Technology has to serve people
Juan Manuel Lucero is categorical about technology. "If it takes our rights away, it isn't progress," says the head of Google's News Lab. He argues that a smart city doesn't necessarily need the latest technology, and that in Córdoba everything is still to be done.
How are we doing on connectivity in Argentina?
We're in the middle of the table. Our connection speeds are quite poor by today's standards, but they're not the worst you can find in the world. I think certain technological components, like connection speed, sometimes tell us where we stand on business matters at the country level. But at home, in everyday life, we're doing quite well.
What are the goals for 2030 in this area?
Technology always has to serve people and the kind of country we want to have. 5G will certainly transform the way we live. We'll start thinking about things that haven't even occurred to us, because connectivity is limited today. The degree of connection we have now is going to intensify.
Which technology that seems distant now will be unavoidable in the future?
There's a growing phenomenon. Take today's 3D printer, which could be in homes within 15 years: we'll be able to duplicate a key in minutes. That doesn't only change the act of doing it. It empowers us as humans to think about what else we can do. We'll start to know how to do things that hadn't occurred to us. Then there's robotics. We'll have kids learning to program, learning to make machines our allies and not just a place for play and fun.
What should a smart city have?
It should be a city that uses technology and connectivity to make life better for its citizens. Technology is not innovation or progress per se. If it takes our rights away, it isn't progress. Using technology to improve our quality of life overall is the ideal, and it's what is being attempted. But the idea of intelligence isn't tied only to technology. A smarter city would have more trees. What technology? None. Zero. And that would be a smarter city. Technology won't always change our lives. What will change our lives is being smart in how we think of ourselves as humans and how we want to live in a shared space, which is the city.
Security is one of the big problems of cities. How do you think this debate plays out when technology is involved?
The debate first has to happen in depth. It has to be looked at according to each culture, because the implications for the right to privacy are enormous: how this data is stored, who holds it. Before using technology, it's important that we study.
What does Córdoba need to become a smart city?
We have a long way to go. The concept of a smart city is too big for Córdoba in every sense. It's a city that has all the neurons, but we have to start connecting them to each other. And it doesn't depend only on the government. It depends on us as citizens and on us starting to demand solutions from ourselves.
How do you see fake news?
First of all, they aren't news, and they aren't new either. But with the arrival of the internet they gained much more power of distribution, with less effort and wider reach. There will be more and more of them, and we should be concerned. Not only for that reason but also because of very advanced technology like deepfakes, where your face or mine can be swapped for the president's and a person can't tell at a glance. As citizens we have to sharpen our ability to detect them. We are the ones who make them go viral, not the big global mafias.
Original article: La Voz