TED’s Helen Walters hosts Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
From redefining the boundaries of artificial intelligence to unraveling the mysteries of the human genome, Session 8 of TED2024 inspired us to reimagine our relationship with technology and its impact on society.
This session’s explorers offered profound insights into the intersection of technology and human experience — and envisioned a future where innovation fosters greater understanding and connection.
The event: Talks from Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, hosted by TED’s Helen Walters
When and where: Thursday, April 18, 2024, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Speakers: Ray Kurzweil, Keolu Fox, Cliff Kapono, Catie Cuan, Pau Garcia, Peace Itimi, Anjan Sundaram, Amy Kurzweil
The talks in brief:
AI visionary Ray Kurzweil speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Jasmina Tomic / TED)
We’ve always used technology to enhance our capacities, but the rapid progress of AI is poised to transform our world in radical and beautiful ways. From nanocomputers to “longevity escape velocity,” AI visionary Ray Kurzweil shares why he believes the advent of artificial general intelligence will revamp human life for the better.
Scientists Keolu Fox and Cliff Kapono speak at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Tapping into Indigenous wisdom and cutting-edge technology, Keolu Fox, cofounder of the Native BioData Consortium, and professional surfer and scientist Cliff Kapono propose an eco-friendly approach to data storage — one that relies on the genomes of living organisms like sugar cane. This approach not only mitigates environmental impact but also honors Indigenous heritage by fostering resilience within ecosystems.
Robot choreographer Catie Cuan speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Robot choreographer Catie Cuan gives insight into the curiously beautiful world of robotic movement, proposing that robots who can dance — i.e. move with intention and grace — will be better caregivers, teachers and companions who can more seamlessly function among us.
Data and design expert Pau Garcia speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
What’s your favorite memory? This is a question that Pau Garcia often explores as part of his project Synthetic Memories, which uses generative AI to create visualizations of people’s memories. He explores the poignant power of this work — from reconnecting people with long-gone moments to potentially helping Alzheimer’s patients tap into lost memories — and shows how we might use technology to understand the past.
Business storyteller Peace Itimi speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Peace Itimi takes us inside Africa’s thriving tech ecosystem starting with MainOne, a Nigerian company that laid West Africa’s first privately owned undersea cable and brought faster connectivity to the region. She introduces us to a range of start-up success stories — from the East African fintech company Kopo Kopo to South Africa’s open-banking platform Stitch.
War reporter Anjan Sundaram speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Jasmina Tomic / TED)
Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world’s population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth, says war reporter Anjan Sundaram. He takes us to our planet’s bloody ecological frontlines, where invisible heroes are battling corporations and cartels to save our planet’s last natural ecosystems.
Amy Kurzweil speaks at Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
What if AI could breathe new life into the words of a deceased loved one? Cartoonist Amy Kurzweil’s grandfather, Fred, fled Vienna before World War II. When she set about building a chatbot with his archives, she thought the project might feel like a resurrection. Instead, conversations with Fred became a journey into the past, one that changed her ideas about art.
The audience in Session 8 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
TED2024, held April 15-19, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, is a week of talks, discovery sessions, excursions, dinners, performances and more celebrating “The Brave and the Brilliant.” Special thanks to our strategic partners PwC, Adobe, Schneider Electric and Northwestern Mutual.