ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Muhammed Idris - Entrepreneur, investor
Muhammed Idris wants to improve social services delivery through collective and artificial intelligence.

Why you should listen

Dr. Muhammed Y. Idris, PhD is a Fellow at Capria, a leading global impact investment firm, and the cofounder and lead developer of Edel Technologies, an organization that build AI-powered tools and products for frontline humanitarian organizations and service providers, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Inspired by own personal experiences with refugee resettlement, Idris left academia to build the world's first virtual advocate bot, Atar, that empowers refugees and other newcomers with information about what to do, where to go and what to expect using customized step-by-step guides.

Trained as a computational social scientist, Idris started his career in finance at BlackRock and went on to complete a PhD with a focus on research and development of open-source tools for leveraging socially-generating "big data" and make it easy to digest this complex technical information into actionable insights.

Idris's work has been presented at numerous academic, policy and industry conferences, and he has held teaching and research positions at the University of Washington, The Pennsylvania State University, Concordia University in Montreal as well as Harvard University, where he held a predoctoral fellowship at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affair while completing his dissertation.

As a self-taught programmer, Idris enjoys teaching statistics and programming in his spare time. While his current focus in on helping streamline and scale refugee resettlement, his mission is to help improve social services delivery for all through collective and artificial intelligence as an entrepreneur and investor.

More profile about the speaker
Muhammed Idris | Speaker | TED.com
TED Residency

Muhammed Idris: What refugees need to start new lives

穆罕默德 伊卓瑞斯: 難民需要什麼才能開始新生活?

