Reidar Wasenius – Finding our place in an AI driven World

How I as human fit into a world full of AI

Computers are already very creative and tirelessly productive. AI raises the bar for us humans on many fronts. Many traditional human roles are becoming obsolete and new ones are emerging. How do we need to develop ourselves to remain relevant? What do we need to do to thrive? What is the core of our humanity in a world full of humanlike beings?

Reidar Wasenius is the CEO and co-founder of Lexofon Ltd, a provider of premium AI-generated speech. His voice is heard by more Finns than any other voice – increasingly, generated by AI. He is also a co-founder of the Federation of Voice Artists. In the media industry since 1979, he has worked for the Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE and several commercial radio and TV channels. As an educator since 1984, he has worked at all levels of the Finnish education system, mostly at the intersection of humans and computers. He was the founding Program Director of the BSc program in Media and Communications at Arcada University of Applied Science. In the tech sector since 1989, his past employers include Nokia (twice), Samsung, TeliaSonera/Telecom Finland, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and the Finnish funding agency Tekes (now: Business Finland). Reidar recently returned to Aalto University to continue his studies in computer science (HCI + AI). His latest book is Personal Brainer (WSOY, 2016) co-authored with neurobiologist Tiina Huttu.