The Cyber Civilization Research Center hosted the "KGRI Great Thinker Series ― Cyber Civilization: Prologue" on Friday, December 7. Three international experts were invited to give a series of public lectures, tackling themes related to the opportunities and challenges that technology brings to education, business, culture, and humanity and society as a whole.
The first lecture "Moving the Boundaries of Humanity ― Regulation by and of Algorithms" was given by Professor Jonathan Cave, Senior Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Warwick (UK) and Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute. He addressed the impact of algorithms on the changing structure of civilization in terms of human judgements and regulatory frameworks.
The second lecture, which was titled "Civilizations’ Economic Drivers: Babylon to Bitstream," was given by Professor Gerald Faulhaber, who is Professor Emeritus of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and Former Chief Economist at the Federal Communications Commission. This lecture focused on the transformation of modes of resource distribution patterns and potential solutions towards income inequality.
The final lecture was by Professor Lisa Dolling, who is Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Rosemont College (USA). Speaking on the topic of "The Role of a Liberal Arts Education in a Technological Civilization," Prof. Dolling advocated for the importance of liberal arts and humanities for addressing the changing needs of the future workforce, as well as ethical considerations related to artificial intelligence.
For the panel discussion, Ms. Mika Takagi, Director of the Media and Content Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, joined the above speakers and Professor David Farber, the Co-Director of the Cyber Civilization Research Center, for a panel discussion on the topic of "What is the future of Cyber Civilization in Japan?" Speaking from her unique perspective, she highlighted the current institutional strategy in Japan, particularly in relation to points that had been brought up in the previous sessions. The audience were then invited to join in a lively discussion which also brought local Japanese viewpoints to the table.
The winners of the David Farber Prize were also announced during the event. Professor David Farber established this award to encourage undergraduate students at Keio University to write essays in English on topics related to the interaction between information technology and society.
The event attracted more than 150 participants representing a wide array of industries, including higher education, business, and governmental organizations.