5 TED Talks That Anyone Working in Tech Should Watch

If you like to watch videos on YouTube, I am sure you must have heard of TED talks. TED talks are a channel that offers free lectures by industry experts, high covers and sometimes weirdoes who live off the beaten path. From self-improvement to medical science, TED uploads all kinds of videos on both their YouTube channel and their website. This post is intended to share with you some TED talks for anyone working in the tech industry. 

Here are the 5 TED talks that anyone working in tech should watch

1) The next software revolution: programming biological cells: Sara-Jane Dunn

Sara-Jane Dunn is an Oxford graduate now working in the field of Computational biology. She is a Senior Scientist at Microsoft Research Cambridge and also an Affiliate PI at the Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge. In this lecture, Sara explains how the cells in the human body can be programmed just like computer software.

2) Can robots be creative?: Gil Weinberg

Gil Weinberg is the inventor of experimental musical instruments and musical robots. At present he is a professor of musical technology at Georgia Tech and founding director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. In this TED talk, Gill talks about the much-debated topic of creativity in robots. This lecture will interest those who are worried about robots taking over jobs in the future.

3) The jobs we’ll lose to machines — and the ones we won’t: Anthony Goldbloom 

Another TED talks on the same topic of AI taking over jobs in the future. This lecture is by a machine learning expert, Anthony Goldbloom. In this lecture, Anthony reminds us of the extent machine learning is being used in the software industry. From grading essays to providing customer support, it is used in almost every recently developed software application.

4) 3 principles for creating safer AI: Stuart Russell 

In this lecture, Artificial Intelligence expert Stuart Russell shares three basic principles for creating safer and human-friendly AI. He is a pioneer in the AI industry and is willing to take some key steps to make sure robots do not take over the world. Today, a robot takeover might sound dramatic but in the near future, it is certainly possible. Some also believe a robot takeover is inevitable.

5) Are games better than life?: David Perry

This lecture is by a popular video game designer named David Perry. David has created several popular video games like Earthworm Jim and MDK. In his early days, David has worked on and learn to program computers like the Sinclair ZX80 and Sinclair ZX81. In this video, he shares his journey from a boring school kid to working as a rockstar game designer for the world’s one of the largest gaming companies.

Summary

If you want to watch lectures from expert’s in the field of technology, you can do it for free. Educational lectures don’t have to cost money. TED talks are completely free and you do not even have to give out your personal information. Just subscribe to their YouTube channel and you are good to go.