Filmed:
1,667,978 views

根據聯合國難民署指出,每分鐘就有二十個人被迫離開家園,原因包括氣候變遷、經濟危機,以及社會和政治局勢不穩定。我們要如何協助他們克服這些障礙,開始新人生?TED 駐站研究員穆罕默德伊卓瑞斯領導的團隊包括有技術人員、研究者,以及難民,他們開發了Atar,這是史上第一個人工智慧虛擬律師,它會引導被迫離開家園的人走過重新安置的流程,協助恢復他們的權利和尊嚴。伊卓瑞斯說:「能否取得對的資源和資訊可能就是生與死的差別。」
- Entrepreneur, investor
Muhammed Idris wants to improve social services delivery through collective and artificial intelligence. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
About two years年份 ago,
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大約兩年前,
00:14
I got a phone電話 call that changed my life.
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我接到了一通改變我人生的電話。
00:17
"Hey, this is your cousin表姐 Hassen哈森."
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「嘿,我是你的表親哈辛。」
00:21
I froze凍結.
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我呆住了。
00:23
You see, I have well over
30 first cousins表兄弟,
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我有超過三十個表兄弟姐妹,
00:26
but I didn't know anybody任何人 named命名 Hassen哈森.
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但沒有一個叫做哈辛的。
00:29
It turned轉身 out that Hassen哈森
was actually其實 my mom's媽媽的 cousin表姐
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後來才知道,
哈辛其實是我母親的表親,
00:32
and had just arrived到達
in Montreal蒙特利爾 as a refugee難民.
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剛剛以難民的身分抵達蒙特婁。
00:35
And over the next下一個 few少數 months個月,
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在接下來幾個月,
我還會有三個親戚
00:36
I would have three more relatives親戚們
coming未來 to Canada加拿大 to apply應用 for asylum避難所
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來加拿大申請庇護權,
00:40
with little more than
the clothes衣服 on their back.
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行李可能只比背上
背的衣物多一點點。
00:43
And in the two years年份
since以來 that phone電話 call,
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接到那通電話的兩年後,
00:45
my life has completely全然 changed.
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我的人生完全改變了。
我離開了學術界,
00:48
I left academia學術界
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00:49
and now lead a diverse多種 team球隊
of technologists技術專家, researchers研究人員 and refugees難民
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現在在領導一個多樣化的團隊,
有技術人員、研究者,以及難民,
00:53
that is developing發展 customized定制
self-help自救 resources資源 for newcomers新人.
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我們的工作是
為新移民開發客製化的自助資源。
00:58
We want to help them overcome克服
language語言, cultural文化 and other barriers障礙
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我們想要協助他們克服
語言、文化,及其他障礙,
01:02
that make them feel like they've他們已經 lost丟失
control控制 over their own擁有 lives生活.
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他們才不會覺得失去了
對自己人生的掌控權。
01:06
And we feel that AIAI can help restore恢復
the rights權利 and the dignity尊嚴
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我們覺得,人工智慧
可以協助許多人恢復
他們在尋求協助時
失去的權利和尊嚴。
01:09
that many許多 people lose失去 when seeking help.
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01:12
My family's家庭的 refugee難民 experience經驗
is not unique獨特.
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我家人的難民經驗並不獨特。
01:16
According根據 to the UNHCR聯合國難民署,
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根據聯合國難民署,
01:18
every一切 minute分鐘, 20 people
are newly displaced流離失所
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每分鐘,就有二十個人
被迫離開家園,
01:21
by climate氣候 change更改, economic經濟 crisis危機
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原因包括氣候變遷、經濟危機,
01:23
and social社會 and political政治 instability不穩定.
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以及社會和政治局勢不穩定。
01:26
And it was while volunteering志願服務
at a local本地 YMCAYMCA shelter庇護
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我們在當地的基督教青年會
庇護所當志工時,
我的表親哈辛及其他親戚被送到那裡,
01:29
that my cousin表姐 Hassen哈森
and other relatives親戚們 were sent發送 to
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那時我們才了解到重新安置難民
需要多少努力以及協調,
01:32
that we saw and learned學到了 to appreciate欣賞
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01:34
how much effort功夫 and coordination協調
resettlement安置 requires要求.
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並學會感念這一切。
01:39
When you first arrive到達,
you need to find a lawyer律師
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剛抵達時,你得要找一個律師,
01:42
and fill out legal法律 documents文件
within two weeks.
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在兩星期內填寫完一些法律文件。
01:45
You also need to schedule時間表 a medical exam考試
with a pre-authorized預授權 physician醫師,
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你得要安排一次醫療檢查,
且要由有授權的醫生來進行,
01:49
just so that you can apply應用
for a work permit許可證.
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這樣你才能夠申請工作許可。
01:51
And you need to start開始 looking
for a place地點 to live生活
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你也得開始找地方住,
01:54
before you receive接收
any sort分類 of social社會 assistance幫助.
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要取得任何一種社會協助
都會需要地址。
01:58
