September 23, 2016

In preparation for Purdue’s two-day technology conference, “Dawn or Doom 2016: The Risks and Rewards of the New Technology Explosion,” honors students are invited to read and discuss a book from one of the scheduled speakers. Author of The Circle, Dave Eggers will be delivering the closing keynote speech for the conference.

His 2013 novel chronicles tech worker Mae Holland as she joins a powerful Internet company. It begins as an incredibly rewarding experience, but as she works there longer things start to fall apart. The circle is Eggers’s tenth published work of fiction. He is the co-founder of 826 National, a network of writing and tutoring centers, as well as the co-founder of Voice of Witness and ScholarMatch, a college access organization which connects donors and under-resourced students to make college possible.

Please RSVP here: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cwfKfD9utvkaVWR , then pick up your free copy of The Circle at the front desk of HCRN.

About “Dawn or Doom 2016”

Dave Eggers is the author of many books including The Circle and A Hologram for the King. He is the co-founder of 826 National, a network of writing and tutoring centers. He is the co-founder of Voice of Witness and ScholarMatch, a college access organization which connects donors and under-resourced students to make college possible.

We are in the midst of an explosion of technology and knowledge.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, facial recognition, Internet surveillance, and data science promise to bring a new dawn of safety and insights to improve society—while simultaneously raising legitimate questions about unforeseen consequences or malicious uses.

Just the speed at which new technologies are being developed and introduced prompts us to ask:

• Is technology moving faster than our ability to understand it?
• Will technologies such as big data, Internet surveillance, robotics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology provide the solutions to society’s largest problems and usher in a new era of security and convenience? Or will these technologies put our jobs or personal wellbeing at risk?
• Is virtual reality an expensive toy or a disruptive technology?
• Is public policy effectively dealing with new technologies, or is the tech world moving too fast for effective legislation and regulation?

These are the questions discussed at the two-day conference at Purdue University, "Dawn or Doom 2016: The Risks and Rewards of the New Technology Explosion." At the event, Purdue faculty experts and leading national authorities will present their perspectives on the current technology explosion, explore conditions that will foster innovation and investment into the next generation of technology, and address the big-picture issues where both excitement and alarm are appropriate responses.

Students are invited to join Eggers to discuss his book on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union Room 118.