Weeknotes — China, AI and Connecting Dots— Sept. 15th, 2023

What are Weeknotes:

Weeknotes are a summary of the week, popularised a few years ago amongst a group of public servants in the UK. It was a way of being more transparent about the work that was happening and helping share lessons and surface common challenges. Weeknotes are usually unpolished and filled with half-thought-out ideas, they invite conversation and engagement.

I have dabbled with weeknotes on and off and wanted to try giving it another go here.

Back in London

After a couple of weeks on the road, I was back in London this week, mainly focusing on getting ready for a big trip to Canada for FWD50 in the fall but I also had a chance to visit the CogX conference.

What about China?

I had a conversation with one of our Community Advisory Committee members who is based in South Africa. She asked if we had much content about China. South Africa is part of BRICS and she pointed out that China has become very influential in Africa. A lot of African countries (along with other members of BRICS) are looking increasingly (with some degree of apprehension and skepticism) to China for leadership. They want to have a more neutral source for insights. Is this something we want to explore more?

China is coming up increasingly, including at CogX. I am a bit concerned about the polarising (Cold War-like) language around them (as you can see in my notes from today). I think it is important for us to take a more neutral and open stance. But as Dame Wendy Hall said today when I asked her about it, “We can’t ignore China, but be careful, there be dragons.”

The AI discussion is dominated by the tech bros

This week I got to attend the CogX conference to cheer on our CEO Robyn who spoke on a panel about the implications of AI. I also had a chance to take part in an armchair discussion with Dame Wendy Hall. Dame Wendy spoke about her concern that the current hype around AI, the conversation is being dominated by a key set of voices coming from the tech space based in Silicon Valley culture. These “tech bros” have a very distinct perspective, while important given their deep background in the space and the influence they wield. It is far from the only voice. In fact, there are many women who have been working and studying AI for many decades who have a lot of important things to say. Not to mention leading thinkers in countries all over the world. How can we diversify who we listen to? How does shift how we think about AI? I am working on creating a list of top women in AI. Nothing formal just a google doc. Feel free to add to it.

Connecting the dots

I have long been fascinated by the power of events to help connect people and ideas. A well-run event leaves you on a bit of a high, excited by the people and ideas you have come across. But then what? We head back to our day-to-day life and it all fades into the background. Then we get together a year later with the same people and have the same conversations. How do we maintain momentum from events?

One idea is to link similar events. This week I had the chance to do just that, drawing connections between the teams organising: FWD50, the Creative Bureaucracy Festival, and Brazil’s Public Service Innovation Week. Each event has a common mission and a common community, just in a different part of the world. What would it look like to link these events, to help ideas flow and grow from event to event? It also provides the opportunity to cross-pollinate and provide more global context.