On Tuesday, the old prison yard of Kakolan Lääni and parts of the interior filled with excited business festival visitors. The music from the DJ booth echoed off the red brick walls in the beautiful weather, and acquaintances both old and new came together around art installations as soon as the doors opened.
The most anticipated speaker of the first day of SHIFT, Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, Nick Bostrom gave his keynote, “The World After Superintelligence”, about AI and the future of humanity. As of yet, no one knows what this post-superintelligence world will look like, and according to Bostrom, that may be a blessing – as long as we remain ignorant, we can maintain a positive outlook on the future. Bostrom emphasised the need for transparency in the research community and an approach that would allow today’s rapid technological development to benefit everyone.
The opening day of the festival offered a wide array of fascinating presentations from international companies that have harnessed technology to facilitate and improve people’s everyday lives. Liron Rosenbaum of OrCam demonstrated reading aloud a newspaper and recognising faces with a device attached to eyeglasses. Neurotechnology entrepreneur Daniel Chao brought with him an instrument resembling headphones that could be used to improve brain performance through stimulation of certain areas of the brain. Yoram Levanon with his team of researchers has taught a computer to identify emotions from human speech and use this information to monitor human health.
In addition to the international companies and speakers, Finnish experts of various fields took the stage. Katri Saarikivi spoke about communication between human and machine, Harri Valpola about next-generation AI and Markku Jussila about the future of remote work.
The opening day program AI in Maritime Business at the Industry Stage went deep into the world of maritime technology. According to Ville Hulkko, who opened the program, the maritime industry is one of the most traditional industries and also one of the biggest industries in Finland. Many Finnish companies are willing to implement AI solutions in their work. The day saw representatives from industry leaders, such as Rolls-Royce, Meyer and MacGregor, discussing the many possibilities of AI.
As part of the maritime industry program, Turku Business Region and Avanto Ventures published their brand new Maritime Accelerator collaboration project. The goal of the new accelerator program is to offer a route into the maritime industry to new, promising startups, as well as to bring together companies and innovations, both old and new. Participating in the project are already some of the biggest names of the industry: Wärtsilä, Royal Caribbean Cruises ja Meyer Werft.
The SHIFT program continues tomorrow, Wednesday 23rd May at 10:00 AM.
SHIFT Business Festival
Mari Männistö
Head of Marketing & Communications
+358 45 8684 808
SHIFT Business Festival connects groundbreaking technology with leaders of traditional industries for a discussion about the ethics of future development. The festival, attracting 4000 great minds and visionaries, is held May 22nd - 23rd 2018 in the abandoned prison of Kakolan Lääni, Turku, Finland.
SHIFT is organised by a non-profit organization with the purpose of shaping breakthrough technology to be responsible and sustainable.
SHIFT is not an event. It is a beginning.
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