Post by Elsa May

Third year of attendance of ChangeNOW and in all honesty, less «Wow» moments, but more of a «Now? where are the actions?» moment.  A few relevant take aways 🙌 «Who does AI serve?» That question seems a non-question, as we all seem to inconsciously or consciously wonder about the real help it provides. There is of course not one single correct answer, in regard to the complexity of the subject, the vastness of what we define as « AI » and the multiplicity of models and ways to use it. But as for a general user, an important topic is that of Trust : As Albert Moukheiber underlined, we are not used to distrust machines. But possibly we should learn to. The « Delusional Spiraling » is a quite critical topic to address and we are absolutely all concerned. None of us is really understanding what is going on inside the LLM’s «Black Box» reasoning. And now we speak of conscious machines. Well, do we actually know where or what our “ human” consciousness is..? On the ecological backlash that we see appearing, both Jean-Marc Jancovici and Brune Poirson took into account the popular perspective, which is indisputably the most important to consider.  Brune Poirson was underlining a crucial point on the importance of wording used : the term «sustainability» (or in French «écologie» is seen often as punitive, and it is toolified by politics. But the citizens truly are concerned. Health, clean water and air, fertility and natural ressources are all of common interest indeed, and the objective facts of climate change are as a matter of fact, science-based, not a (political) opinion. Jancovici's contribution was of no surprise again, right on point, incisive with cristal-clear arguments and eye opening truths. Very much looking forward to the publication of their « IF (Imaginary futures ) initiative» https://lnkd.in/e62cNv-9, a strategy studying different scenarios within the physical limits and the different social desires existing. But the real reason I was there was to prepare something for the Fédération de la Mode Circulaire,with Pascaline Wilhelm and Léopold on a virtuous alternative to fossil based iridescence✨ Sparxell ✨ Glad to see a few familiar faces and change-makers again, EverDye Philippe Berlan, Losanje, WEFFAN, AMSilk | Biogenius Materials, Arianee and Clear Fashion, as well as Notpla for packaging - a few of them I discovered at ChangeNow and am so happy to see thrive.💫 Concluded the day with the presentation of the students from the Chair Sustainability IFM-Kering led by Andree-Anne Lemieux, 5 projects that do exactly what is needed : Go beyond theory.  In an equilibrium between the upstream and downstream value chain, Global North and Global South, between technology and craft, these projects had the aim of being at the same time Desirable, meaningful and operational ! A 👏 to Baptiste LINGOUNGOU and Hester Vanacker for their work on a local and concrete, actionable upcycling system in Indonesia, next step in Congo!