Mythbusting China’s Tech Landscape with President & Head of Strategy at RAPP China, Blake Stone-Banks - Episode 6
China’s technological progression has been nothing short of meteoric in recent decades, integrating systems long before we’re ready to do so in the West.
But how well founded are our fears? Is China’s collective embrace of revolutionary technology being used and abused, or is our trepidation holding us back?
The perfect man to answer these questions is one Blake Stone-Banks, who’s been living in Beijing since 2006 and seen how life in the capital has changed - and where our expectations and their reality differ.
We take a deep dive into China’s use of facial recognition, their openness to change, the prevalence of their WeChat platform, and whether their Social Credit system really lives up to the scepticism we’ve had since the Black Mirror episode that warned us against such a system...
This episode of Disconnected covers:
China’s rapidly growing use of technology
The prevalence of WeChat as an almost-universal platform
How facial recognition tech has impacted life in China
Drawing a distinction between personal and business platforms
The reality of China’s Social Credit System, and how it compares to THAT Black Mirror episode
Episode Highlights:
“Between 2006 and now, change has accelerated at such a pace that when I walk around certain areas of Beijing, where I lived for 15 years, there's often times where I can’t find old restaurants, old hangouts - I might not even recognise the streets. The pace of change is so, so fast in China, and I think a part of that is just people's openness to change.” - 5:20 - Blake Stone-Banks
“What happens with WeChat is it starts as a platform for one-to-one and group communication with a social feed inside it, and they keep adding functionality to it. They keep trying new things, then they see what people like and see what people engage with.” - 10:55 - Blake Stone-Banks
“I was walking across the bridge between my office and the mall, and the beggar who I’ve seen there for five years no longer was taking cash. So he didn't have a bowl anymore. He just had a laminated QR code, and you're expected to scan his QR code and make a payment of a few Yuan to say thank you for playing his Erhu on the street.” - 18:30 - Blake Stone-Banks
“In some ways, the entire economy fails business travellers because you don't have access to mobile payment. There isn't really a good solution for how you're going to engage with mobile payment.” - 29:10 - Blake Stone-Banks
“In China, generally there isn't a big concern about CCTV and government cameras everywhere - it's more of a concern about how private companies will use that data.” - 38:02 - Blake Stone-Banks
“I’m sceptical of a lot of these pilot smart cities; They’re like playgrounds for some of these ideas, like using facial recognition to get toilet paper, but that’s not the end goal.” - 51:05 - Blake Stone-Banks
“There's files on everybody in China. There's a lot of data collection, paperwork and bureaucracy, and the corporate social credit system is really saying, ‘Okay, we need to be responsible with what businesses are doing in the economy’.” - 1:02:10 - Blake Stone-Banks
“In survey after survey, China comes out as not necessarily the happiest country, but the most optimistic country. So to that question of whether the world is getting better or worse, China has more optimism than any other country on Earth. People are very optimistic about the future that will be achieved by these technologies.” - 1:13:43 - Blake Stone-Banks
Links & references:
Blake Stone-Banks:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-stone-banks/
Jag Sharma:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagsharma
https://www.instagram.com/jagsharma/
Digital money
China's great leap to a wallet-free society
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75AXINUL47g
China's new digital currency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6YLQXM5izM
Smart Cities
China's self-sufficient smart city
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIWm_9N8UMg&t=75s
Social Credit System
Black Mirror episode 'Nosedive'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror)
How China tracks everyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLo3e1Pak-Y
Is the China Social Credit System even real?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaPvnGhbj9A
LaoWhy86: How does China's Social Credit System Work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkWokLqPOg
Grimes TikTok video
Go to 1 min 23 secs in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkh1q8v5hw8