With thousands數千 fleeing逃離 the United聯合的 States狀態
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過去幾年間,有數千人逃離美國,
02:00
to seek尋求 asylum避難所 in Canada加拿大
over the past過去 few少數 years年份,
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到加拿大尋求庇護,
02:03
we quickly很快 saw what it looks容貌 like
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這讓我們很快就看見了
02:04
when there are more people who need help
than there are resources資源 to help them.
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當需要協助的人很多,
能協助他們的資源很少時,
會是怎樣的狀況。
02:09
Social社會 services服務 doesn't scale規模 quickly很快,
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社會服務無法快速擴大規模,
02:11
and even if communities社區 do their best最好
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就算社區全力而為,
02:14
to help more people
with limited有限 resources資源,
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用有限的資源來協助更多人,
新移民最後仍有更長的時間
處在被孤立邊緣,
02:17
newcomers新人 end結束 up spending開支
more time waiting等候 in limbo打入冷宮,
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02:19
not knowing會心 where to turn.
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不知道要向誰求助。
02:22
In Montreal蒙特利爾, for example,
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比如,在蒙特婁,
02:23
despite儘管 millions百萬 of dollars美元 being存在 spent花費
to support支持 resettlement安置 efforts努力,
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儘管有數百萬美元被用在
支持重新安置難民的措施上,
02:27
nearly幾乎 50 percent百分 of newcomers新人
still don't know
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仍然有近五成的新移民不知道
02:30
that there are free自由 resources資源 that exist存在
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他們其實可以取得免費資源,
02:32
to help them with everything
from filling填充 out paperwork證件
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獲得各方面的協助,
從填寫文件到找工作等等。
02:35
to finding發現 a job工作.
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02:37
The challenge挑戰 is not
that this information信息 doesn't exist存在.
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困難之處並不在於資訊不存在。
02:41
On the contrary相反, those in need are often經常
bombarded炮轟 with so much information信息
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正好相反,那些有需求的人,
受到太多資訊的轟炸,
02:45
that it's difficult
to make sense of it all.
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讓他們很難從中理出頭緒。
02:48
"Don't give me more information信息,
just tell me what to do,"
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「別再給我更多資訊了,
直接告訴我該怎麼做吧。」
02:52
was a sentiment情緒 we heard聽說
over and over again.
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我們不斷聽到類似這樣的意見。
02:55
And it reflects反映 how insanely瘋狂地 difficult
it could be to get your bearings軸承
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這就反應出了當你初次
抵達一個新國家時,
要適應環境是有多麼困難。
02:59
when you first arrive到達 in a new country國家.
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03:02
Hell地獄, I struggled掙扎 with the same相同 issues問題
when I got to Montreal蒙特利爾,
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當我來到蒙特婁時,
我也受同樣的問題困擾,
03:06
and I have a PhD博士.
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我還有博士學位呢。
03:08
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:10
As another另一個 member會員 of our team球隊,
himself他自己 also a refugee難民, put it:
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我們的團隊中有一名成員
也是難民,他這麼說:
03:14
"In Canada加拿大, a SIMSIM卡 card
is more important重要 than food餐飲,
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「在加拿大,有一張 SIM 卡
比有食物可吃還重要,
03:17
because we will not die from hunger飢餓."
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因為我們不會死於飢餓。」
03:20
But getting得到 access訪問 to the right
resources資源 and information信息
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但能否取得對的資源和資訊
可能就是生與死的差別。
03:23
can be the difference區別
between之間 life and death死亡.
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03:27
Let me say that again:
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讓我再說一次:
03:28
getting得到 access訪問 to the right
resources資源 and information信息
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能否取得對的資源和資訊
可能就是生與死的差別。
03:32
can be the difference區別
between之間 life and death死亡.
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03:37
In order訂購 to address地址 these issues問題,
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為了處理這些問題,
我們建立了 Atar,
03:38
we built內置 Atar阿塔爾,
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03:40
the first-ever史無前例​​的 AI-poweredAI 供電 virtual虛擬 advocate主張
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它是史上第一個
人工智慧虛擬律師,
03:43
that guides導遊 you step-by-step一步步
through通過 your first week
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在你剛抵達一個新城市的第一週,
它會一步一步引導你。
03:46
of arriving到達 in a new city.
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03:47
Just tell Atar阿塔爾 what you need help with.
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只要告訴 Atar 你需要什麼協助。
03:50
Atar阿塔爾 will then ask you
some basic基本 questions問題
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接著,Atar 會問你
