When illusionist Derren Brown concluded his opening keynote at DTX Manchester, he hadn’t needed his famed powers of hypnotism to leave the audience shifting in their seats. The London-born mentalist, instead referenced Centre for Humane Technology co-founder Tristan Harris, explaining that “50% of AI engineers believe that there is at least a 10% likelihood that […]
When illusionist Derren Brown concluded his opening keynote at DTX Manchester, he hadn’t needed his famed powers of hypnotism to leave the audience shifting in their seats.
The London-born mentalist, instead referenced Centre for Humane Technology co-founder Tristan Harris, explaining that “50% of AI engineers believe that there is at least a 10% likelihood that the mishandling of AI is going to lead to the destruction of humanity.”
Brown confessed the stat to be a “buzz-kill” to end his talk mostly themed on happiness, following the publication of his book Happy in 2016.
“New technology ushers in new responsibilities. If a tech confers power, then there’ll be a race, and if that race is unchecked, it leads towards tragedy,” he warned.
It wasn’t just Brown bringing gloom to the Manchester Central Convention Complex, as the famed British city experienced a typical downpour. But the rain – and Brown’s warning – couldn’t dampen a cautious sense of optimism at the annual event.
Talks on AI focused on promoting responsibility and taking the time to ensure safety and inclusivity across the technology sector.
NatWest Group’s strategy and innovation lead for its AI chatbot Cora, Mark Worden, expressed how the bank is keeping it customer-centric and inclusive: “If you design your experiences with permanent disabilities in mind, you’re automatically designing for everyone else as well,” Worden said.
His presentation also touched on how designing NatWest’s app and webpage for those with disabilities such as blindness helped cater to those with temporary issues such as cataracts, or those with situational issues such as simply having the sun on the screen.
Manchester Airport Group’s CTO, John Hudson, talked on stage about how pitfalls in technology are the fault of human design, not the technology. Bias, for instance, needs to be tackled by making sure the team building an AI is diverse, he said.
VP of operations at Groupon, Adam Lindsey, also mentioned the current journey his team is going on to not only personalise Groupon’s chatbot, but to do so in other languages to include international customers.
On day two, Paralympian and member of the House of Lords, Tanni Grey-Thompson, opened the conference with thoughts on how AI can help disabled people alongside Microsoft’s Greater Manchester lead, Marie Hamilton.
Tanni Grey-Thomspon and Marie Hamilton speaking on the main stage
Hamilton noted the ability for blind people to be able to watch “pretty much everything” because AI can now write and read out what is happening on screen, and Grey-Thompson praised the technology industry for improved prosthetics and wearables.
Still, there is work to be done. Grey-Thompson said that there is only one health-based watch she can wear that will measure how the pushes in her wheelchair contribute to her fitness. She also said that disabled people need to be invited around the table more.
“Disabled people will often be asked for their opinion, asked to contribute at quite a high level, but they’re asked to do it for free,” she said.
“Pay disabled people for their lived experience and for their knowledge and expertise they bring to the table.”
Growth in tech in Greater Manchester
As the self-proclaimed “biggest enterprise IT event” in the North, DTX Manchester also leaned on how the city, the area around it, and the northern part of the UK is growing its tech scene while also keeping everyone involved.
On a panel talking about harnessing connectivity to create a positive impact in city regions, Kathryn Rees, director of strategy at Stockport Council, said: “It’s absolutely important to us here in Manchester and important to us in Stockport that we’ve got the right connectivity, in the right places for the right purposes, now and for the future, and it’s at the heart in Greater Manchester.”
“You’ll hear us talk about having a greener, fairer and a more prosperous city region, and digital is at the heart of that,” she added.
Rees articulated how Stockport council’s regeneration council will see 10,000 new homes built over the next decade within the town and ensuring that everyone is connected and included.
“We have to think about digital connectivity as a part of that,” she said. “It has to be about inclusion.”
Plus, Christian Riley, EMEA field CTO of web performance and security company CloudFlare talked to TI about the trends he’s seeing in the North as a Manchester-native.
“When I come back here every so often, something else has sprung up. Whether that’s supporting tech directly or supporting smart cities, smart people, huge amounts of digital initiatives for the City of Manchester itself, there’s lots of investment here,” he said.
“It’s an incredibly vibrant place to be and obviously backed up by events like this.”
