As part of their Guru in the Community initiative, O2 last week came to Newcastle Explorers to deliver a workshop on Ethics and AIs. At the heart of these issues is the central question of what role technology should play in our lives and in society. Should a driverless car protect its passengers at all costs? Should Siri only show us the news that agrees with our worldview? How far can we take the Utopian dream of automation before it borders on dangerous?
Merging Scouting’s commitment to learning and development at a young age and O2’s open, passionate and excited optimism about the impact of technology in our day-to-day lives, Dan Fair, the in store Guru from O2’s Newcastle under Lyme branch, went to Newcastle Explorers to delve into these important and engaging questions with around 30 young minds. Ranging from Asimov to Bentham to Kant, Google to SkyNet and back again, O2 facilitated a discussion on what exactly it meant to be living in a world with machine minds, where automated living lies just around the corner.
The session was a great success with intriguing and enlightening discussion being had by the five groups, who then presented back to the Unit as a whole, developing their interpersonal and presentational skills while the others listened attentively to their ideas. Falling in line with O2’s vision for a passionate, knowledgeable and exciting technological community outreach program, the young adults present all learned something from each other about what it means to be living, learning and working in the modern age.
As well as talking to Explorers, O2 have been to speak to 1st Porthill’s Beavers about online safety. You can read about it here.