Choose humanity over technology, Rajeev Suri tells students

Nokia CEO Rajiv Suri called upon students to choose humanity over technology as technology by itself is meaningless and technology that serves people is what matters.

Delivering convocation address on the second day of the 23rd convocation ceremony of Manipal University, he urged the students to choose curiosity over clarity, diversity over uniformity, passion over discipline and honour over success.

“The world is changing fast. Globalisation has been a net positive for the world as a whole and I believe it has been an absolute positive for India. Overall, the world has seen a period of peace and prosperity since my graduation. Not a perfect time, of course, as too much poverty and too much conflict still wracks our world. But, relative to earlier eras, these have been good years,” he maintained.

Suri said nationalism is on the rise. Growth in trade has stalled. Surprising things are happening everywhere.

The United Kingdom
decided to exit the European Union. Donald Trump, now the president-elect of the United States, has questioned some foundations of global trade and established alliances.

There is a risk that France could swing to the nationalist right in its upcoming elections and that Germany could follow suit in the post-Merkel era, partly in reaction to the ongoing immigration crisis. Big trade deals that have been painstakingly negotiated are collapsing and public opinion in many countries has now turned solidly not just against globalisation, but even the broader concept of free trade. These are worrying times, he said. He said the future is not predetermined.

“The risk is real. But we can still change the path we are on,” Suri said. 

In the coming years, the world will become even more connected. Connections would not be counted in the billions, they will be counted in the tens of billions and close to 100 billion by 2025.

Most of these new connections would come from devices, machines, sensors, and so on. And, while the number of connections is important, what matters most are not the separate parts, but what those parts can create when working together in harmony and with intelligence, to create something more, something better, something truly revolutionary with extraordinary human potential, he concluded.