Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Psychology Lecturer Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan was a guest at the 'Atölye Üsküdar Webinar' seminars organized by Atölye Üsküdar Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. In his speech, Canan, touching upon the effects of the digital age on people, stated that people are about to fall into complacency in the digital world.
At the Atölye Üsküdar Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, which was opened by Üsküdar Municipality with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Technology Istanbul Development Agency and operates free of charge, a youth webinar titled “Remaining Human in the Digital Age” was held with Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan, moderated by Dr. Nebiye Yaşar, Director of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Young Brains Academy.
In the webinar program, where hundreds of young entrepreneurs participated online, the importance of understanding what digitalization corresponds to, its sphere of influence, and its power in today's world, which is moving towards digitalization in all aspects, and benefiting from its opportunities and advantages were discussed.
“Standard professions will be transferred to artificial intelligences”
Canan, evaluating the increasing stress and job anxiety among young people with the entry of robots into every field, said; “Almost all my friends who plan to do the standard professions that exist today will become unemployed, at best, somewhere in the middle of their careers. Almost all of these jobs will be transferred to artificial intelligences that are very uncapricious, cheap, and do not demand things like maternity leave. Did humans come to this world to do what computers can do? We have been doing these things for 200-250 years since the Industrial Revolution, but now we need to ask, ‘What makes humans different from a working machine, a steam engine, or a computer?’ We are beings designed to invent, push boundaries, do what has never been done before. If we look at the story of how humans survived in nature, there are terrifying lessons there. But unfortunately, we only try to understand today and don't look much at the question of ‘Where do we come from?’ We are about to lose our essential quality and fall into complacency and laxity in the digital world.”
“The only way to escape the dominion of artificial intelligence is courage”
Canan, talking about ways to escape the dominion of artificial intelligence, said; “A computer today can create music that is much more entertaining, more striking, and would be number one on the charts than all the music that exists on Earth, but it cannot invent music. It cannot create a non-existent art form. The task of humans is to live life carefully, combine their experiences with a different mindset, and produce results. What I mean by a different mindset here is this; for example, everyone's fingerprint is different, their mind is different. The only way to save us from the dominion of artificial intelligence is to do things with courage. Do whatever profession you want. You always have the freedom to transform the things you encounter in life into something in terms of art, thought, technology. This is not a place to be comfortable; there will definitely be a problem. Expanding life, learning new things, wondering if what you learned before is correct, conversing with oneself – these are important things.”
“We fear not artificial intelligence, but the evil of the human mind”
Canan also touched upon young people's fear of artificial intelligence; “For example, in science fiction movies, the fear of artificial intelligence, the fear that machines will take over the world, is being pumped. Actually, there is no artificial intelligence behind this fear. What you call artificial intelligence is ultimately software in a machine. It has a learning feature, and it learns whatever algorithm you design for it. For example, there are cleaning robots that work with artificial intelligence. Let's say you got a cleaning robot for a laboratory and it worked for 100 years. It cleans the laboratory better every day, constantly learning, but after 100 or 1000 years, that artificial intelligence robot will not say, ‘Let me go out and clean the corridor too.’ Because a robot cannot do something that is not in its algorithm. The reason we shouldn't be afraid of artificial intelligence is that it is limited by its algorithm. Our real fear is the potential evil of the human mind, the programmer behind artificial intelligence. Because it is not clear what it will do to us. I call it ‘horizontal intelligence.’ Always at the same level, unchanging, not developing, unable to escape its rote learning. This situation also exists in humans and is very dangerous,” he said.
Before the webinar, Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan, who visited Üsküdar Mayor Hilmi Türkmen, was given a gift by Türkmen commemorating the importance and meaning of the day.
“Atölye Üsküdar,” where the webinar program took place, is the center of an entrepreneurship and innovation project. Within the scope of the project, three main areas have been established: offices for entrepreneurs, interactive classrooms for training, and a workshop where R&D projects will come to life. In a 700-square-meter area, there are training kits for robotic coding, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and all kinds of workshop equipment, from laser CNC to milling machines, from 3D printers to virtual reality and augmented reality systems, from humanoid robots to workstations. Young people who want to benefit from the Atölye Üsküdar Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center located in the Üsküdar Municipality Service Building can get detailed information and register online at www.atolyeuskudar.com. Open to every idea and every sector, Atölye Üsküdar Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center appeals to every entrepreneur, especially university students, academics, and professionals.
To watch the webinar;