A morning with Helga Nowotny

New digital technologies have changed our relationship with time. Artificial Intelligence has become a powerful prediction tool. On our mobiles, sophisticated algorithms are one step ahead of our musical preferences, what we consume, and even how and who we relate with. At the same time, with the help of science and technology, an increasing number of instruments are enabling us to see the present and possible outcomes of what awaits us as humanity.

Algorithms and predictive analytics seem to bring us closer to our age-old longing to travel to the future. This allows us to anticipate and remedy potential adversities, but it can also be a powerful tool of social control and undermine our desire to change the world. But is it really possible to decipher the future? Our vision of tomorrow will always be conditioned by today. What effects do predictions have on this today? Could they end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? In this talk, Helga Nowotny, a sociologist specializing in science and technology and author of the book In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms (Polity, 2021), will be reflecting on digital progress and the impact of predictive algorithms on our lives and expectations.

The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) so that the students can work on the contents beforehand in the classroom and thus make the most out of the lecture.