beyond flying cars and robots

All fans of science fiction from past decades We imagined giant space stations, flying cars and humanoid robots. who will speak to us face to face in the 21st century. The reality turned out to be somewhat more prosaic, but it cannot be denied that, as predicted, we live in a technological world to the point of illiteracy among those who do not adapt. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to look not only into the future, but also into the present of the environment that already completely surrounds us.

A “tractor” in Lleida and his protest, fueled by social media, prevented him from arriving in time to tour a good portion of the pavilions at the World Technology Congress, as its name suggests. The contrast between the electric future we dreamed of is shattered by the harsher reality of those trying to live off the countryside now overrun by digital nomads. Luckily, a few encounters provided me with the perspective I needed, which is not always what the average visitor gets.

Indeed, my interlocutors confirmed to me that behind-the-scenes events were much more decisive than the usual fireworks in the news. Magic tricks in the form of wriggling mobile phones, humanoids answering in English, or robot dogs are not the “nougat” of the event. What really matters is prepared in exclusive areas of some pavilions.. You will have to overcome strict barriers to reach the “forbidden city”, as it is called. Albert Cuesta, engineer and journalist. My interlocutor began designing the future of sound for brands like Vieta, Marantz or Aiwa in the 80s and for decades has been one of the most qualified observers of what is happening in the technological world. “The convention isn’t what it used to be, but it’s great,” he assures me as soon as we start talking. Mobile phones are left behind and that’s “cookiemobile” Barbie was presented to the media even before the pavilion doors opened, and Chinese Androids are already outperforming most Apple models. By the way, another year The Cupertino company is a great participant in the global technology party, as they still prefer to serve things their own way and at their events. I don’t know what Steve Jobs would say to this.

Yes, more than one billion two hundred million mobile phones are sold per year, but they are another element of the number of devices connecting to the global network. Albert makes it clear that what really matters is managing the networks that connect all these devices to each other. Indeed, three brands known to all of us stood out with stands, the size of which had to be measured in square kilometers: Huawei, Ericsson And Nokia. This last 150-year-old Finnish company, which dominated the global telephone market for more than a decade, transferred its consumer brand into Eastern hands to produce and sell “retro” mobile phones that were popular among young people. People. . Now your job is provide a connection with the world of real robots, which do not have to be humanoid or speak like in the movies, despite the famous Ameka. Yes, one of the stars of the event was a humanoid connected to artificial intelligence that can blink and follow you with its eyes while answering the obvious in a conversation that is nothing like the ones Clarke or Asimov imagined. Live it certainly wins because it’s influential, but it’s still a modern version of the slot machines that have entertained audiences at fairs for centuries.

Note my skepticism, which is somewhat less than what I feel towards the famous Model A flying car presented by Aleph. They claim to have over three thousand bookings at one hundred and fifty euros per booking, but let’s be clear: there is no law that would allow someone to fly into something like this, neither in traffic nor over our heads.

It’s true that Artificial Intelligence Was One of the Greatest Heroes, but very far from those fair artifacts and what the general public expects. Case in point: According to Cuesta, 6G networks will use it much more effectively because they will be able to point coverage directly at the user, making mobile telephony more resilient, another key point of this publication. It doesn’t seem like it, but it’s closely related to the boom of the last long year: generative artificial intelligence, which gave birth to Chat GPT. Regulating its use and the impact it has on our lives also occupied an important part of the debates and meetings at MWC. There is still great fear of its consequences.

“During the Industrial Revolution, there were those who burned factories,” he says. Edward Martinone of the greatest experts in the field of evolution of our “techno environment” what can be found at this fair. He is the “digital architect” behind major technology innovation projects in Barcelona and has always known how to combine computer engineering with government strategy, creating a future of smart cities that takes into account what happened in Barcelona. Since 2019, he has been the Director of Intellectual Relations at the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation. From their headquarters, located in the same port where ships from India have been arriving for centuries with all the great news, they give meaning to the huge conglomerate organized by GSMA. If in the past the motto of its founding was: “Technology matters (technology matters) now, with “Humanizing Technology” (humanization of technology) becomes emphasis on “technological humanism”, which is much more than just an expression. “First comes people, then what people do, then how they do what people do, then whether we think what people do is good or bad, and eventually the technology comes along to make it possible.” “, says Edward.

This “anthropocentric” approach to the madness of current progress seems much needed. It is true that we have changed the environment so much that we now have to adapt to it, and the changes are happening faster and faster. According to Martin, in many cases, digital transformation processes are forced because someone with a certain level of leadership in their company, for example, at such a conference thinks, “Oh, this is cool,” when they see some kind of technological progress. For example, in the case of artificial intelligence, the engineer makes it clear that the first question should be: “Do I really need it to do what I do?” Even though computers have been a dream since their existence, Data is not the same as knowledge, and is often very trivial in that sense.. I was left with one of the thoughts that Eduard gave me: “What AI has now is data. The next step is the knowledge that people have. None of this will be dangerous if we can put ourselves first.”

I come away feeling, as in our daily lives, overwhelmed by so much information. In the midst of the struggle for attention that we are victims of in our time, I maintain a certain calm by asserting that there are people who know how to provide the necessary point of view at the right time so that, when faced with the human challenge of technology, Let’s use a little common sense and not look like crazy kids with a cell phone. Or with a flying car.