Technology
COLLISION CONFERENCE EXCITES WITH TECH NOVELTIES
ROBOTS, AI, IOT, CYBER, AUTONOMOUS CARS
(Source: Ina von Ber)
Collision has grown from 5,000 to an expected 25,000 attendees. In its fifth year, the conference itself is the umbrella under which 12 other conferences take place over 3 stages, with in-depth discussions on subjects ranging from IoT, AI, automated and connected vehicles, data, security, design, investment, dev, marketing, music and sustainability. This week's conference features more than a dozen stages, which are focused on specific industry tracks, such as marketing, design, coding and robotics.
Source: Ina von Ber
The conference grew at such a fast pace making it necessary to consider other venues. “New Orleans is a very special town, but as Collision grows we sadly need to find a bigger and more globally connected home,“ said Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of the conference. “I believe that Canada and Toronto have lived to some extent in the technology shadow of America. But that´s changing and changing fast.“
This year´s high-profile speakers included Microsoft President Brad Smith, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Susan Herman, president of the ACLU and Miguel McKelvey, co-founder of WeWork, a global network of shared office spaces, and Sophia Bush, the “One Tree Hill“ actress and co-founder of the Girl Project, which provides resources to support education for girls in more than 100 countries.
HIGHLIGHTS AND TAKEAWAYS:
HUMANOIDS AND AI
We often think about humans and machines in competition. An algorithm kills a job. A government official regulates a machine. The internet is tearing us away from social interaction. It´s artificial versus human intelligence. What if the secret to making the world “˜more human´ is actually... machines? AI is poised to reinvent what it means to be human. As we struggle with how to maintain our own humanity, we also wonder how human we can make our machines.
Frank CooperCEO of BlackRock, demonstrated how machines can enhance and scale our empathy, creativity, and other human traits. He pointed out that humans can be profoundly empathetic in some instances and coldly mechanical in others ““ especially in marketing. Teaching AI to communicate and facilitate conversations with other platforms is becoming a major facet of technology in 2018.
Terry Fong, Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA (they are exploring how NASA can use robots in planetary exploration) has been developing robots to work as teammates with humans. His presentation included a glimpse of a robot that by the end of the year will be at the International Space Station. Kaijen Hsiao, CTO of Mayfield Robotics highlighted the process of designing robots for the home that can become part of your human family and show “Kuri“ the humanoid, is be able to respond to commands and speak. Ian Bernstein, Co-Founder of Misty Robotics, brought onto stage the latest version of their robot for developers, Misty.
SELF-DIRVING CARS
From data breaches to how people are going to be secure around self-driving vehicles, Uber's technical security lead talks about how to manage the shared responsibility of protecting user data across teams, was a not to be missed. BYTON technology seemed a good fit showcasing its tech-centric all-electric car. The company is China-based but wants to sell in the U.S. They came out of nowhere at CES and will go from idea to execution in just 2 years.
Andre Haddad, CEO Turo, stays well ahead of the curve. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, Turo is an innovative car sharing marketplace where travelers can rent any car they want, wherever they want it, from a vibrant community of local car owners. Travelers choose from a totally unique selection of nearby cars, while car owners earn extra money and help fuel their adventures.
CYBERSECURITY
Tom Leighton, CEO Akamai addressed the war against bot armies. Using consumer data to give end-users the best digital experience, he discussed how data will become even more critical in the marketplace of tomorrow. As bots invade private homes through WIFI connections, security questions surrounding private data, cloud security, protection from DDoS, combatting whatever else bad actors can cook up, is becoming more pivotal.
Looking forward to Toronto2019!
