Tools for Thought: Communities of humans vs products of tech

Tools for thought: An interdisciplinary exploration of the practical and ethical boundaries between tech products and human communities

The third Interintellect (I.I.) fireside chat will feature Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Eamonn Carey and Luke Robert Mason.

The 2020s find humanity at an interesting communal crossroad. On the one hand, we live bigger and bigger chunks of our lives online; a presumably irreversible process. On the other hand, we have just experienced a major Social Media Disillusionment, encountering for the first time the dark side of having moved all our human connections onto obscurely managed gigaplatforms.

But humanity’s need for exchange, attachment and emotional safety hasn’t diminished at all. We don’t only crave, but almost automatically form communities, groups and other bonds of sharing, support and loyalty - everyday, anywhere.

This is a good time to ask: What will this new, synthetic, on/offline decade bring to human communities? How can we redefine technology’s role in facilitating, even automating, certain processes around how communities are built and run? Are communities supposed to be left completely “organic”, unmonetised, “natural” - lest they crumble at any technical intervention? What about the products that start technical and then become communities in an organic way? Are those communities real...? And, finally, what do the new social platforms like TikTok, TTYL or Eternal promise to all of us looking for companionship, attention, even status? A tribe…

Our discussion will be enriched by unique perspectives on the panel:

Ness Labs’ founder-writer-podcaster Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a community leader for makers and a mindfulness and productivity expert for a global community of technologists. @ness_labs @makermag @BackedVC

Eamonn Carey is an investor and the Managing Director of TechStars UK; a discoverer and supporter of technology products that often have a communal potential, as well as the leader of the TechStars community of founders. @Techstars

Luke Robert Mason is a curator of futures – where he brings together artists, cultural theorists, fiction writers, philosophers and technologists to re-address the potential of looking at our futures through a techno-philosophical lens. @FUTURESPodcast @VirtualFutures

The panel will be moderated by Anna Gát.

Refreshments will be provided. After the event, at around 8:30pm, we will move on to a nearby pub, Craft Beer Co., Old Street.

With any questions, please reach out the the Interintellect on Twitter.

(Cover photo via https://www.endivesoftware.com/)