Video Archive – The Conference by Media Evolution

Q&A - Global Outlook

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:38:56 GMT

Q&A with Nazanin Daneshvar (Takhfifan), Jemma Xu (Tripalocal) & Toby Shapshak (Stuff).

Q&A - One-to-one - a new mode of communication

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:37:11 GMT

Q&A with Fernanda Saboia (Huge inc) & Martin Hoffman (ConvJournalism)

Moderator: Paulina Modlitba Söderlund

Q&A - Extremist communication

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:34:04 GMT

Q&A with Michael Krona (Malmö University) & Maura Conway (Dublin City University)

Moderator: Anders Mildner

Q&A - AI in Services

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:31:30 GMT

Q&A with Maya Weinstein (IBM Watson) and Deborah Harrison (Microsoft Cortana)

Moderator: Paulina Modlitba Söderlund

Q&A - Migration

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:26:43 GMT

Q&A with Latoya Peterson (Racialicious), Dragana Kaurin (Localization Lab) and Elena Pedrazzani (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies).

Maura Conway - Extremist communication

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 22:09:28 GMT

”There are a lot more women becoming involved in the right wing online scene at the present time”

Maura Conway, associate professor at Dublin City University, explains the ways in which extreme right movements utilize the internet to spread their ideological philosophies and set their actions in movement, trying to achieve the aims of their agenda.

We often tend to lump different kind of extreme right groups together, even though they can look very different. One key characteristic though, that they tend to have in common, is a core that aims at making fundamental changes to democratic systems and a concept of supremacism, with certain people being superior to all other and a hostility towards immigrants. Their methods on the internet consists of coding by colors, visual expressions and linguistics. The communication by these codes are supposed to maintain the already established extreme right communities which also extend in the more general parts of the internet with the objective to gain more sympathizers.

The areas of the internet where this communication is taking place have shifted over time from websites to forums, among them big communication platforms like Reddit and 4chan. A widespread perception among the general public is that extreme groups going online is something rather new. But ever since the earliest days of mainstream usage of internet a whole range of groups have turned to it for similar purposes as extreme right movements at the present day.

Maura stresses the need to ask bigger questions in order to prevent this from expanding even further which indicates not to solely focus on the technologies themselves but also on people and behavior patterns. How significant was the internet in terms of the radicalization process of these people and what content had the most profound effect?

John Willshire - Strategy is Dead - Long Live Meta-Strategy

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 22:06:35 GMT

”Strategy is dead. Design appropriately”

As the founder of strategic design unit Smithery, John V. Willshire knows the importance of planning. But how do we plan things in a chaotic world? In his talk, he questions our way of strategizing and shows us the myriad of other ways to think about it.

Willshire looks to the Internet for answers and shows us how to utilize the the different tools in their toolkit – whether it’s through different perspectives, breaking patterns or card games.

Samim A. Winiger - Generative Design

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:56:05 GMT

”Generative A.I. systems are making a wide range of creative skills more accessible. Radically more accessible.”

Creative.AI co-founder Samim A Winiger gives a quick introduction to creativity in relation to machine learning and AI. Today it is possible to generate virtual worlds with billions of unique planets. But how do we think about creativity and how do we build systems for it?

One example Samim gives is a music mood agent he worked on for a contemporary band. It produced 10,000 potential songs - not to circumvent the creative process but to spark inspiration. Samim believes these kinds of tools can potentially democratize style in the future. Highly complex creative arts such as font design, photography or manga can be generated automatically. Unique skills could be made more accessible through generative design.

Jessica Rosenkrantz - Generative Design

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:49:05 GMT

”Instead of drawing structures, we are interested in growing them”

Jessica is one half of the design studio Nervous System, who work to empower design with digital tools. They are very process based, taking inspiration from nature and its patterns. Rather than their products or materials, it is the generative design process that defines them.

By using dynamic systems that they can manipulate interactively, Jessica has created jewelry and fashion items that go far beyond the static form. Instead they aim for one-of-a-kind and user-co-created products such as a 3D-printed dress you can customize online. Jessica spends her time crafting algorithms, which she believes should not be a territory reserved for research, but diffused into everyday physical objects.

Refik Anadol - Generative Design

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:45:15 GMT

”What if a house is an ever-changing experience?”

In this talk, artist Refik Anadol, beautifully interweaves how the practice of art can both use technological improves and help humans contemplate over the spaces we live in. He’s reasoning if generative and parametric art can be used to find ways to make people more engaged with, and ultimately responsible for the spaces that they inhabit.

With he question ”Can public art have intelligence, memory and culture?” as a starting point he showcases how he use architecture as canvas and light as a material.

