Aidan Sarsfield

As a large part of my address is going to be focused on the future, I feel that it’s particularly important to acknowledge the past, and in particular, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, upon whose ancestral lands we are also very lucky to reside. Good morning again. President, Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Faculty Dean, university staff, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and most importantly, the graduating cohort of 2018. Welcome. It is, of course, an honour and a privilege to be here as both a past alumni and a representative of industry, celebrating this cohort’s great success and significant achievement. 

The completion of your university studies is something that both you and your families should be incredibly proud of, so my sincerest congratulations. When I was initially approached to give this occasional address, I was in Silicon Valley and I was attending a conference that was largely focused on artificial intelligence. And I must admit, my first thought was to politely decline, because these long speeches do take a certain amount of time to prepare, but over the course of that conference, things really changed. I was constantly reminded of the exponential progress of technology and its ever-deepening connections to humanity, our society and our creativity. I realised that really, an address of this type is an unmissable opportunity to offer some guiding observations to the leaders and the influencers of tomorrow. I simply could not turn down a chance to address a highly successful group of talented people about to start their professional lives at this particularly unique time in history. 
So, what makes now unique? Well, I mentioned the exponential progress of technology, and I’m not being original when I tell you that it is the rate of technological change that makes this time particularly unique. Ray Kurzweil is a well-known author and futurist, and he coined the term ‘the law of accelerating returns’ in reference to this process. Foremost, this law is sort of intangible with very little practical meaning. Essentially, it refers to the accumulation of technology that results in an ever-increasing rate of progress. 

For this cohort, all entering fields that are deeply connected to technology, I expect that the law of accelerating returns will have real and very noticeable impacts. Technology and change was, of course, evident when I graduated. I was essentially a witness and a participant in the digital revolution. The use of computers for design work really progressed from the exception to being the norm. The use of the internet went from essentially non-existent to very common. Mobile phones, believe it or not, became available to students on a reasonably low budge, and those, in turn, began to be connected to the internet as well. These types of things, they changed the way that I studied and they drastically changed the professional landscape when I graduated. 

And it was this change in the professional landscape, the embodiment of Kurzweil’s accelerating returns that enabled me to graduate as an industrial designer and apply my skills to the then-emerging field of computer graphics and animation. Subsequently, I’ve spent almost 20 years operating in a very broad professional space that encompasses filmmaking, software development, animation, simulation, photography, design and, more broadly, computer graphics. But that kind of technological change and its impact on industry is insignificant in comparison to the tidal wave of change that this cohort is likely to see in the next decade. 

Simultaneous advances in computing, manufacture, biotechnology, nanotechnology, virtual reality, augmented reality and, of course, artificial intelligence will combine to profoundly affect society and our experience in it. Now, dystopian views of this future are pretty easy to come by, and it’s often really, really hard to grasp a positive vision of the future through the shouts of the impending apocalypse. Nevertheless, I would encourage all of you to try. That positive future is a possibility, and you, the graduating cohort of 2018, are in a prime position to set a path towards it. 

As I said, it’s likely that advancing technology will impact your chosen industry. It’s also likely that advances in that technology could scale up your skill set to the point where your current chosen focus is really just a broader, a part of your broader professional capabilities. Inevitably, you’re going to be exposed to tools, techniques, ideas and ultimately opportunities that right now you or I can’t possibly imagine. In this environment, more than ever, with the skills and values that you’ve learned at this incredible institution, being applicable and amplified across a broad range of industries, you have the potential to affect great change, be leaders and drive towards that positive future. 

So, where to start? How could I possibly offer you guidance down a path that neither of us can clearly see? Well, as my career has progressed, deeply intertwined with technology as it is, I can confidently tell you that despite the technology, despite the constant change, common themes do emerge, and I hope that my observations of these themes can offer you some guidance as you make your way over the coming years. So, first and foremost, be creative. Now, that seems blindingly obvious, but I’m not referring to a default definition of creativity. 

Of course, I would encourage anyone in your fields to paint, to draw, to make music, surround yourself with fashion, design, art and literature, but even more important than these traditional ideas of creativity, seek out opportunities to think creatively. Technology will continue to lower the barrier of entry for many creative fields, and in this environment, it will be increasingly important to think creatively – to imagine creative uses of new tool sets, imagine unique ways of combining them, see the new problems created by emerging technology and imagine creative ways to solve them. Strive to be a creative problem solver, a creative thinker. 

Be creative with your choice of who, where and what you want to do. And that brings me to my second point: seek opportunities to collaborate. Yes, the ability for an individual to do amazing things has been enhanced by technology and it will continue to do so, but anything really exceptional, anything that really impacts a wide audience, will always require a team. Look for opportunities to work on things with others. The sum is always going to be more than its parts, and while personalities, emotions and passion can make people a challenging thing to deal with, learn to harness these traits and complement them with your own. That will make for an inspiring work life and incredible results. Whether it’s a team of two or 2000, the experience of working in a highly collaborative and efficient, energetic team, all sharing a passion for a common goal, is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. 

So, seek opportunities to do it, and constantly strive to be better at it. Now, when it comes to collaboration, there’s a third point: realise the practical and real value of diversity and equality. It’s not particularly surprising that a group of very similar people can have very similar ideas – life’s little filter bubble, if you will. Don’t get me wrong; a team comprised of very similar people can still come up with something amazing, but a diverse team with disparate background, disparate experiences – that’s when things begin to get interesting. While the commonly-held belief is that the minority members of the team might bring unique perspectives and approaches, in fact social diversity in a team can encourage those in the social majority to generate different ideas, and furthermore, the agreement of the social minority in that team can strongly focus the team as a whole on the agreed goal. Of course, diversity brings with it its own set of challenges. 

The personality traits that make collaboration challenging can be amplified by diversity. However, that diversity really does have the potential to generate unique ideas and, ultimately, unique outcomes. Recognising the value of this diversity, its ability to expand our thinking and produce unique results is an important step. Despite its challenges, I hope it’s a step that you all take. Similarly, I hope you all strive to build your teams based on equality and fairness. Doing so leads to greater synergy and harmony within a team and obviously leads to a broader definition of success. 

And finally, perhaps most importantly, consider the wider ethical implications of the things that you do. As your tool set and technology becomes more powerful and access to global markets and labour becomes easier, your ability to impact individuals, society and the environment will increase dramatically. Industry regulation and government legislation will rarely keep up with this expansion of human capability. Increasingly, it will fall on you, the individual, the artisan, the business owner, to make ethical and sustainable decisions. You might think that for animators or designers, this is a reasonably long bow to draw, but this is a future where animators and designers will have access to new materials, new hardware, new distribution pathways, new data sources and new labour markets, all of which could combine to fundamentally change the impact of their work. If you think that kids are addicted to devices today, consider the mainstream uptake of augmented reality devices, with ever-increasing access to their users’ biometric data. The potential to reach the population at ever-deepening levels will continue to grow. Be considerate of your contributions, be ethical and sustainable in your choices. 

Look for opportunities that make the world a better place. Be aware of your impact, take responsibility for it; as you inevitably become leaders, use the power of this evolving ecosystem to make the world a better place for everybody. Now, having said all of that, don’t let the burden of all this long-term responsibility take the shine of today’s celebrations. Be excited about all the possibilities the future has in store for you, and be proud of your achievements so far. Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing many more great success stories emerge and innovations emerge from the UTS alumni group, of which you are now officially members. So, congratulations one last time, and thank you all for giving me the opportunity to share some thoughts and observations with you. Have a great day, basking in the warm glow of your achievements. Thanks.