Vince Ebert 16. June 2020

In an interview with Vince Ebert

In a lecture, Mr. Ebert criticizes digitalization as "Big Dadaism" and questions its true revolutionary impact. He discusses the limitations of computers, the power of algorithms, and humor in technology. He also humorously mentions the idea of a "self-thinking politician."

Mr. Ebert, in your new lecture, you poke fun at digitalization, calling it "Big Dadaism." Is digitalization really that? A grand, destructive yet artful arbitrariness? These Silicon Valley show-offs are starting to get on my nerves a bit. Every hipster who owns his own garage with a foosball table there claims to be changing the world with a new app. But is the ability to order a pizza via Google Maps or send cat videos in Full HD truly so unbelievably revolutionary? In fact, the information age began over 500 years ago. That's when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, triggering modern mass communication. No wonder that even today his almost-namesake "zu Guttenberg" is fascinated by the copy function. Robots are generally considered rather humorless beings. So, are you not afraid that a machine will soon take over your job? Hardly. Computers lack humor because they can calculate very well but do not understand what they are doing. We humans are the opposite. Recognizing a good friend from 60 meters away from behind comes easily to us. A computer cannot do that. It doesn't have a good friend. However, it can quickly multiply 73 by 26. A person who can do that usually also doesn't have a good friend. Are you generally relaxed about the digital revolution, or do some developments worry you? What worries me less is the power of algorithms, but rather our blind faith in numbers. You are probably familiar with the phrase: "If you bought this book, you might also like this book." Amazon generates significant revenue increases through this recommendation algorithm. The unspoken truth, however, is: Amazon has no clue whether this algorithm is actually clever because it knows the readers' preferences, or if the readers are just adapting to the algorithm because they simply believe it is clever. I, for one, suspect the latter. Do you know what Amazon offered me recently? My own book! And the crazy thing is: I actually ordered it... Which development are you most looking forward to? Self-driving cars, drones as pets, or something else? Supposedly, Google is working on the "self-thinking politician." But that is probably technically impossible.

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Experience Vince Ebert live at the 19th Stuttgart Knowledge Forum

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In an interview with Vince Ebert

Experience Vince Ebert live at the 19th Stuttgart Knowledge Forum

Click here for more information

More posts by Vince Ebert

Vince Ebert - Big Dadaism. Navigating Digitalization with Common Sense.

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