Augmented Society Network

    Most left-handed people appreciate the fact that only ‘Left-Handed Scissors’ work effectively regardless of how you hold them, yet right-handed people are generally unaware that ‘regular’ scissors are clumsy for a large percentage of the population.  There’s hundreds of other examples of similar issues with varied impact, so what can be done to facilitate growth in awareness for those issues commonly considered to be experienced by a minority? June’s session focused on ‘drive to inclusion’ with an exploration into systems aiming to overcome exclusion and disenfranchisement.  While much work is yet to be done, how can we best position ourselves individually to not reinforce the ingrained obstacles (internally and externally) that appear even when the best intentions and technologies are in play? There’s no hiding from the intrinsic and systematic tripping points that have been placed over the past few decades/centuries/millennia. In this conversation, we turn the

  Considering the systems, technologies and movements that - even with good intentions – often lead to exclusion, what is on the horizon to strengthen inclusion, access and unlocked benefits?  We’ve already gone down the rabbit hole in looking at presently-existing limitations on empathy within Artificial Intelligence, bias support within algorithms and the intimately exclusionary practices woven into our societal fabric and institutions. There must be technical and societal solutions that remove bias or walls cutting members of society off from equal outcomes.   The pathway to becoming a Clumsy Samaritan - wherein trying to solve one challenge, some other softer or even more critical goals are sacrificed unintentionally - has been pioneered far too often. Even if we can collectively swing the pendulum from the prevailing extremes to a new paradigm of equality, is it possible to do so without kicking off a zero-sum game?