Opening remarks from the founder & director of All Tech Is Human delivered on May 20, 2022 at our Responsible Tech Summit: Improving Digital Spaces. This gathering, which brought speakers and attendees from across Europe, the UK, Canada, and the United States was hosted by the Consulate General of Canada in New York.
Good morning.
I have to say, every time I get worried about the future of American democracy, I tend to make another Canadian friend.
I'm just saying.
My name is David Ryan Polgar. I'm the founder and director of the non-profit based here in New York called All Tech Is Human.
You might say, “hey, there's no center or there's no institute in that name.”
“All Tech Is Human” sounds kind of unusual. What is that all about?
I think we have a little bit of a philosophical divide going on.
You have certain people who think that the future of tech is already decided.
That technology comes down from the heavens and we're just on this path.
But that's not the way it works. I strongly disagree with that.
All tech is human.
The future of tech is intertwined with the future of the human condition and the future of democracy.
That is a big deal, full stop.
It's such a big deal that it behooves us as a moral duty to get involved in the process.
No application without representation.
Not about us without us.
If we're impacted by technology–which we are–then we not only should, but we have to, get involved in how it's developed and deployed.
Because it impacts us. It impacts those around us from Christchurch to Buffalo.
From January 6th to the protests in Ottawa.
This is a large issue but that's also why I like to start things off with some good news and some bad news.
I know there's a lot going on and I do want to recognize that so I do want to deeply thank each of you.
Because I know people got on planes from Australia, the UK and Europe to be here. So that's exciting.
Well, let's get the bad news out of the way. Right now we do have a lot of bad news going on in the world today.
Here's the bad news that doesn't get talked enough about.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with this.
There is no magic button that's going to allow us to solve the deep problems we have even around a situation like the Buffalo massacre.
Technology is intertwined with society, with human behavior.
It's our need to involve not only technologists and make them more ethical but to bring on the saints and the poets, the ethicists and the psychologists, the artists and the attorneys.
Everyone.
You.
Because this is sociotechnical, this is deep, this is a large issue.
One of the reasons why I started All Tech Is Human in 2018 here in New York is because there's a misconception.
There's a misconception in the media frankly that if only somebody cared.
I care.
You care.
Thousands of people across the globe care.
Thousands of people across the globe want to get more involved in the process.
But there is not a conducive environment that connects a diverse range of stakeholders to benefit from knowledge sharing and collaboration.
To connect an ecosystem that benefits from this collective knowledge.
So that's the bad news.
But let's get into the good news.
I want each of you to just turn around and look at everyone here.
I know we have a bunch of people on the livestream as well.
It's a really impressive group.
There's a lot of passion here.
There's a lot of people who are building tools, who are creating reports.
Who are dedicating their life to Responsible Tech.
My own backgrounds as an attorney and an educator.
I’m not a tech guy.
I'm a guy who cares about the human condition.
A guy who cares about the future of democracy.
That's important, right?
And that's I think why so many of us are taking a shift.
But we don't just need a tech shift.
We need a cultural shift and a paradigm shift.
And that's what we're working on at All Tech Is Human so I'd love each of you to get involved.
We're trying to connect the community.
All these interlocking parts.
Grassroots meets the power structure and change the system.
That's the part that I'll leave you on.
Is that the reason why I still have a smile on my face with all the darkness in the world today is because of this.
Because people are here.
People are doing this for their work.
We don't lack passion.
We don't lack knowledge.
What we lack is an interconnected system that benefits, that stands on the shoulders of giants.
That's what we're trying to do.
To build a tech future that's co-created and aligned with the public interest.
To grow the overall ecosystem.
This is quite powerful.
You've got the power of community.
The power of collective intelligence.
And the power to change systems.
And that's what we're doing here.
