HBX speakers discuss revolutionary trends in blockchain, AI and online privacy
By Vama Saini, August 15 2024—
The Haskayne Business Exchange (HBX) brings together industry leaders and scholars to explore the practical impact of cutting-edge research. Rooted in the University of Calgary’s commitment to transdisciplinary collaboration, HBX is a platform for exchanging ideas that empower professional growth and address complex, real-world challenges.
The HBX event on June 13 featured three keynote speakers who delivered presentations on various aspects of business technology and innovation — Dr. Mohammad Keyhani, Dr. Alfred Lehar, and Dr. Sule Nur Kutlu. In interviews with the Gauntlet, the speakers expanded on their presentations, providing deeper insights into their respective areas of expertise.
Blockchain technology in real estate
Lehar’s presentation focused on the transformative potential of blockchain in real estate transactions. He discussed how tokenizing real estate on the blockchain could streamline the buying, selling and trading of properties, making transactions more secure and efficient.
“It would make real estate transactions more secure because very often people commit identity fraud and pretend that they own a property which they actually don’t own,” Lehar explained. “If you don’t have the digital token, then you cannot pretend that you own the house because it is very clear there can only be one owner of the digital token that represents the value of the house.”
Lehar explained that smart contracts are simple computer programs designed to automate transactions, such as buying a house or securing a loan, within the blockchain ecosystem. These contracts execute predefined actions when certain conditions are met.
He pointed out that current processes involving intermediaries, such as lawyers, could be replaced by smart contracts, potentially reducing costs.
“At the moment, we need a fairly complicated process to transfer the ownership title of a home that involves some intermediary, the lawyer who generates trust. In the future, we could just use a smart contract on a blockchain to generate that trust. And that would presumably be much cheaper than a lawyer,” he explained.
Addressing the need for regulatory frameworks, Lehar pointed out the importance of legal intervention in blockchain transactions.
“At the moment, if there is a Bitcoin transaction, the transaction cannot be reverted anymore. So we will need some way for the legal system to intervene,” he said. “A government-run blockchain could provide that mechanism.”
Lehar suggested that blockchain technology might be more beneficial in countries with economic instability.
“In a country with 200 per cent inflation or when a government official can say, ‘I like your house, it’s mine now,’ Bitcoin might be a very attractive investment opportunity,” he said. “In our Western democracies, we might probably want to have a public blockchain.”
Explaining the current use of blockchain in financial markets, Lehar shared that the Ethereum network facilitates billions of dollars worth of transactions.
“There’s about $12 billion worth of real-world loans and about $1.5 billion of US treasuries already on the blockchain,” he stated. “So this is not just a bunch of kids playing blockchain in the basement. This is some serious money, institutional money that’s flowing into this space.”
Lehar highlighted the efficiency and reliability of blockchain technology compared to traditional methods.
“The problem with traditional transactions is twofold — duplication of effort and reconciling payments with the contract,” he said. “All of that can be automated with blockchain technology.”
Discussing the need for digital currencies like a digital Canadian dollar, Lehar explained how they could enhance blockchain-based business processes.
“Such a digital dollar could be used by smart contracts to automate payments from contractual obligations,” he noted.
Lehar pointed out the potential impact of blockchain technology on digital identity.
“You could generate a digital proof on the blockchain that says, ‘Are you over 18?’ without revealing your exact birthdate or address,” he explained. “This trusted digital representation using blockchain technologies will make a huge difference in terms of data privacy.”
Lehar encouraged students from various disciplines to engage with blockchain technology, mentioning the Blockchain Society Club as a valuable resource.
“There’s a good student club, the Blockchain Society, that I encourage every student to join the events of the club or to participate in the club,” he said. “Blockchain technology will impact a lot of areas at the university, from finance and accounting to supply chain management and engineering.”
Trust and Privacy on Online Platforms
Kutlu, an assistant professor at Haskayne School of Business, has been contributing to the field of business technology management for almost three years. Kutlu elaborated on her research areas — detection of fake websites, data protection and recommender systems.
“I’ve worked in a couple of different areas,” Kutlu explained. “One of them is the detection of websites, which involves creating tools to quickly identify fragile or fake news websites. This is achieved by developing algorithms, often based on AI, machine learning, or neural networks, as well as heuristics.”
She also focuses on data protection, particularly how to regulate online platforms to protect disadvantaged users.
