The Kosove-based annual technology festival, DOKU.TECH is set to take place in Prishtina on 27-28 May with Mira Murati, the Albanian chief technology officer of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, set to be a guest speaker.
Under the theme “Bringing the Future Closer, Together” the event, which is celebrating its 10th edition, brings together individuals and talents from the tech sector as well as top-tier international future makers, executives, and thinkers to discuss the key topics in the tech sector, locally and internationally.
This year’s topic is centered on the thought that if you can articulate the future state you would like the world to be in, then you can begin to plan for and work towards that future now.
Murati will give her speech online, but the company will also be physically represented by Pamela Mishkin, a member of the technical team who focusses on the language model and its socio-economic impacts.
Murati is from Vlora, but grew up abroad, studying in Canada and the US. She worked at Goldman Sachs, Zodiac Airspace, Tesla and Leap Motion before joining OpenAI in 2018 and becoming its CTO. She is responsible for overseeing the company’s research, product and safety teams and is strong advocate of artificial intelligence.
The most famous product of OpenAI is ChatGPT, an AI chatbot and large language model which lets users enter prompts to receive human-like written responses, text, or videos completely created by AI.
It has caused significant controversy globally due to fears of misuse, data processing, and the impact it could have on society and people’s jobs. But for every criticism, there are vocal supporters who believe it has the power to change our society and improve the way humans work and interact, for good.
Also speaking at the event will be Fatos Ismali, senior data and AI solutions architect at Microsoft, Kasia Odrozek, director of insights at the Mozilla Foundation, Shermin Voshmgir, author of Token Economy and founder of Token Kitche, and Ralph Talmont, chief creative and communications officer at Collectico, amongst others.
Over the past seven editions (2014-2020), the conferences have brought together over 7,000 attendees and featured more than 90 esteemed speakers in live events, delving into the social implications of technological innovations, focusing on connectivity, content, openness, and security.
Additionally, the online event in 2020 garnered over 30,000 views. The organisers state that DOKU.TECH plays a vital role in fostering the growth of the tech community in Kosovo by providing inspiration and encouragement for technological advancement.
The event will include several different formats including keynote speakers and talks, workshops and masterclass, a DIY fair, game jam, panels and open discussions, art, movies, music, and networking events.
In attendance will be a diverse audience of entrepreneurs and innovators, activists, marketers,”digital troublemakers”, business leaders, artists, the media, and students.
According to the event’s official announcement, “During the next 5 years of DOKU.TECH, we will showcase speakers working to build the future state we all aspire to, which is open, equal, just, secure, and prosperous. This year’s theme of DOKU.TECH will showcase the most innovative and exciting technological developments and how they’re transforming industries and changing our daily lives.”
They add that over the last decade, the event has played a key role in shaping the future of Kosovo’s tech industry.
Previous topics have included cyber security, artificial intelligence, personal digital security and surveillance, open content development and entrepreneurship trends.
Speakers have included homegrown talent with successes locally and abroad, such as Akan Ismaili, Krenar Komoni, and Drena Kursari, to futurists with a global platform, such as Laurant Haug, Uri Aviv, and Yanki Margalit to those who’ve disrupted the systems in which they work such as David Batstone, Arikia Miliken, Alex Qin and those who shine a light on contemporary tech and culture issues such as Kashmir Hill, Kentaro Toyama, and Dan MacQuillan, the website states.
DOKU.TECH is open to everyone at the Palace of Youth in Prishtine and participation is free.
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