Haris Aziz, Khandis Blake, Rob Brooks, Lee Rollins and Martina Stenzel: Fight the fear
What we don’t understand often looks dangerous, and the barriers of our own anxieties are hard to get over. The incomprehensible power of new and complex technologies see us pull back in fear. What seem like the freakish sexual and social mores of others generate moral panic. Both of these reactions stop us from thinking – so maybe if we want to be able to deal with change, we need to dive into what seems dangerous, from algorithms and quantum computing to sexy selfies.
We can program A.I. to destroy us, or to help and bind us. The choice is ours.
This talk is part of the UNSW Grand Challenge program.
Chaired by Rob Brooks, UNSW Professor of Evolution, Director of the Evolution & Ecology Research Centre.
This conversation was recorded live on stage at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2018.
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Martina Stenzel
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Lee Rollins
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Haris Aziz
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Rob Brooks
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Khandis Blake
Rob Brooks
Rob Brooks is Professor of Evolution at UNSW Sydney and a popular science author. He has spent his career understanding the complexities and conflicts that sex and reproduction bring to the lives of animals, including human animals. His popular writing explores the murky confluence of culture, economics and biology, and how new technologies interact with our evolved minds and bodies. He has won the Queensland Literary Award for Science (for his first book Sex, Genes and Rock ‘n’ Roll), and the Eureka Prize for Science Communication. His articles have been published in Psyche, CNN, The Atlantic, The Sydney Morning Herald, Areo, and many other publications. His latest book Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers, and Algorithmic Matchmakers considers what happens when new technology collides with our ancient ways of making friends, growing intimate, and falling in love.
Lee Rollins
Lee Rollins is a Scientia Fellow in Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science at UNSW Sydney. She was awarded a PhD from UNSW in Conservation Genetics in 2009 and was awarded fellowships from Deakin University (2012) and from the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher scheme (2015). Her research investigates genetic and epigenetic drivers of evolution during exotic species invasion using species like cane toads and starlings. She is keen to understand how environmental factors affect gene expression across generations, a topic that likely impacts all organisms on our planet.
