The two robots-demonstrators exposed in a room of the Interactive Technologies Institute of Madeira (M-ITI stands with the institute identifies) in Funchal, cause a reaction between discomfort and fun, strangeness and fascination. It is an idea born from the mind of the American researcher Christopher Csikszentmihalyi. Instead of a head, they have a bullhorn attached to a wooden structure – clad in a hooded jacket that gives robots a contemporary air – and two wheels. What is the megaphone?
“to chant,” he told us Chris Csikszentmihalyi, graduated in art studies, who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. “We want to use them to protest around large companies that manufacture military equipment and are building robots to strengthen state power. We want to send signals modem to try to convince the robots inside the factories to largarem the tasers and grab the hoes … “
This is not the usual conversation held in a laboratory. But the M-ITI, attached to the University of Madeira, is not an institute like the others. Has scientists trained in engineering, design , architecture, sociology, anthropology, physics and people come together around ideas.
One of the projects of Chris Csikszentmihalyi is in Uganda where you are installing radios with inexpensive equipment. The objective? Get people to talk, to exchange ideas and solve community problems.
This type of approach is the response of the Institute to contemporary changes.
“What society is this in that computer technology allows us to orient in a shopping center, but let us lose a plane in the ocean? Or not being able to understand the consequences of global warming? “He asked, Nuno Nunes, president of M-ITI. “Computer technology has had a tremendous impact in the last 30 years. Our society has changed completely. But it was for the better? “
The Uber, a taxi service company that has a mobile application, is a representative of” interesting phenomena that allow the sharing of resources when we do not “, but “are to reverse social systems, the jobs of people,” he said. “What we are doing at the institute is to think how technology will help build a better world. We felt that Chris was the right person for this critical view. “
Concern ontological
In April, when the European Commissioner Carlos coins went to Wood, the American scientist was one people who talked about the M-ITI. Used Moore’s Law to enunciate an ontological concern.
In 1965, the American engineer Gordon Moore predicted annual doubling of transistors on silicon chips. Still discussing how long you can keep up this pace. But for Chris Csikszentmihalyi, this law reflects a long-standing problem of engineering. “As their power is supported in science, engineering is often confused with science. Engineers love it. Because they can pretend that they are doing is like the natural world, “said the scientist.
However, unlike the law of gravity, which describes a natural phenomenon, there is nothing natural in duplication transistors. “Moore’s law is only a law of a lot of engineers, business strategies in companies to be competitive, they do everything to create progress. But there is nothing in the natural world there. “And e are talking about a human process, such as the governance of the country or the economy, which have undergone changes over the centuries to deal with company problems. But the technology remains sacred, according to the investigator.
“Somehow, we do not have a democratic process for the technology,” he said. “My colleagues at MIT used to laugh at the idea that technology is political. They said. ‘No, my job is just about the natural world’ But if we look at the MIT, 80% of its funding comes from the US government, and 80% of funding comes from the Department of Defense. So, the MIT is an agent of the US state power and all his research is influenced by it. “
Of Solidarity toasters …
This is one reason because the investigator is now in the M-ITI, a Portuguese island “. This is a group of engineering that at least open to the idea that there can be another type of technology”
to explain one of reflection approaches to technology, the researcher uses as an example a toaster. “Torra bread. But also uses energy that causes global warming and its production pollutes. “
One way to reduce these side effects is with regulations often already applied the technology in the market. But Chris Csikszentmihalyi want to think of everything from the beginning. And when discussing the negative effects, it is possible to think of ways to help society.
Suddenly, a toaster is no longer just a device that roasts bread. “Why not think about how it can help on issues discussed by the Indignados movement [born in Spain on May 15, 2011]? How does a toaster can help avoid austerity and poverty? “He teased. “We are now looking for the solidarity movement that is coming from Greece. If I were to build an application such as Ebay, it would be possible to incorporate some knowledge of this movement? “
Turning to robots-demonstrators, Chris Csikszentmihalyi wanted to turn things inside out. Instead of drones to drop bombs, like the US Predator famous, or robots surveillance, why not invent something for Indignados? Like a robot to go to the demonstrations, that is in the strikes, which is “a body in public space, one of the most important elements in dissent repertoire,” said the scientist.
Since 2001 he works this vision. Following the September 11, Chris Csikszentmihalyi, then at MIT, he imagined a robot journalist war. He called it Explorer Afghan “had not yet invaded Afghanistan. But I predicted this would happen. And he knew that both the Taliban and the Pentagon hated the media and would be very difficult to get information about the war. “
The Afghan Explorer cost 9000 euros to MIT. Powered sunlight and with a screen for a head, was a stand guided by satellite and “doing” interviews.
Journalists were not very happy. “They said the robot could never do journalism as it should be. I agree completely, “considered Chris Csikszentmihalyi.
