New talk at Research by the Sea

I’m giving a new short talk at Research by the Sea, a new Clearleft conference in Brighton. It’s called Picking Up The Pieces:

After a wounding tech crash, we hobble into 2025 to see Silicon Valley execs spewing hate speech, cheering the demolition of consumer protections, and bending the knee to the war industry. And around every corner lurk the weird ghosts of automation, hallucinating future interfaces or inventing synthetic users that eliminate the need to talk to real people.

After so long wielding the weapon of disruption, maybe we’re due a turn staring down its barrel. How should we react? One option is to admit defeat, to go with the flow and cash the paycheque. But another is to raise a new flag. The world is crying out for new visions of the future: worlds in which technology is compassionate, not just profitable; where AI is responsible, not just powerful. The good old days are over. Time to make good new days.

It’s hard to stave off the blank despair right now, but stave it off we must. You can get 20% off with the code JOINCENNYDD.