Name: 【TED】Tapiwa Chiwewe: You don't have to be an expert to solve big problems (You don't have to be an expert to solve big problems | Tapiwa Chiwewe)
Uploaded: 2018-03-16T16:01:17.000Z
Duration: 8 min 38 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

One winter morning, a couple of years ago,

I was driving to work in Johannesburg, South Africa,

and noticed a haze hanging over the city.

so it was unusual that I hadn't noticed this before.

Johannesburg is known for its distinctive skyline,

It didn't take long for me to realize that I was looking at an enormous cloud

The contrast between the scenic environment I knew

I was appalled by the possibility of this city of bright and vivid sunsets

At that moment, I felt an urge to do something about it,

All I knew was I couldn't just stand idly by.

I didn't know much about environmental science

and I was pretty sure I couldn't code my way out of this air pollution problem.

Who was I to do anything about this issue?

In the following years, I learned a very important lesson,

a lesson we all need to take to heart if we are to work towards a better future.

Even if you're not an expert in a particular domain,

to solving big problems within that domain.

Sometimes the unique perspective you have

can result in unconventional thinking that can move the needle,

was that if I was even going to try to make a difference,

I had to get smart about air pollution first,

is the world's biggest environmental health risk.

shows that almost 14 percent of all deaths worldwide in 2012

were attributable to household and ambient air pollution,

with most occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Ambient air pollution alone causes more deaths each year

In Africa, premature deaths from unsafe sanitation

pale in comparison to deaths due to air pollution,

according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

I explore new frontiers for artificial intelligence,

where the symbiotic relationship between man and machine

can find a beneficial footing and help us to make better decisions.

As I thought about the air pollution problem,

it became clear that we needed to find a way to make better decisions

it was necessary to do it in a collaborative way.

So I decided I'd better get to know some people working within the field.

I started to speak to officials from the City of Johannesburg

and I engaged the local scientific community,

The process of engagement I embarked upon

helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the problem.

people in my profession sometimes fall into when trying to innovate,

before we've firmly grasped the problem at hand.

about what I could do to improve the situation.

how I could bring together in some meaningful way

my skills in software engineering and artificial intelligence

and the expertise of the people I'd reached out to.

I wanted to create an online air-quality management platform

to determine what outcomes can be expected.

I was determined to see my idea translate into a practical solution,

What I had was a very particular set of engineering skills,

that were new to people who had been working on the air pollution problem

What I have come to realize is that sometimes just one fresh perspective,

can make the conditions right for something remarkable to happen.

Our willpower and imagination are a guiding light,

enabling us to chart new paths and navigate through obstacles.

Armed with a firmer understanding of the air pollution problem,

and having managed to source over a decade's worth of data

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【TED】Tapiwa Chiwewe: You don't have to be an expert to solve big problems (You don't have to be an expert to solve big problems | Tapiwa Chiwewe)

perspective

scale

realize

urge