With decades of experience in the electronics sector, Amir Sherman (CIO, S-BD and Intl. Business Development Manager, Edge Impulse) is a go-to resource for anyone looking for helpful insights about modern tech and its impact. In addition to talking about the presentation he has planned for WEEF 2021, he shares his thoughts about ethical electronics, artificial intelligence (AI), and TinyML.
 
Amir Sherman - WEEF speaker
Amir Sherman

Abate: You’ve worked in the embedded technology industry for over 20 years. When did you first start hearing engineers and technical executives talk about ethical issues relating to electronics and technology?
 
Sherman: This topic came really in the last years and has been emphasized because of Covid. More and more companies understand that they need to bring a different kind of value because our life can change very fast, and this is why they want to develop unique technologies that are more solving problems than only doing general things.
 
Abate: Which ethics-related topics that are most important to you? Why?
 
Sherman: I want to better explain to companies how they can improve power consumption by adding machine learning to applications so they can optimize the entire system. That will be the best success for me. Less power in even powered applications means helping humanity.
 
Abate: Regarding the potential of machine learning solutions to benefit society, are you generally optimistic or pessimistic? Why?
 
Sherman: In this case, for the first time, I am very optimistic because I see that the majority of the customers are thinking about AI, talking about AI, and want to execute AI. This brings the opportunity to better explain what AI really is and how machine learning can boost innovative technologies that solve many problems and also can help more people.
 
Abate: You will talk about machine learning on November 18, 2021, at World Ethical Electronics Forum (WEEF) in Munich, Germany. Can you give us a preview of what you intend to address?
 
Sherman: In my presentation, I will talk about an innovative technology called TinyML. TinyML can help by adding machine learning to a small devices that run by microcontrollers, so you don't really need big servers and super-computers to run complex applications. And by doing that, you can add a unique value to many types of applications. Also, you can approach the end customers as a "problem solver." I will showcase that AI is not science fiction (like in The Terminator movie), but something important that should be used more often.
 
Abate: We recently put the following question to Elektor community members: Which group do you think can make the most positive impact in terms of making the electronics industry more ethical? Private companies, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, or technical associations. Technical associations received 48% of the vote. What do you think?
 
Sherman: I also think that the technical associations can make the most positive impact. The politicians will never be able to make ethical decisions so innovation can solve problems and overcome ethical issues.  
 

The WEEF 2021 Program

The purpose of WEEF 2021 is to inspire electronics leaders with an open discussion about ethics and SDGs. On November 18, 2021, the WEEF program will feature in-depth talks about many of the ethical issues important to the electronics community. Well-known electrical engineers, academics, journalists, and tech executives will address several important topics.
 
  • Dirk Akemann (SEGGER)
  • Johannes Brenner (Leuchtturm-Unternehmen)
  • Markus Brenner (brematronic)    
  • Margot Cooijmans (Philips Foundation)
  • Stuart Cording (Elektor)
  • Dr. Carsten Emde (OSADL)
  • Priscilla Haring-Kuipers (Journalist)    
  • Prof. Dr. Stefan Heinemann (FOM)
  • Dr. Paula Palade (Jaguar/Land Rover)
  • Amir Sherman (Edge Impulse)
  • Dirk Stans (Eurocircuits)
  • Johann Wiesböck (ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS)
  • And more

Join us in person or online on November 18, 2021.