Deborah Harrison - Artificial Intelligence in Services

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:40:16 GMT

”Familiarity breeds comfort”

Deborah is a writer working with Microsoft’s Cortana AI, meant for common platforms like smartphones and computers. Although it has to work with many different kinds of people and language, personality is incredibly important.

Cortana has been fed only with questions written by Deborah and her team, ensuring a positive and trustful personality that is aware of being an AI. Deborah describes it as a loyal and seasoned personal assistant, and talks about how to deal with - among other things - aggression, politics and sexy talk.

The right personality assures familiarity and trust, and the accurate brand story being told. Working with AI personality, Deborah says, you’ll get to shape the standards of the future, for a business that is still in its infancy.

Maya Weinstein - Artificial Intelligence in Services

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:38:41 GMT

”Finding oncology treatment options for specific genetic mutations can take weeks. Watson made a diagnosis in minutes”

What difference is AI actually doing in the world today? Back in 2011, IBM’s Watson won American game show Jeopardy but a lot has happened since then. Through integration with robotics, unique products like Cognitoys’ friendly dinosaur have been created. With the open API, new services based on Watson are developed continuously.

Maya shows examples from industries as diverse as healthcare, fashion and education. The natural language processing algorithms used by Watson makes it very versatile, and ideal for software and robotics integration. During the talk you’ll hear Maya’s robot Nao tell the Conference attendees where to eat during their visit, but the same technology can also help to save lives in cancer treatment.

Elena Pedrazzani - Migration

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:25:40 GMT

”Migrants today need information as much as food or a doctor”

Elena Pedrazzani, Digital Communication and marketing specialist at the International Federation of Red cross and Red crescent societies, sees a need for humanitarian organizations to change the way they operate. She means that providing wifi connection and laptops in refugee camps are just as essential as providing clean water and food, since information can keep people alive.

While engaging with technology could help meet the urgent need that migrants have for someone to listen, humanitarian organizations must keep in mind not to replace human touch with technology. Being ready to listen is the only way to know that the help they provide is actually solving problems.

Dragana Kaurin - Migration

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:24:06 GMT

”Design with your end users, not for them”

There’s a huge communication gap when it comes to refugees and how they are treated. This leaves them vulnerable to smugglers and traffickers with information and promises they have to trust when there is no one else.

Passionate about digital communication, Dragana Kaurin, founder of Localization Lab believes that technology and social media can help development and humanitarian work to take place with the consent, understanding, and full participation of the vulnerable people it seeks to support. Technology has to replicate real-life community structures, so when not working with your end user on the development stage you’re doing it wrong.

Latoya Peterson - Migration

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:21:58 GMT

”When we pack refugees into this place where they just have to wait, we are forcing these people to an underground economy”

Being a refugee today means being an economic outsider; essentially living in a state of limbo. When people are forced to wait in camps, they are forced to live in a provisional economy consisting only of small trade within its borders. In many cases, these camps create the division of the digitally connected and the digitally marginalized, dividing the world into two halves.

Latoya Peterson, writer and founder of the Award-winning blog Racialicious, speaks about the digital divide and the blogging that changed her life. She urges us to speak up and ask the question of who we are including and excluding and to think of what consequences it will have for future generations.

Interview: Fernanda Saboia - Andreas Ekström

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:44:55 GMT

Interview: Fernanda Saboia - Andreas Ekström

Martin Hoffmann - One to one - a new mode of communication,

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:31:38 GMT

”The next big job in digital journalism is the copywriter… Who else should feed your bots?”

Are chat bots and conversational journalism really the future? Many have tried, but few have actually made those features work. Martin Hoffman from ConvJournalism knows how to create conversational journalism worth talking about.

With messaging apps, news outlets might just reach an audience that doesn’t read the magazine. Martin shows how conversational journalism can invent new forms of storytelling and, in turn, change the media landscape as we know it.

Fernanda Saboia - One to One - A New Mode of Communication

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:03:10 GMT

”Messaging has an analog precedent. Social media doesn't”

Why have messaging apps surpassed social media in active users? That is the question that Fernanda Saboia, Senior Product Strategist at Huge, asks. The answer lies in response rate, privacy, and micro communities, among other things.

Fernanda explains WhatsApp’s success in Brazil, talks about the future of commerce and what companies can do to reach people in secluded channels.

Clive Thompson - Hacking Minecraft

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 15:59:05 GMT

”Cultural change can never come from above, it comes when the conditions are right”

With our time’s closed computers, where tinkering and tweaking isn’t possible, where do kids go to create in the digital world? A few generations ago there was Commodore 64, so what’s our times contribution to help youth deep dive into the world of computers?

