Abg Jo: Need to monitor how technologies used
KUCHING: While technological progress should always be applauded, it is important to keep an eye on emerging technologies and monitor how they are used, cautions Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said just like a knife which can be used both as a cutting tool and a weapon, technology can just as easily be pointed in a regressive direction as a progressive one, and the scariest technology can easily be misused and abused in an incredibly dangerous fashion.
He noted that there were already a lot of jaw-dropping current technologies that are affecting the people’s day to day lives, and some are even potential national security threats.
“We are still struggling to navigate this new digital future and learning how to live with certain technologies which were once unimaginable.
“Social media, advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, augmented and virtual reality are simultaneously being used for both constructive and destructive purposes, and the stakes have never been higher,” he said at the opening of the 23rd Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) Congress here yesterday.
The congress attracted about 500 delegates from around the world.
Abang Johari said if people are to survive the technological revolution and global economy slowdown, they better keep an eye on the development of disruptive technologies and use their collective wisdom to embrace and capitalise on the advances that these technologies bring and keep themselves relevant.
The technologies, he noted, are advancing at an everquickening pace, with disruptive breakthroughs which are often feared as much as they are celebrated - celebrated for the convenience and higher efficiency that it brings; feared due to the prospect of it rendering certain jobs obsolete and threatening man’s very livelihood.
During this challenging period, it is of paramount importance that professionals in various fields engage their peers in constant dialogue, he said.
“With the human wisdom, we hope that there will be more celebration than fears on the advancing technologies.
“Professional congresses such as this are an invaluable platform for an exchange of wisdom on how we can better cope individually and as a group with the challenges of a highly volatile international economic environment under financial stress and a slowdown in global growth,” he added.
He believes the theme of this year’s congress: ‘Human Wisdom Amidst Emerging Technologies’ comes timely as the world is inundated with technologies upon technologies.
He said the sub-theme: Leading from the future, Human Wisdom, Emerging Technologies and Sustainable Excellence were apt and well-suited to encourage discussion in these areas.
Also present were Works Minister Baru Bian, PAQS chairman Francis Leung, Board of Quantity Surveyors Malaysia president Prof Dato Aziz Abdullah, Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia president Kwan Hock Hai and PAQS 2019 organising committee chairperson Wan Ainon Zuraiha Khalid.