MINDFUL TECH: MOZFEST

Last week I was invited to offer a meditation for MozFest out of Berlin. They described the virtual event as ” a unique hybrid: part art, tech and society convening, part maker festival, and the premiere gathering for activists in diverse global movements fighting for a more humane digital world.” My first thoughts were this will be simply offering another meditation to share “wellness” for the event but instead, I left taking with me the lens of Mindfulness and Compassion that is influencing the future of tech and AI.

The first thing that blew my mind is that Internet carbon emissions are similar to Germany the 7th largest polluter in the world almost more than aviation, as shared by Tom Greenwood author of, “Sustainable Web Design.” There is a growing mindful concern around the amount of data shared and stored globally. It has never crossed my mind that the number of pics and videos I personally contribute to polluting the earth. I think of all the dropboxes, shared g drives all adding to these carbon emissions and wonder how I can make a personal change to minimize that.

I was inspired by so many of the sessions from the Moz Futures Lab, sharing new ideas of having data stewards to protect our data, conversations around hunting biased algorithms. Behind each of these conversations was a lens of compassion in how to be more mindful of how tech is being designed and advanced to reduce and minimize harm on all fronts. You can watch these conversations here.

You can also discover the session alongside my dear friend and sound practitioner and facilitator, Michaela. Together we offered a sound and guided meditation session to explore other intelligence including the body, energetics, sound vibrations, and more.