Humanity in an Age of Otherness
Tim gave the opening keynote at Techfestival in Copenhagen, "where humans and technology meet."
Lollapalooza-like stage at Techfestival! Tim spoke at the opening night to an audience of 1,000 in Copenhagen, followed by a more intimate Q&A in the meatpacking district.
Here’s the abstract of Tim’s talk: “Workers replaced by automation, refugees and migrants, fluid identities, or artificial intelligence: there are more and more who are not like us, which of course means that ultimately, each one of us is the other. How we encounter and relate to the other will make or break our societies, especially in light of rampant nationalism and algorithmic manipulation. To embrace otherness, we have two universal forces at our disposal: beauty and business. Beauty is what we all desire, even though we may have very different concepts of it, and business is arguably the most important operating system of our time, serving as the main gateway to the other. Counting on these two forces, Tim presents a vision for a beautiful society, its principles and their implications for companies, and the new technologies, skills, and emotions we need as individuals to live in it.”
Techfestival has brought 16,000 people to the city for a week of talks, debates, workshops, and 100 (mini-summits all focused on various aspects of technology and humanity.
The overall spirit, in the words of Techfestival initiator Thomas Madsen-Mygdal: “We don’t have more to learn from Silicon Valley. Europe represents a unique opportunity for defining the next technology narrative. Tech is not about fear and self-determinism, it’s what makes us humans. It’s augmenting us as humans. It’s us who are creating technology as opposed to AI fear.”
After publishing the Copenhagen Letter last year, the Festival invited participants this year to create a Copenhagen Catalog with a collection of concrete practices and tools to bring the Letter to life.