In Hacking Minecraft Clive Thompson talk about how a blocky videogame is creating a generation of kids fluent in design and programming. They are even creating civics of online life, and abiding them. Any culture that is open encourages this type of creating, that is why they’re vital.

Michael Krona - Extremist communication

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 15:26:15 GMT

”The Islamic State are more pragmatic than previous groups”

Extremist Groups are growing. Terror attacks are taking place all over the world, spreading a fear that is changing our society. Extremist groups have proven the effectivity and success of their marketing and recruitment techniques many times over, using tools that we know well.

Michael Krona, Senior lecturer and researcher at Malmö University, has spent the last two years researching the propaganda of the terror organization ISIS. He explains the two main stories being told by ISIS through their propaganda; the story of a well functioning, harmonic caliphate, depicting peaceful social life and playing children, and the heroism of being a fighter, glorifying the role of the militant soldier. The narration of extreme violence that our mainstream media channels frequently report about is only 3 % of the propaganda ISIS is transmitting online.

In order to counter this type of propaganda, he argues that more interdisciplinary research is needed and that a deeper understanding of the people being affected by the propaganda is key.

Interview - Nazanin Daneshvar

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:46:23 GMT

Interview: Nazanin Daneshvar from Takhfifan - by Andreas Ekström (HD-Sydsvenskan)

Toby Shapshak - Global Outlook

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:49:46 GMT

”Innovation is better in Africa since it comes out of necessity”

An increasing African middle class is ensuring the steady economic growth of a whole continent. In places where there is neither electricity nor running water, mobile payment is more frequently used than anywhere else in the world. This and many other developments owes to the technology being created, adapted and used to meet the unique needs of the African people.

Toby Shapshak, editor-in-chief of Stuff Magazine, means that innovation in its purest form comes out of necessity. In his talk, he introduces us to Africa’s innovation spirit.

Jemma Xu - Global Outlook

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:48:30 GMT

”WeChat: you could live in China using nothing else”

In China, the mentality of start-ups is all or nothing. As a start-up, you will have to decide whether to focus on China or the rest of the world - you simply can’t do both. The cultural difference is too vast.

Jemma Xu is the CEO and co-founder of the Australia-based travel company Tripalocal. In this talk she shares her experiences of the current major tech trends and the segmentation of the Chinese market, as well as how to innovate chinese style.

Nazanin Daneshvar - Global Outlook

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:47:02 GMT

”In 2013 Iran had the highest rise on entrepreneurship in the world”

When Iranian Entrepreneur Nazanin Daneshvar founded her company Takhfifan, there wasn’t anything around to compare with. As a female manager, in the beginning, she had to bring her dad for people to take her seriously. Fortunately things are happening in Iran. There’s a growing number of startups and success companies as well as a huge rise in Internet usage.

In this talk Nazanin speaks of the environment revolving start-ups in Iran, her journey and how she started a successful company with the help of the locals.

Hey Elbow

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 11:16:25 GMT

Hey Elbow introduces The Conference

Tricia Wang - Don't Trust The Truth

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 11:16:25 GMT

”We don’t have a hardware problem, we have a socialware problem”

Global technology ethnographer Tricia Wang emphasizes the inherent risks in thinking of the existence of absolute truths. She compares modern digital technology with mediums from previous historical contexts, and how the conviction to convey an objective version of the world with the help of these mediums inevitably make us believe that this representation of the world reflects its true character.

We like to think of technology as something that will help us to make better sense of the world more effectively, but Tricia argues that it instead often makes things less clear. This gets even more troublesome when we tend to rely on the technology to bring the world to us without experience it in its natural form. We need to ask ourselves who it is that gets to construct this truth and from what perspective.

The lack of different perspectives in technological development risk to create a one-sided representation that, intentionally or unintentionally, neglects the diversity of our world and the communities within. When companies set up algorithms or other more autonomous technical solutions, the design in many cases is a progeny of their own singular perspective which can lead to unfortunate consequences.

Tricia also discusses virtual reality and the way that we like to put a great amount of faith to it in order to make us more empathetic with its attributes to include multiple perspectives in a single technology. Still its creator has to decide what’s worthy to film and from which perspective. This could potentially lead to what Tricia labels as perspective collision, when the things we design get used in such ways that it reveals the limited perspective of the designers themselves. Instead, companies should strive to adopt a perspective shift, the ability to see the world from another point of view, essentially empathy.

Throughout history, art have generated, and generating, vastly different perspectives of reality which companies need to contemplate more on how to integrate in different aspects of their work. Only half the dream of a global village has come true, the technical part. The social part is lacking.