The thing with the Internet of Things  | Marcel Schouwenaar | TEDxRotterdam

[Music] [Applause] today we are talking about being connected and when when the world becomes connected through the internet of things we let software look at our cities we let software look at our workplaces and into our living rooms this software these algorithms they look at data and they help us make better decisions about how to work more efficiently or how to stay healthy or they can even make decisions for us or about us imagine in a couple of years everybody in your neighborhood drives an electric car and one morning everybody gets ready for that commute and they go to their car and you and all your neighbors find the car charged just a fraction of what you need to make it to work what happened well if everybody wants to charge their car overnight the power grid can't handle that charging a car cost as much energy as five households but the Internet of Things can solve this we just have to create a system that lets some people charge first and others people later now there's a problem who do we charge first who do give priority and it wants to wait their turn well our system has to make a couple of decisions I think we can all agree that a doctor needs a charged car so we can respond to emergencies right so with a little bit of data about your profession we can make sure the doctor can make it to the next heart attack I also think we want to make sure we all make it to work tomorrow so if we have a little bit of data from new Google Maps or your TomTom we can make sure you can make that commute you see with a little bit more data you get a better solution and life's not only about work right we also want to make sure you can make it on the next weekend trip or to the dentist appointment so if you give us some access to your calendar we can have a little bit of data and make sure you can make it to that brunch on Sunday morning with a little bit more data we get you a better solution and today is your lucky day because our algorithm our algorithm looked at your purchase history of hemorrhoid cream and found out that you're running low so we charged your car a little bit extra so you can make that detour to that pharmacy downtown well suddenly you see that the better solution is not okay anymore this solution not only relies on sensitive data it's also a black box that looks at data and gets to decide who has mobility and who doesn't and one day you find your car in the morning not charged at all and you'll have no idea why that happened was it because you switch jobs or you got plenty of hemorrhoid cream you don't know this is not some thought experiment this is an actual problem we're working on with leading organizations in the indie energy sector now don't get me wrong the Internet of Things or IOT for short is a great tool it's a great tool to make our lives more comfortable to make our work efficient I also think the next speaker is gonna give some really good examples but when it's a tool is it a tool like a hammer a tool everyone can handle if you miss the nail it's just you that's hurt therefore it's a tool that everybody can go into a shop and buy you see the thing with the Internet of Things is that this hammer can in turn into something bigger like a steamroller a tool that is essential for infrastructure but it can have drastic consequences when used in the wrong way so that's why only qualified professionals can use it you may wonder in your when you're developing an IOT solution even though when you start with the best intentions it can develop into a steamroller so how do you know when a hammer is turning into a steamroller in other words when am i developing something useful for people and why when do I develop a solution that's based on unfair data practices this dilemma is central to our work at our design studio the incredible machine but it wasn't always like this when we started our studio in 2012 we work with dozens of clients to transform their business through the IOT and sometimes we work at projects where collecting personal data was more important than creating value for people we have worked on these projects that are black boxes that make decisions based on data about users about citizens about employees and every time that would happen we wondered how did this happen like when we start this project we were excited about the possibilities and when we look at the final design we conjured up a steamroller we couldn't continue to help companies create products and services that deemed data more important than human values so we part of a problem but how could we part of a solution should we just dismiss the internet of things just heavily restrict what products can do what they can monitor what they can communicate but potentially miss out on many great opportunities to make life's better or even save lives or should we embrace technological progress let it take its course let it maybe it takes it it takes a sacrifice of some of our values along the way but I guess the recent influence of propaganda on social media in the recent US elections have shown us we cannot afford not to stay critical about technology I think we have to look for a solution somewhere else and I think it's a cultural problem the problem is not about the products the data the technology the problem lies with the values that we embed in the products that we as designers as engineers as managers create so we have to look at culture because if we want to build an Internet of Things we can trust we have to come together and decide what's important what is not what is right what is wrong we have to look at FX we weren't the only one with this realization in 2015 we gather with a group of designers and researchers that share our concerns this group said it was time for action actually it was time for words the IOT design manifesto ten principles for design in the connected world it lists principles like we are deliberate about what data we collect about only using that specific data that's used to make the product work we make the parties associated with an IOT product explain it's about hundred percent transparency about who has access to your data and what they can do with it and it's not only about transparency the principle we empower users to be masters of their own domain dictates that users have the final control about what's theirs we launched the IOT design manifesto at a conference things come in 2015 in a matter of weeks hundreds of professionals scientists from thought leaders in Silicon Valley two professors from world-class universities from designers in China in India to innovation managers in the tech industry it even became the basis of courses about IOT at schools and universities and IOT design manifesto became a tool itself when you are developing an IOT solution you can look at it and say am I still making it a hammer or are we creating a steamroller holding up the documents in Berlin in 2015 changed my career projects changed suddenly conversations with clients developed I couldn't some clients we couldn't align with anymore and we pass on their projects and other clients came to us to look to how to develop a fair IOT solution and that leads me back to a conversation I had earlier this year a Research Institute and an energy company asked us look the future of electric vehicles is smart charging charging based on data but when we developed this smart charging we might create a black box that gets to decide who gets to drive the car and who doesn't it took a while for us to understand that question it was not they weren't asking for a fare out rhythm they were asking us to help them change the culture in which smart charging was being developed was being imagined so we collaborated on an example of the first smart charging station that was not a black box that was transparent this smart charging station would show exactly what data I would use to make a planning exactly what decisions it would make and allow a user to scrutinize the algorithm and if they wouldn't consider it fair they would have leverage over the energy company it is just an example but it helps us it helped us change the conversation between smart cities and energy companies over the years when working in this field of IOT I had this realization data may be worth a lot of money data has no values values are human thing and when we apply technology when we design products and services we embed our values in the design of these products so if we want an IOT we can trust we have to talk about ethics did the IOT manifesto cause positive change I don't know I might need a little bit more data to tell for sure thank you [Music] you [Music]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 12,420

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Technology, Data, Design, Ethics, Future, Impact, Internet, Value

Id: 4HKmfWlBK3Y

Length: 12min 46sec (766 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 20 2017