On Tuesday, October 21, Kean welcomed renowned, award-winning tech journalist and entrepreneur Kara Swisher for its first President’s Distinguished Lecture of the semester.
The New Jersey native was named “Silicon Valley’s most feared but revered journalist” by the New York Magazine and is widely recognized for challenging major tech giants and politicians, including but not limited to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and President Barack Obama.
This year, Kean took the opportunity to reverse the roles with a lecture moderated by Senior Vice President of Student Success, Katherine Gallagher. In her opening speech Gallagher commended Swisher for her integrity and passion.
“She asks the tough questions,” Gallagher said.
The evening's topic focused on the culture of the tech industry and introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) to the general public. Swisher was more than candid about her experiences with the key players in this evolving field.
“It’s so funny that the richest […} people in the world are like ‘you are so mean to me!’ like are you kidding me? You can have me killed on any given Tuesday…or shot into Mars…” she joked.
The entrepreneur reflected on various aspects of political relations throughout her career and discussed the influence of technology in American politics, even referencing the fictional drug Soma, from the 1932 science fiction novel "Brave New World."
“They would prefer like soma in a ‘Brave New World,’ like we’re all on soma--which we are by the way with our phones fyi,” she said. “There’s only one other industry where customers are called users… yeah.”
Swisher then delved deeper into AI and child internet safety, briefly discussing the harm it has cause and could continue to cause if companies are not held accountable. She recalls a heartbreaking story where a child irreversibly harmed themselves after they found a loophole in the system. Gallagher then chimed in to mention people utilizing AI for therapy, to which Swisher responds with:
“To me? Okay great! Whatever! I’m pretty loose on a lot of things, but if you’re going to be a therapist, then you have the responsibilities of a therapist and the ethics of a therapist, and you can be sued and arrested if you’re a therapist […] There’s no privilege on any of these AI sites,” she added.
She then goes on to discuss the ethics and privileges associated with doctors and lawyers, the importance of HIPAA and confidentiality contracts, and how many companies neglect to value privacy or content moderation.
“If they want those roles in society, well then they have to live by the rules human beings have, it seems very basic to me,” she continued. “But they don’t want those responsibilities because then they have to pay money […] you’re spewing toxic waste in our society and bringing us to a worse place, and you have addicted us to these devices like a cigarette or drug company...”
Swisher also notes that AI, like social media, has become a significant player in spreading propaganda,. She adds that we are an entertainment-driven society prone to whatever content we encounter, and mentions ways to use social media responsibly and to keep a watchful eye on AI.
“One thing you have to watch out for: repetition of themes […] confusing a little bit of truth with falsehoods at the same time, the other is equalizing things,” she says. “What it boils down to is a lack of complex thinking. They want you not to be complex; they want it to be binary, and anything that is not binary is absolutely wrong. Online is very good at binary, it’s ones and o’s, right? So you have to use your own critical thinking and maybe not believe the things you see.”
Later on in the lecture, after Swisher passionately spoke about the flaws of society and her adventurous career journey—from journalist to author, CEO, and podcaster—she offered students studying journalism at Kean some knowledge and guidance on perhaps their own venture into entrepreneurship.
“I think it’s really important to be entrepreneurial. I say this to a lot of journalists: you have to be entrepreneurial, or you’re not going to make it; you can’t depend on making your way up a system, it’s not that good anyway […] the other is find an opening whether its climate change, robotics, whatever learn something really well and get expert in it” she said.
Swisher raised awareness on our self-centered and individualistic culture through her experiences with Silicon Valley and Wall Street figures. She provided listeners with valuable insight into issues that Tech companies and politicians want to avoid becoming major topics. Overall, her passion and unapologetic nature inspire young journalists, and her relatability makes her a voice for the average American.
