GEOG1913

Technology has significantly improved lives across the globe: we have seen the cost of goods fall due to mass production; people have become more connected through revolutionary developments in transport and electronic communication; health has improved through better sanitation, pharmaceuticals, and surgical techniques. Yet there are still challenges for the future in terms of feeding a growing world population and coming to terms with climate changes.The solutions will be through new developments, innovations, in bio-, nano-, info-, and energy-technologies. These are already bringing benefits but also possible risks. For example, the benefits of genetic engineering for improved food security are obvious and yet there is a fear that it will lead to ?frankenfoods?. Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to take over boring and repetitive jobs in the work place but in so doing could put millions out of work, and some even fear robots threatening human existence. This seminar will examine the idea that living with innovation depends on developing policies that properly manage risks in an informed way, by trying to anticipate and assess them rather than just to avoid them. Risk assessment is a scientific approach that combines an understanding of threat, exposure and vulnerability ? recognizing uncertainties in all the elements ? to estimate the likelihood of impacts.Risk management policy often has to balance the risks from emerging technologies with their benefits. Historically the risks that have arisen from innovation have been small compared with benefits so decisions have been relatively easy. However, some of the risks from the new generation of emerging technologies have potentially big consequence, e.g. in the development of bioweapons, misuse of geo-engineering to unilaterally alter climate, cyberwar, and killer robots. These present special challenges for policy to ensure that we enjoy the benefits of the technology while keeping catastrophic threats acceptably low ? and will form a basis of small group discussions as part of the seminar. An underlying message from the seminar will be that making the right connections between science and policy is a key part of living with innovation.

001475