Discover Top Posts Tagged with #introweek

hellooooooo world!!!

Hello everyone! I’m the first to start this week in introducing ourselves.

I’m Alexander but go by the nickname of Sunny (okay - this is awkward. Tumblr does the emojis automatically. My nickname is S_unny but I guess you can also call me sunny if you want to). While in my master of European Studies at FASoS I do not focus on technology related topics (I’m rather foreign policy oriented), joining the Premium team for Arcadis gave me the chance to come back to childhood passion and be a bit nerdy! Recently I had to explain a fellow student (by coincidence she is in the Premium team for Accenture) why I don’t think that video games are a waste of time and I enjoyed this nostalgic moment.

Back to the reality of working, I find myself struggling to find nice words to describe artificial intelligence and neural networks. Sometimes youtube videos help in our understanding but that’s not too academic, hm?

Anyways, even though it may be sometimes difficult to get our heads around, I believe that trying to understand how technology works and not only using it is fascinating.

As a funny take-away for you on AI; Microsoft learned an important lesson how important input data is from a failed AI project they introduced in 2016. If you’re interested in learning how a chatbot that “loves humans” turned into a holocaust denying racist, take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr4yi9onykg

#introweek #coffeemonday #deeplearning

(Are you where you want to be? ) No, I'm not sure I’ll ever be where I wanna be. I can be very flakey and I can never make up my mind. Once I get somewhere I’ll probably wanna go back or go somewhere else or try something different. Also I’m still in school and I share a one bedroom apartment, so how can I be where I wanna be. I have mediocre life goals, but they’re not that mediocre. So given my current job and my position in life I don’t think I’m there yet. Socially speaking, then maybe. I have all the friends I would want. I’m surrounded by the people I wanna be surrounded by so in that aspect I guess. I could do with a boyfriend, but I could also do without one. *laughs* So I guess it’s fifty-fifty. I mean it could be better, but it could be far worse. [image of: @iamdiamondclusterhustler] #black #millennial #introweek #blackandmillennial #bam #queerpoc

#introweek #blackandmillennial #millennial #black #bam #queerpoc

It Doesn’t End with Pokémon Go

Hey everyone, we’ll be wrapping up the introduction week with my post.

My name is Dora (I don’t really have a nickname), and I study Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) at FASoS. CAST is a two-year research program that focuses on the interconnections between science, technology, and society. I guess that also pretty much explains why I ended up joining this project. I like thinking about possible ways in which new technological developments could influence different spheres of human activity, such as visual arts, as well as the design practices that steer technological innovation in a specific direction.

As part of our project for Arcadis, I’ve mostly been doing research on Augmented Reality (AR). AR is a variation of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies that transfers digital or computer-generated information into a real-world environment. Think of Pokémon Go. That’s a typical example of an AR mobile game. But the type of AR that I’ve been doing research on and that will largely be present in Society 5.0 doesn’t really stop with Pokémon Go and your mobile phone; it goes all the way to your eyeball and includes tiny little microchips that augment your physical environment as you do your groceries or check the schedule for the next bus. That sounds a bit creepy, right? Well, some companies in Silicon Valley have already developed prototypes for an AR contact lens. And apparently, they show a lot of potentials, although they also still need a lot of improvement.

If you’d like to think about how the future might look like as the development of AR technologies continues to accelerate, you might be interested in checking out the Japanese animated series Psycho-Pass. The series’ cyberpunk setting immerses you into an AR universe where the police can scan citizens’ minds and mentalities to assess their criminal potential (and there’s a bunch of other weird things going on in every episode).

#introweek #augmented reality

We are already cyborgs...

...phones just haven’t been officially attached to us yet.

I am happy to introduce myself on this fine morning at the end of the week. My name is John Robert but everyone calls me Jack. I am studying the master European Studies at fasos with a specialisation in Public Policy and administration. Ever since I was young I had a passion for new technologies and incorporated this passion into my studies by focusing on how we should legislate these in Europe.

For me the advancement of technology and science is inevitable, but who is responsible for its containment? The common answer from scientists has always been that they should be autonomous, just let them do their job and society can worry about its implications. Everyone can see merit in this approach, the sooner we find a cure, a solution, an answer to a certain problem the better,- right? Not entirely, if you ask me. With past fantasies becoming reality with new tools such as big data, AI, Internet of Things, and Genetic modification, there are certain questions that need to be answered before we reach a point of no return. The first question is perfectly captured in this quote by Eric Cohen:

"The problem of technology — how to spread its fruits, limit its excesses, and save ourselves from its destructive side — ranks high among the great challenges of our time. The problem is so vast, so complicated, so many-faced — from stem cells to fuel cells to weapons of mass destruction — that it is often difficult to keep a level head about it, and often hard for even the most judicious scientists, statesmen, and citizens to know how to think and what to do."

A fair and even distribution of the merits of technology advancement is something I want to advocate for and hopefully, through this project, we get a better understanding of how we reason and conceptualise future scenarios with technologies.

#introweek #values

Happy Tuesday!!

Time for the second introduction of this #introweek!

My name is Sabine, and in contrast to Sunny, my nicknames consists of several abbreviations of my full name (Sab, Biens, Sabbie, etcetc.). I enjoy spending time outdoors and discovering new places (hence the picture, which is taken during my minor abroad in Tampere, Finland).

I am a student at the FHML, doing the Master Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management. I chose this study because I feel that there are still a lot of improvements possible in the healthcare sector. In my opinion, a lot of developments can be found in technological possibilities.

I enjoy thinking and discussing about the future. As an optimistic and enthusiastic person, I see the future positive. However, I acknowledge that it is important to look at all the ethical and moral implications that come along with technological developments. With this open discussion about Society 5.0 we can all work towards a bright future, I know I am excited!!

I’ve you’d like to learn more about CRISPR-Cas9, the biotech we will be focussing on, I’d recommend to watch the Netflix series ‘Unnatural Selection’. It gives an interesting and easy-to-understand introduction into the topic of genome editing.

#Introweek #CoffeeTuesday

(Where do you see yourself in the world?) That’s a really broad question *laughs* I see myself as like, greatness. And I don’t mean to sound cocky. But as a Black man, a Black person - both Black men and women - we have a special place in the world. And you know, even though our situation may not be the best I feel like we’re still like that piece, that everything derives from. You know? Whether it be music, art, education - I mean basically knowledge, the beginning of knowledge. You know? It all derived from Blacks, so. That’s what I feel like my place in the world is, I’m a part of that. [image of @dboiclass] #blacklivesmatter #blknmillennial #introweek #blackandmillennial

#introweek #blknmillennial #blacklivesmatter #blackandmillennial