A Changing Planet – Rethinking Sustainability in an Era of Intelligent Machines

Ongoing forest fires around the planet, rapid melting of glaciers and ice sheets, loss of biodiversity, and rising global temperatures all illustrate that our planet is changing rapidly. At the same time, we seem to be entering an epoch of unprecedented technological change through automation and artificial intelligence. These technologies are likely to change the way we all perceive and respond to our rapidly changing planet. Where do these major megatrends meet? Which new opportunities and challenges do we face as AI and autonomous systems enter domains of critical importance for sustainability? In this talk, Victor Galaz will explore why — and how — technological change matters for the future of our planet, in both expected and unexpected ways. 

Victor Galaz is an Associate Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Stockholm University), and Program Director at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences). His work, focused on new societal challenges created by technological change, includes governance dimensions of geoengineering, early warning systems of epidemic outbreaks, uses of social media to detect ecological change, algorithmic trade in financial markets, and environmental risks embedded in early applications of artificial intelligence. He has also contributed to the development of the Planetary Boundaries concept alongside scientists at Stockholm University. Dr. Galaz is the author of the book “Global Environmental Governance, Technology, and Politics: The Anthropocene Gap” (Edward Elgar, 2014), and co-founder of The Biosphere Code - A Manifesto for Algorithms for Sustainability (2015).

This event is part of 'A World of Data' Speaker Series organized by the Lafayette Data Community. 

Register here.