It was a provocation of the investigator, which also provides that the robots-demonstrators causing the same disappointment. “Let’s put the Indignados to control them. They will be tremendously disappointed. It is almost impossible picket strike with them. “
This type of unpleasantness is useful, he added, since it will help to understand the misuse of technology, such as drones war. But they are not effective?
“The Predator is effective to kill when you see from afar. But it is not effective in a war. Most of the people killed was not the target. This is fuel for the ISIS and al Shabaab and is creating a terrible future. How can you say that these things are effective ?! Only if it is to sell more and enrich some people “
In 2014, the journal The Guardian brought an interesting arithmetic made by a human rights group:. In an attempt to settle 41 men, attacks the drones US killed 1147 people in countries like Pakistan and Yemen.
seeing the robot reporter, journalists have established the connection between the inefficacy this “journalist” and the drones as war machines “and stopped believing in the story told by the military” on this efficiency, the researcher said. All these his creations have one goal: “They expand the space that we find appropriate for the use of technology at the same time forcing us to question their current use.”
The discussion is urgent if we look for the past few years where this “terrible future” is here and now. Just think of the terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Ankara, Paris, Brussels, in Orlando. Last week in Nice. In the thousands of people dying to cross oceans and borders to live in Europe. In the cities destroyed Syria and Iraq. The walls are erected, from Israel to Hungary
And Wood, outermost region in recent years was the highest in the country unemployment rates, may help to think about the origin of these phenomena:. Migrations, climate change that are putting territories under pressure, or the abundance of technology in jobless populations and hopeless.
“climate change happen more in places like Madeira, and migration more in places like Madeira and the Mediterranean. We are closer to the issues affecting Europe, “said Nuno Nunes, stressing the importance of the coming research periphery. “In Brussels, people are concerned when there is a terrorist attack, but do not realize that this attack was caused by the inability to solve the problems in the periphery of Europe. Solve them is what? You bring a security-paranoia to the center? “
… A South innovation
The M-ITI has about 100 people, including researchers and 12 PhD students nationalities, and a budget of 1.4 million euros in 2015. it is dedicated to inventing technology but to use that there is creating new concepts. There is a group dedicated to neuro-rehabilitation area, there are studies that warn about the consumption of fossil fuels …
“There is interest in issues related to South Africa, where much of the innovation is to happen. And it did not arrive and try to impose Western technology, the project Chris [on radio in Uganda] is an example of this “, said Nuno Nunes
This project -. The Rootio of Grassroots Community Input and Output -. started in 2013, thanks to the collaboration of the American researcher with the telecommunications engineer Ugandan Jude Mukundane
“Uganda has 33 million people, there are only about 100,000 copies of newspapers every week. It is unlikely someone reading a newspaper. Radio is the dominant means of communication, “said Chris Csikszentmihalyi. With money from Knight (USA) Foundation, the US and Uganda used the Internet and mobile phones and installed radios in four communities in the country.
kit for radio consists of a plastic bucket with a smartphone 70 euros, an FM transmitter 200 euros, plus a solar panel, a battery and antenna. “We built 12,000 euros radio stations to 2000 communities of 10,000 people,” summed up.
In Uganda, the use of mobile phones is parsimonious. Usually they are turned off. People carry them with money and only call us to make a call.
This dynamic was used for radio. When there are programs open to the public, anyone can call the radio. But no one answers. The smartphone the radio plays three times and switches off. Then who called receives a radio call by computing “cloud” (which is very cheap), and can make your intervention without having to pay anything.
On the other hand, listening to music or other programs is also easy:. these programs are stored in the “cloud” and just one of the radio go and get them through the smartphone and disseminate them by FM transmitter
example: “the regional authority [government] speaks of a program of important issues for the Ministry of Agriculture. Then, the program is open to the community for questions. What should I plant this year? What disease is this? That money should I ask someone to come buy my corn and will sell to the city? “Said Chris Csikszentmihalyi. “The responsibility is also to know what is happening. When you receive a call on the mosaic disease on cassava, can go explain to people that they must not share stakes, because they will spread the disease. “
The four radio stations went on the air in August 2015. The researcher wants to expand the project to thousands of communities. The idea is to convince those who have some money, as the owners of a restaurant, to buy the equipment needed to install the radio. South Africa, Kenya and South Sudan are also interested in Rootio.
According to the researcher, the ultimate goal is to get people to talk to “define the future of the community, solve their problems, share ideas, instead of receiving communications endless Government and NGOs “.
All this based on a simple technology and see the needs of communities. So Chris Csikszentmihalyi defines Rootio as a technical and social project: “The separation between the social and the technical is a construction of modernity. It took incredible things, but we have to ask ourselves: the technology would not have advanced in it, without the separation of the social part and the technique? Would we have had global warming? We have paid a terrible price with this separation and some technologies are terrible for perpetuating this situation. “
PUBLIC traveled at the invitation of the European Commission
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