Kampuchea Crossings

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technology

Some optics on how rapidly technology is changing the world

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The topic of AI is all the rage these days. I’ve been trying to get everyone I know to use these AI chatbots (Open AI’s ChatGPT, Google Bard, MS Bing, etc.) because they overhaul so much of how we view the world and the changes we’re experiencing.

I watched a great webinar, where panelists offered industry perspectives on AI trends: AI & The Future of Work: A Symposium for Business Leaders. The archived recording may only be available until tomorrow, but I hope Next CoLabs keeps it accessible. Some of the more impactful visuals are below, presented by Roy Vella.

Many of us remember when we first used these tech tools (first graph). I grew up in both Quezon City and NYC. Then I worked in Phnom Penh for >11 years in the later stages of the country’s rebuilding process. So I saw these uptake processes twice.

Imagine how it took 110 years for the landline to reach 1 billion users. For each successive innovation, the number of years to reach a billion users dropped dramatically. With ChatGPT, it reportedly took only 5 days to hit 1 billion downloads.

The second graph starts further back to the introduction of the printing press in the 1400s, and shows the accelerating density of technological innovations. Do you know that AI technologies will surpass the brain power of a human this year(!), and soon after, the collective brain power of all humans?

I also found the presentation by Harvey Castro MD really useful, on the impact in the health and medical space. I’m thinking of how problems get tackled, with this pace of innovation. And I’m also thinking specifically of the “Global South” where these AI technologies are going to level the playing field thanks to the confluence of so many factors.

Think to how Western countries are aging. And where most people are resistant and fearful of AI. Plus, our regulatory hurdles are high, and there’s limited urgency for the average person to solve problems.

I’m loving the discussions that try to make sense of these trends. As a parent, how are we even adjusting kids’ curriculums to accommodate a future enabled by powerful technologies we simply have no collective grasp on?

Technology fun

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I love technology, and wish I had more of it in my background. Check out how this guy makes iridescent tempered chocolates with a 3D printer, in the first tweet below. He provided all instructions free on his twitter feed. And imagine how much less painful organic chemistry is, if learned this way, second tweet below. The learning possibilities are endless for homeschooling curriculums.

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crisis innovations

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One of the frustrations of working on a development project with a focus on policy work is that the impact on very urgent needs is years away. There is certainly value to shaping the legal environment to pave the way for changes to set roots. But as I mentioned in an earlier post about why I use twitter, I’m interested in how social issues are tackled now, across different continents.

So check out the practical ideas borne out of  crises around the world. One of them hit the NY Times lately, Africa’s Gift to Silicon Valley: How to Track a Crisis.

@Ushahidi suggests a new paradigm in humanitarian work. The old paradigm was one-to-many: foreign journalists and aid workers jet in, report on a calamity and dispense aid with whatever data they have. The new paradigm is many-to-many-to-many: victims supply on-the-ground data; a self-organizing mob of global volunteers translates text messages and helps to orchestrate relief; journalists and aid workers use the data to target the response.

Ushahidi also represents a new frontier of innovation. Silicon Valley has been the reigning paradigm of innovation, with its universities, financiers, mentors, immigrants and robust patents. Ushahidi comes from another world, in which entrepreneurship is born of hardship and innovators focus on doing more with less, rather than on selling you new and improved stuff.

Because Ushahidi originated in crisis, no one tried to patent and monopolize it. Because Kenya is poor, with computers out of reach for many, Ushahidi made its system work on cellphones. Because Ushahidi had no venture-capital backing, it used open-source software and was thus free to let others remix its tool for new projects.

This and other platforms eg @frontlinesms are available to help villagers self-organise so that resources can be targeted to meet their needs. It has great potential for maternal and child health problems, and for access to health care issues.

It’s time to bounce ideas around..