“We use game theory and empirical analysis to understand the actions that can be taken to protect users and the consequences of those actions,” she said.
Regarding her presentation on trust and privacy on online platforms, Kutlu shared insights from her papers on third-party data collectors.
“Third parties are the backbone of websites,” she noted. “They collect information and create targeted advertisements. In one of my projects, we used game theory to analyze the impact of data protection regulations, like GDPR, and found that even though these policies are meant to protect users, they often lead to users sharing more information.”
Kutlu discussed the different roles third parties play in the digital supply chain, emphasizing their importance.
“Performance and functionality third parties make websites more user-friendly, like reservation buttons on restaurant websites or Google Maps integration,” she explained.
Looking ahead, Kutlu is optimistic about the future of privacy regulation and user protection online.
“Awareness is increasing among users, researchers, and governments, leading to more actions to protect users and make them more aware. While a perfect solution may not be imminent, this growing awareness is a positive sign,” she stated.
For students interested in online privacy and data protection research, Kutlu’s courses at Haskayne introduce various technologies used by companies and discuss ethical considerations.
“I discuss real-world examples, like third-party tracking, in my classes,” she said. “This not only raises awareness among students but also sparks their interest in contributing to this critical area.”
She also encouraged students from different academic backgrounds to contribute to this field.
“Privacy is a fundamental need that affects everyone. It involves psychology, economics, computer science, and business. Each of these disciplines can offer valuable perspectives and tools for addressing privacy challenges,” Dr. Kutlu explained.
Kutlu emphasized the importance of awareness and proactive measures in data protection.
“Being aware is just the first step. We need to think about the big picture and consider further actions to protect our data, such as data portability or even monetizing our data in a protected way,” she suggested.
Generative AI’s Impact on Business
Keyhani is an associate professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Haskayne School of Business and the Director of the DBA program. He provided a deeper dive into the transformative potential of generative AI.
“Generative AI introduces a whole new foundational technology that not only has important implications on its own but also accelerates the development of other technologies,” Keyhani explained. “It provides intelligence as a service, available on demand, with the properties of information technology, which means it’s not limited by physical and biological constraints.”
Keyhani envisions generative AI transforming business practices and organizational structures significantly.
“A lot of processes will get automated, but it’s crucial to not limit our imagination. These digital brains can think and reason at a scale that humans can’t,” said Keyhani. “Many new things will be possible because of this technology, leading to a downsizing of companies in terms of human resources but an increase in new, smaller companies creating innovative products.”
According to Keyhani, the concept of AI as a disembodied intelligence will fundamentally alter our understanding of work and task management.
“The economics of information goods apply to digital intelligence, meaning you can make as many copies as needed cheaply,” explained Keyhani. “This changes how we allocate cognitive effort. Instead of hiring people, we can use inexpensive digital brains for many tasks, leading to significant changes in organizational calculations.”
Keyhani highlighted the need to understand the new domain of machine sociology and psychology.
“These tools bring many new questions,” said Keyhani. “We need to study their biases, how they interact with each other and humans, and how they can organize economic activity. Understanding these aspects will help us use AI to solve major challenges like climate change and poverty and create new societal value.”
He pointed out that the technology is not limited by physical and biological constraints, allowing for intelligence as a service available on demand.
“They can control a fleet of devices or tools, or within a single device. You can have multiple digital brains debating each other, talking to each other in different decision-making structures,” Keyhani said.
He also highlighted that automation should not merely be seen as a replacement for human tasks.
“The possibility that these digital brains can think about things and pay attention to things and reason about things with the scalability of information technology and digital products means that so many things humans currently are not doing or find it difficult to do, they will be able to do with generative AI,” said Keyhani.
Keyhani also touched on AI’s potential in creative fields, noting its surprising ability to outperform humans in ideation and empathy.
“I don’t think it’s good to think of it as necessarily that the AI has actual empathy, but that it’s able to pretend to have empathy in a way that is very useful, or just as useful as the AI having empathy would have been for humans,” said Keyhani.
To excel in an AI-driven world, Keyhani advised students to understand how the technology works and to be curious and playful. He mentioned the generative AI course he teaches, ENTI 333 for undergraduates and ENTI 633 for graduates, as a starting point for students interested in this field.
“Students who understand how AI works and its limitations will have an advantage,” he said.
Learn more about future HBX events here.