WeAreDevelopers was the first really big conference and event after Lockdowns. It started with a train ride from Wolfsburg to Berlin. Having worked in Berlin for a project, I actually missed going to the ICE Restaurant, drinking coffee and starting programming or reading a magazine. And I love that this train generally is too early (or punctual).
I reached Messe Süd where the conference took place and the first impression was a big queue. Sorry, but I only could find one end of the waiting line.
I was on time for the first presentation from Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub. I realized he originally came from Berlin and is from the same generation of developers as I am. Might be his first computer was also a big investment and the usage has to be shared with all family members. Starting programming with the calculator was a way out for me.
Besides personal stories, the first topic I figured out was AI. I was a little bit afraid to hear that “80% of the code would be written by AI together with us” as Thomas Dohmke told us. So I also listened to the next presentation “Staying Safe in the AI Future” from Cassi Kozyrkov at Google to get a better feeling. But I read and heard “Algorithmic bias occurs when a computer system reflects the implicit values of the humans who created it” – and I looked in the crowd and was afraid of having A future. There will be less than ten per cent of women in this beautiful AI future? Ok – no queues in front of the toilet at this conference might be an advantage. But is it the most important fact? At these kinds of conferences – I want to have the same queues in front of women’s toilets as men’s toilets (of course by having the same amount of toilets) to get a better AI in the future for men AND women.
As there are not the same queues on WeAreDevelopers in front of the women’s toilet as in front of the men’s toilet, the AI will be biased.
The rest of the day was planned – and I tried to follow the plan – going from one crowded place to another. I heard somthing about using Python for web-apps, I saw real Venture Capitalists (I admit the first time), heared a lot of cool technical stuff and collected ideas. I got popcorn an a really interesting MIT magazine from heise.
I went home by train in the ICE restaurant and reached Wolfsburg a few minutes too early (This is becoming a problem if you have to pay your bill in the restaurant before leaving).