discussion / AI for Conservation  / 19 September 2017

The Greenhouse 2017: Planet Saving Technology Series (Syd, Australia)

If you're Sydney based, you should already be aware of Greenups, Sydney's longstanding sustainability drinks that happen on the first Tuesday of every month. But what you may not know is that this year they've partnered with EnergyLab and WWF Australia to put on a series of talks exploring the role emerging technology can play to help solve some of our biggest environemtnal and social challenges. Already they've covered a huge range of topics including IoT, Smart Cities, Blockchain and Augmented + Virtual reality.

The next Planetary Tech meetup is happening next Tuesday September 26th, and is going to be all about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: 

Planet Saving Tech: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

6:00 PM

EnergyLab

UTS Blackfriars, 4-12 Buckland St (off Broadway), Chippendale NSW 2008, Sydney (map)

Depending on your framing, the coming age of Artificial Intelligence is either the panacea to all the worlds drudgery or heralds the arrival of our robot overloads and ultimate annihilation.

The truth is clearly somewhere in between, and depends a lot on a careful definition of terms, but either way the arrival of Artificial Intelligence and it’s subordinate cousins Machine & Deep Learning, presents a seismic shift and one which demands our immediate and focused attention. Artificial Intelligence is here and it’s already doing interesting things, from influencing your Facebook feed to influencing US elections, from predicting your text messages to predicting where extreme weather events will hit, from recognising your voice to recognising endangered tigers. And that’s just single purpose AI, stuff gets real when we begin to join a few of these ‘intelligences’ together, and Artificial General Intelligence emerges. AGI is still the realm if sci-fi, but for how long and what are the implications? For the next Greenhouses evening we’ve approached a range of academics and thought-leaders to help us explore this fascinating topic, and help guide us as we decide how we can shape Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into Planet Saving Technologies.

Dr. Katina Michael - School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wollongong, Editor-in-chief IEEE Technology and Society Magazine.

Prof. Michael researches the socio-ethical implications of emerging technologies, she will deliver the introductory keynote.

Philip Wright - Senior Advisor, The Ethics Centre.

Focusing on ethical leadership and good decision making, Philip also practices as a psychoanalytically orientated Psychotherapist.

Franki Chamaki - COO/Founder, HIVERY & Director, Red Garage Ventures.

The HIVERY is a data science company leveraging artificial intelligence for business decision making, it was one of the first company's to come out of Red Garage Ventures, a Coca-Cola backed start-up developing hi-tech well-being and supply chain products.

Prof. Gerardo Montoya - Educational Robotics Project and State Academy of Robotics, Universidad Tecnológica de Cancún, Mexico.

Gerardo is a world champion robotics expert, educator and inventor passionate about empowering disadvantaged kids with STEM skills.

Rachel Bunder - Data Scientist at Solar Analytics and organiser of Sydney PyLadies.

Rachel's PHD is on automating and optimising decision making. Rachel is also an organiser in the international PyLadies movement, supporting women in the Python programming language open source community.

# Schedule

6:00pm: Doors open 
6:30pm: Keynote followed by moderated panel discussion and Q&A with the audience 
8pm: Continue the discussion over drinks and light snacks. 
9pm: Event concludes

Get your tickets here (earlybird tickets still available)

Although they haven't announced the lineup yet, they always bring together an interesting array of speakers. It should be a fascinating evening. I'm pretty sure they've been livestreaming their talks via their facebook group, so even if you're not in Sydney you should be able to tune in. 

Future talks: 

31 October

How Electric/Autonomous Vehicles will revolutionise mobility and change the way our cities are organised.

November

Hackathon Weekend Event - Details to come.




If you're interested, you can check out the live recordings from past events (links below take you to the videos):

August: The Blockchain

The Blockchain's potential ability to help leapfrog or change corrupt and inefficient power structures can revolutionize the way we approach issues ranging from the supply chain, financial inclusion, human rights abuses, and modern slavery to environmental, energy, and workforce problems.

One source of shared truth and trusted infrastructure can help NGOs, charities, social entrepreneurs, civil societies and companies achieve their mission.

Come and discover the innovators, leaders, and philosophers in the space showcasing their solutions and meet the technologists who can support your needs.

So what is Blockchain, and is it just hype or is it really a Planet Saving Technology? 

Speakers and Panellists

•  Dr Jane Thomason - CEO Abt Australia, Social Policy Adviser, Devex Impact Strategic Advisory Council, Commentator Blockchain

• Arthur Falls - Director of Media at Consensys / Podcaster, State Change & The Ether Review Podcasts

• Bubba Cook - Pacific Tuna Programme Manager, WWF NZ / Pacific

• Leah Callon-Butler - Member, Advisory Board, RedGrid

• Bridie Ohlsson - External Relations, AgriDigital

 

July: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

With it's origins in science fiction, the idea of Virtual Reality has been around since the 1950's, but in the last few years, with the promise of mobile computing, it's suddenly the talk of the town.

Many are excited by the deep immersive nature and empathetic story telling potential of VR/AR and see huge opportunity in awareness raising and shifting public opinion around important issues.

So what is VR, and it's related technology cousin Augmented Reality, an is it a potential Planet Saving Technology?

Speakers and Panellists

We have a bumper, star-studded panel to unpack, explain and explore this promising technology.. 

•  Kim McKay - CEO, Australian Museum

• Brennan Hatton - Founder, Equal Reality (Augmented Reality Development) 

• Parrys Raines - FBGen / Future Business Council / Climate Girl 

• Jennifer Wilson - Creative/Digital Strategist, Founder, Lean Forward 

• Mikaela Jade - CEO, Indigital (Indigenous storytelling with AR) 

• Scott O'Brien - CEO, Humense (Volumetric Video + Virtual Reality) (Panel Moderator)

 

June: Smart Cities and the Internet of Things 

What is a Smart City? How will Smart Cities change the way we organise our lives? Will they bring about the so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’? 

What is the Internet of Things, and does it have the potential to be a Positive Impact Techonology? What are the opportunities and what are the risks?

We explore all this and more in the first of our deep dives into Planet Saving Technology: Smart Cities and the Internet of Things.

Speakers and Panellists

•  Frank Zeichner - CEO, IoT Alliance Australia

•  Angela Bee Chan - Schneider Electric / Hackathons Australia

•  Ben Moir - Snepo Fablab / WearableX

•  Monica Richter - Low Carbon Futures, WWF Australia.

•  Andrew Tovey - Total Environment Centre, TULIP/Smart Locale (Panel Host)