TEDX Rome - for E-GO Times
Are you absolutely certain that the lines you’re reading right now were written by a human being and not by an intelligent algorithm?
In 2017, this is a question that is difficult to answer, confronting us with extremely fascinating contemporary themes that were widely discussed this past Saturday, April 8th, at the event/conference where ideas worth spreading are shared—TEDx Rome. The theme of this fourth edition was “2037: The Future is Our Present.”
This independent event, a type of “franchise,” traces its origins to the Californian TED, founded in 1984 in Silicon Valley as a conference. It has now become one of the most significant and well-known intellectual exchange platforms in the world. Among the speakers in past years are notable names like Bill Gates, Bono from U2, Steven Steigmeister, David Cameron, Bill Clinton, and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, among many others.
In 2012, TED videos surpassed one billion online viewers.
This time, it was Rome’s turn to host the “red dot” stage—a symbolic circular red carpet where the speaker traditionally stands during their presentation. In fact, one of the event’s presenters, Rudy Bandiera, a blogger and journalist, shared with more than 2,000 spectators that he could hardly believe he was standing on it. “I’m taking it home!” he exclaimed into the microphone, and his excitement was entirely understandable.
The journey into the mysterious next 20 years began with a talk by Tarik Oualalou, a renowned architect and MIT professor. He spoke about new ways of designing cities and the need to “erase” old settlements to create new ones in the name of energy efficiency. “Urban clustering helps us save energy,” he stated, a thesis aligned with another prominent speaker of the day, Paolo Gallo.
Anna Carolina Tortora, Head of Innovation Strategy at the National Grid Corporation in Great Britain, continued on the energy theme with her predictions about our future ability to store energy generated by our bodies and use it as a form of currency. The idea of erasing our carbon footprint through the complete recycling of the energy we emit—and even donating or using it as money when in surplus—was fascinating.
Artificial intelligence was also discussed by Marco Menichelli and Giulia Baccarin, the latter of whom was awarded by Il Sole 24 Ore for her achievements in young female entrepreneurship. Marco, fully dedicated to his research, expressed confidence in the emergence of an artificial “companion” that would be incredibly useful and human-like. He was accompanied by “Gaia,” an artificial presence that interacted with the audience, offering its own perspectives on the differences between humans and itself.
Giulia, on the other hand, raised concerns about how algorithms carry our biases, sometimes reinforcing them. “Try an experiment with search engines,” she urged the audience. “Type ‘CEO’ into the image search and see what comes up.” Readers, this startling discovery of algorithm-selected images is yours to explore. Take note of how many women and, specifically, how many Black women appear in the results.
The day’s discussions also touched on inclusive globalization as an opposition to new territorialism trends, the future of shopping (virtual reality will dominate, according to Morgan Linton), copyright, and the possibility of not having to work in the future (a theory that intrigued everyone). One of the most captivating talks came from Kris Verburgh.
A doctor and researcher, Kris Verburgh, who at the age of 25 has already published four books translated into multiple languages, offered a promising and near-miraculous perspective on the future of medicine and biotechnology. According to him, this era will surpass ancient techniques like micro-surgery and traditional pills. They will be replaced by genetic manipulation tools, immunotherapy, ultrasound waves, and infrared rays, which could substitute the scalpel. There’s a significant possibility that soon, perhaps, we could live up to 500 years!
Here’s what he shared with readers of E-go Times:
TEDx Rome did not disappoint with its forward-looking vision, firmly embracing concepts of ethics, responsibility, sensitivity, sustainability, and shining with impeccable organization.
The organizer, Emilia Garito, expressed herself as follows:
To conclude the day, the touching and authentic sound of English artist Ella Janes brought this rich and thought-provoking event to a close, offering insights into a possible future.
ARAKI - 2017 - for E-Go Times
Some photographers manage to wordlessly address, point to, or invoke questions about photography and its nature. When gazing at his work I wonder: Why do we photograph? What is a photograph? Is it true? What meaning does it hold?
Does it matter if it has meaning?
The recent exhibition of the master at the Suzzani Gallery in Milan presented numerous works, including three new compositions of more than 100 Polaroids.
It would be intriguing to view the works of the “Araki Amore” exhibition without knowing Araki’s identity or having seen his masterpieces, such as Sentimental Journey, a photographic book about his relationship with his wife, or Winter Journey, where he confronts her premature death. Without having seen his works from the 1980s, which were intensely carnal, porn-art-graphic, controversial at the time to the point of his arrest—raw and pulsing with sexual energy and the frenzy of living fully. Or without having seen his still lifes—or rather, his flower portraits—created afterward, where the oscillation between life and death materializes in a stunning, fleshy, and visceral visual composition. Then, after his wife’s death, there were endless series of clouds, always photographed from the same spot for months.
Araki photographs everything around him and shares it, making it accessible to the world. He has published more than 200 books.
Without having seen this body of work, it might seem like a daunting task to understand Araki’s art. But then, when surrounded by his works—his latest creations—one would realize that it doesn’t matter what form the photographed subject takes. The energy that emanates is the same; it feeds on whatever the world offers, merges with the world, and animates it. It is mutable, powerful, relentless, incessant, material, corporeal, and dense. Whether in still lifes with objects, flowers, plastic dinosaurs, or dolls, or in the portraits of the dancer Kaori, they carry the same visceral spontaneity and human warmth present in all of Araki’s work, always arising from the same metaphysical formula.