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Olivia Higgs (Combined Honours, 2016) recently gave a TEDx talk in Virginia
Exeter alumna and co-founder of KOMPAS gives TEDx talk in US
Exeter graduate Olivia Higgs (Combined Honours, 2016) recently gave a TEDx talk in Virginia in the US about the role society plays on artificial intelligence (A.I).
Olivia, along with fellow graduate Tom Charman (Economics and Politics, 2016), co-founded the city exploration app KOMPAS. KOMPAS, which had support from the Exeter Think, Try, Do scheme when first being set-up, was recently named as the best mobile travel applications of 2018 by TMT media, and has won multiple awards for innovation and technology, particularly for their use of artificial intelligence within the travel industry.
At the TEDx talk in Virginia, on 25 March 2018, Olivia spoke about the benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence in Virginia, United States, and how we can expect to see the technology influence society in the next decade. Olivia was successfully able to combine her passion for languages and culture, with technology, to inform the audience on how they can prepare for the 4th industrial revolution, by focusing on creativity and art, as opposed to automated tasks.
Olivia, who was recently recognised as one if the UK’s most inspirational young individuals by JCI UK, commented on being invited to Virginia to speak at TEDx: “It’s an honour to have been welcomed to the TEDx stage, alongside some of the world’s most influential speakers, researchers and leaders.”
“The work that we’re doing at KOMPAS, allows us to understand what people want to see, and we’re doing this to solve the exact problem that my co-founders and I had on day one.”
KOMPAS was recently recognised as one of the top 300 AI companies in the UK, with VC’s including 500 Startups, Index and Seedcamp all playing a large role in the UK landscape. Olivia said that she hopes her recent TEDx talk will help to ‘highlight the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, while demystifying some of the concerns that the wider public have about the technology’.
Date: 3 May 2018