Vote for my SXSW sessions to promote digital literacy

I need your help – please vote for my SXSW sessions! I’ve never done this before, so maybe this isn’t the best way. But I do know giving more info in one place removes barriers you may have to voting, so here we are.

I’m very interested in the idea of digital literacy. In early days of this concept, it mean making sure disadvantaged communities had access to computers. Then cell phones came and pretty much leveled the playing field for access (and I cannot wait to see what widespread 5G adoption will do).

What I didn’t expect was for social media to turn our private data into the fuel they needed to build their media empires (quote via Roger McNamee). Sure anyone can create content these days, but at what cost? And are everyday citizens aware of the way their private data is collected and used for profit?

I believe everyone should understand basics of technology, and how technology services they use operate. This is what I mean by digital literacy. And I’ve proposed two sessions at SXSW to start having this conversation.

Voting ends Friday, August 23rd. If you’d like to see me give these talks, please vote for me!

SXSW EDU: Feeding the Machine: AI Needs Your Data to Work

This session will explain how AI learning models, and how we’re getting tricked into training big companies’ AI learning models.

Please vote for this session.

SXSW: Digital Literacy is Vital for a Strong Democracy

This session is a continuation of a BitNorth session I did nine years ago. Back then, I focused on bad actors taking advantage of cultural norms. In this case it was Andrew Breitbart vs a traditional Southern women, transferring information in the typical Southern storytelling manner.

Can digital literacy help the majority of people recognize and repudiate hijacked news?

Vote for this session.

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