(Keynote) Tech for the People: Using our Superpowers for Good

Fairfax

We like to think of technology as a tool, something as indifferent as a hammer or a ruler.But in a world where algorithms decide which version of the news you read, pretending our software is detached is naive—or even dangerous. Technology has become an intermediary in nearly every part of our lives, from electronic medical records to online bill-pay systems, to apps that remember which craft beers you’ve tasted. So, when so few technologists (that’s us) are creating software for use by so many (that’s nearly everyone else in the world), how can we do right by them? What responsibility do we have to use our skills for good? And how can we get this right when humans beings insist on being so varied and complicated and, well … human?

Keynote