI relies on a high trust model.  Humans need to trust the AI; AI needs to be able to trust humans.
AI can change the balance of power and can help to bring equality for small companies to be able to compete with larger companies.   

Shek Almed Zaki Yamani
Larger machines require more energy to be reliable. With the increase in speed of technological development, there is the challenge of creating devices with greater battery capacity and efficiency.  So what is the answer for supplying more affordable energy? Fossil fuels have been the primary source of our energy needs.  
What about wind power, hydro and solar? 

The cost of solar power is becoming more affordable and surprisingly enough, the areas in the world that could harness the most solar power, are the areas that have the least power available to them 
eg: Africa; India and many 3rd world countries.  

"An idea can never break, chip, or crack.  It can grow over time and with the right idea can improve the amount of any resource." Ramez Naam

Disruptive technology is impacting on Genetic Engineering. 
This science impacts upon:
Synthetic biology - reprogramming cells to behave differently
Agriculture - genetically modified organisms eg: creating apples that do not brown when cut
Ethics, Laws and Policy - around genetically modified humans?
Biohacking - being bio-curious and making biotech accessible, affordable and open to everyone  Check out: biotech hack for kids
Consumers Genomics - Purchase gifts for yourself or others eg: 25andMe - discover your DNA and family; Vinome- personalise wine experience; ORIG3N - medical analysis

Automated self-driven vehicles
Currently, when we purchase a car, we consider our needs.  The future of cars may be better described as 'buying a ride'.  We may not need to purchase a car but instead, pay for a car depending on our needs for any given day.  eg: going to work vs going skiing with friends?

Cars of the future could be shells that are not necessarily owned.  This technology can change where to live.  The distance from work to home may be negligible as the time spent in a vehicle could be spent being productive - working, watching a movie or sleeping.

In 2017, Christchurch Airport is going to trial some driverless service shuttles.

Can driverless vehicles reduce the number of vehicle accidents?

Can these vehicles minimise foreign driver incidents?








The day finished with a captivating presentation by astronaut Dan Barry.  His stories of space travel and ideas about autonomous flying raised the question of whether AI would make the right decision.  Dan walked us through the actions of Captain Sullenberger who landed his passenger plane on the Hudson River in 2009 after experiencing a bird strike.  If AI was in charge of the plane, who's lives would AI consider more valuable?- people on the plane? or people on the ground?  Can AI rely on the information from the planes instruments? Would AI have chosen to turn back? or do as "Sully" did?

Mia, Kaila Colbin, Caitlyn
Chatting to Astronaut - Dan Barry
 



SingularityU Summit - Day ONE

Today has finally arrived.  We have been excitedly awaiting this summit and today we were not disappointed.  Although a bit jaded, by little sleep last night from another large 'shake-up' north of Christchurch, we managed to absorb the tone of the summit this afternoon.  I feel very privileged to be able to attend this inaugrual event along with 7 students ranging from year 8 to 12, as well as some illustrious staff from our Leadership Team and School Trust Board.

The theme of this summit is "Understand, Adapt & Thrive"
'Disruption' is different to 'Innovation' and can be define in the image below.


Gordon Moore's Law is not new, and Moore was not the first to explain how change behaves.  The exponential curve has been long associated with the rate at which technology is changing and impacting on simple daily tasks.



For example: Folding a piece of paper in half.  Initially, the task seems easy. As you continue to fold the same piece of paper in half, the task becomes increasingly more difficult. There comes a critical point, where progress may appear slow before taking off at an exponential rate.  Solving this point of difficulty often requires a change in the way we have executed the task to achieve forward progress.

So, how should we prepare children for the future?
The future is no longer represented as a linear progression with certainty. Instead, the future holds energy and excitement, as well as the fear of the unknown.   Teaching students using the 20th century model, is less likely to prepare them for what they may face in the future. Our education system needs to expose students to develop co-operative skills, and allow them to own their mistakes.  Teachers and parents are doing our girls no favours by removing the hurdles that enable us to grow through experience.  Being challenged to solve problems is the better way to prepare our young minds. The feeling of success is so much more rewarding when a student shows perseverance, even though the final outcome may not be perfect.  Our future will be built on many cycles of learning experiences.  Creativity and project-based learning can provide the type of thinking that will prepare our girls to make an impact on their communities.



How does looking back to help us develop our focus forward?  Well, how does the spice and ice trade help us work out our future direction? If we dig a bit deeper, then we discover that spice does not preserve food - yet ice does.  So these trades are not about spice or ice, but more about food preservation.  Similarly, we need to look at what industry we are really fighting for?

Will jobs be lost?  Yes, but disruptive technology can also provide more economic gain than economic loss.  No doubt computers, robots and artificial intelligence can learn to respond like a human.

  • Does this mean that humans will likely be replaced by robots? Yes!  
  • Will robots be smarter and better than humans in the same job? Yes! 
  • Does this mean that all jobs should be done by robots or artificial intelligence? No!  

We are human.
Just because artificial intelligence and robots can do the job better, 
does not mean that they should necessarily replace a human.  

There are simply some jobs, where we expect to have a relationship with a human, 
even though a machine is more efficient and smarter.

Technology should allow us to be more human!