Vancouver Chapter - Maximizing Human Potential in the Age of AI

Description

The AI revolution promises to transform everything—but are we building technology that empowers people or extracts value from them? Join us for a provocative exploration of what human-centered AI actually looks like, delivered by someone who's been building digital technology since 1994.

In this session, discover why the most successful AI applications of the past decade weren't called "AI" at all—they were just smart features that enhanced human expertise rather than replacing it. From fraud detection systems that helped security analysts identify threats faster to predictive maintenance algorithms that empowered technicians to prevent equipment failures, the AI that actually worked followed classical Luddite principles: amplify human capability, don't extract value from it.

Our speaker Trevor Wingert will challenge conventional AI wisdom by exploring:

• The 30-year digital journey: From Singapore's first webmaster to classical Luddite AI builder—what happens when technology serves human dignity vs. shareholder metrics
• The stealth AI success stories: Why ML applications worked before the hype cycle promised to "replace entire departments"
• The factory owner vs. human enhancement models: Understanding the difference between AI that extracts value and AI that amplifies expertise
• Practical frameworks for technology leaders: How to evaluate AI investments through a classical Luddite lens—does this enhance human capability or create dependency?

In this candid, no-slides presentation, you'll gain historical perspective on technology adoption patterns, practical tools for evaluating AI vendors, and a framework for building technology that serves human flourishing rather than just efficiency metrics.

Agenda

6:00 - 7:00pm – Arrival & Networking Reception

7:00 - 8:00pm – Presentation – Q & A

8:00 - 8:30pm – Networking

Hors d’oeuvres & Beverages to be served

Open to CIOCAN Members Only

Speaker: Trevor Wingert

Trevor discovered Gopher on university networks in 1992 and believed he was witnessing technology that would democratize opportunity and empower people. By 1994, he was interviewing William Gibson and Linus Torvalds for Wired Magazine Japan. A year later, he became "Singapore's first webmaster" during the early commercial web era.

A self-described classical Luddite, Trevor has spent 30 years asking the same question: "Does this technology enhance human capability or extract value from it?" His journey has taken him from Nokia's Asia Pacific product launches across the region, to building mobile entertainment platforms for EA and PopCap, to developing fintech systems that enhanced rather than replaced human financial expertise.

Trevor has watched the industry shift from building technology that lifts people up to optimizing human behavior for shareholder metrics. The turning point? When companies started A/B testing 41 shades of blue instead of asking how to make people's lives better. Now he's building an AI-native startup that returns to the original internet vision: technology that democratizes organizational intelligence and amplifies human wisdom.

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