LDB Forum
LDB Forum: Remapping our Nature in the Digital Age (Full Day)
From 13:00- 17:30 at the Edmond J. Safra Lecture Theatre, King's College London, entrance via the River Terrace.
In partnership with Life Calling, and to align with London Tech Week, this event explores our relationship with existing and emerging technologies; the impact on ourselves, on future generations and our ability to meaningfully connect with reality and the natural world.
Hosted by John Mack, Artist, Author & Founder of Life Calling, panel sessions will bring together youth activists, education and technology experts and AiDa the humanoid robot, and will culminate in John’s reflections on how we can preserve our humanity in the Digital Age.
Session 1
13:00 – 14:20 Education in the Digital Age: The Need for a New Operating System
Schooling, as an educational system, is a tool that has been implemented to assist in knowledge-building. Inasmuch as it is a tool, it can also be considered a type of technology—albeit one in dire need of a new operating system. How is it that this technology, so fundamental to human wellbeing and thriving, has gone unchanged over so many years? Surely, systems of education should not be exempt from progress. What might the overhauling of the operating system look like and how might it be implemented?
The session will open with ‘The Design of A New Paradise’ an introduction from John Mack, Artist, Author & Founder, Life Calling
Speakers:
Stella Wing-yan Fong, Head of Learning, Design Museum
Andy Haldane, CEO of Royal Society of Arts
Lucy Kennedy, Chief Executive of the National Saturday Club
Professor Andrew Przybylski, Professor of Human Behaviour and Technology; Oxford Internet Institute; University of Oxford
Moderator: John Mack, Artist, Author, Founder, Life Calling
Session 2
14:30 – 15:15 A Call for our Youth
Join #HalfTheStory, a leading youth nonprofit on a mission to empower the next generation’s relationship with tech, for a thought-provoking panel discussion on the future of digital wellness. Hear it first-hand from a panel of next generation innovators who are paving the way for a brighter future for young people’s mental health and wellbeing in the Digital Age.
Speakers:
Larissa May, Digital Wellbeing Pioneer and Founder of #HalfTheStory
Chloe Westley, Mental Health Campaigner, Speaker & Former Adviser to the Prime Minister
James Okulaja, National Anti-bullying Ambassador
Moderator: John Mack, Artist, Author & Founder, Life Calling
Session 3
15:30 – 16:15 AI Made in our Image
No creation can be separate from its creator; the painter is in the canvas, the photographer revealed in the image, the individuals form their society, ideals set forth the ideology. There are no two ways about it. And so it is true for AI, for the coder is in the code. What predictions, if any, can be made about the future of AI, given what we know of its human creators? And, perhaps more importantly, what responsibilities must these creators assume in order to ensure the survival of our humanity?
Speakers:
Ai-Da, humanoid artist robot
Juan José López Murphy, Head of Data Science & AI, Globant
Suhair Khan, Founder, open-ended design
Moderator: John Mack, Artist, Author & Founder, Life Calling
Session 4
16:30 – 17:30 A Walk in the Park: Exploring the Truth of our Nature
Humanity is currently on a mass-migration from the physical world to the digital world, from the land of nature to the land of virtuality, from human to machine. One of the most pressing of all our self-imposed existential threats is the digital takeover of human consciousness.
How far along are you in this process? Are you already an avatar of your former self? How deeply embedded are you in virtuality? How would you know? Join John Mack, founder of Life Calling, for A Walk in the Park, a journey of introspection and reconnection in the Digital Age.
Keynote speaker: John Mack, Artist, Author & Founder, Life Calling
To book tickets for one the LDB Forum half-day series, Sessions 1 & 2 here and Sessions 3 & 4 here.