一些基本的問題,
03:52
to understand理解 your unique獨特 circumstances情況
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以了解你的個人狀況,
03:54
and determine確定 your eligibility資格
for resources資源.
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並判斷你是否符合
資源要求的資格。
03:57
For example: Do you have
a place地點 to stay tonight今晚?
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比如:你今晚有地方過夜嗎?
04:01
If not, would you prefer比較喜歡
an all-women's所有婦女 shelter庇護?
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如果沒有,你是否偏好
去女性專屬的庇護所?
04:05
Do you have children孩子?
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你有孩子嗎?
04:07
Atar阿塔爾 will then generate生成
a custom習慣, step-by-step一步步 to-do去做 list名單
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接著,Atar 會產出步驟清楚的
客製化待辦事項清單,
04:10
that tells告訴 you everything
that you need to know,
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把你需要知道的一切都告訴你,
04:12
from where to go, how to get there,
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從該去哪裡、怎麼去、
04:15
what to bring帶來 with you
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要帶什麼去、
04:16
and what to expect期望.
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及該抱什麼期待。
04:18
You can ask a question at any time,
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你隨時可以問問題,
04:21
and if Atar阿塔爾 doesn't have an answer回答,
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如果 Atar 沒有答案,
04:23
you'll你會 be connected連接的
with a real真實 person who does.
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你就會被連結到
能夠回答你的真人。
04:26
But what's most exciting扣人心弦
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但最讓人興奮的是,
04:29
is that we help humanitarian人道主義
and service服務 organizations組織
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我們協助人道主義組織及服務組織
04:32
collect蒐集 the data數據 and the analytics分析
that's necessary必要 to understand理解
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收集資料並分析資料,
讓他們能夠了解
04:36
the changing改變 needs需求 of newcomers新人
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新移民隨時在變動的需求,
04:37
in real真實 time.
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且這些資訊是即時的。
04:39
That's a game遊戲 changer.
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這能夠改變現有情勢。
04:42
We've我們已經 already已經 partnered合作 with the UNHCR聯合國難民署
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我們已經和聯合國難民署合作,
04:44
to provide提供 this technology技術 in Canada加拿大,
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在加拿大提供這項技術,
04:46
and in our work have conducted進行
campaigns活動 in Arabic阿拉伯, English英語,
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且我們已經進行了多種語言的活動,
包括阿拉伯語、英語、法語、
克里奧爾語,及西班牙語。
04:50
French法國, Creole克里奧爾語 and Spanish西班牙語.
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04:54
When we talk about the issue問題 of refugees難民,
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當我們在談難民的議題時,
04:57
we often經常 focus焦點 on the official官方 statistic統計
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我們的焦點通常都在官方統計的
04:59
of 65.8 million百萬 forcibly強制
displaced流離失所 worldwide全世界.
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全球 6580 萬名
被強迫離開家園的人。
05:03
But the reality現實 is much greater更大 than that.
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但現實中的人數比那還要多很多。
05:07
By 2050, there will be
an additional額外 140 million百萬 people
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到 2050 年,還會有
另外 1 億 4000 萬人
05:12
who are at risk風險 of being存在 displaced流離失所
due應有 to environmental環境的 degradation降解.
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可能會因為環境惡化
而有要離開家園的風險。
05:16
And today今天 -- that is today今天 --
there are nearly幾乎 one billion十億 people
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現今——是現今——有近 10 億人
05:21
who already已經 live生活 in illegal非法
settlements定居點 and slums貧民窟.
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已經住在非法的拓居地和貧民窟。
05:25
Resettlement移民 and integration積分
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重新安置及整合難民
05:27
is one of the greatest最大
challenges挑戰 of our time.
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是我們這個時代最大的挑戰之一。
05:30
and our hope希望 is that Atar阿塔爾 can provide提供
every一切 single newcomer新人 an advocate主張.
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我們希望 Atar 能為每一位
新移民提供一個律師。
05:36
Our hope希望 is that Atar阿塔爾
can amplify放大 existing現有 efforts努力
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我們希望 Atar 能夠
將既有的努力成果再放大,
05:40
and alleviate緩和 pressure壓力
on a social社會 safety安全 net
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減輕社會安全網所承受的壓力,
05:43
that's already已經 stretched拉伸
beyond imagination想像力.
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我們的社會安全網
已經被嚴重過度擴張了。
05:47
But what's most important重要 to us
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但對我們來說,最重要的是
05:49
is that our work helps幫助 restore恢復
the rights權利 and the dignity尊嚴
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我們的所做所為能協助難民
重新取得權利和尊嚴,
05:54
that refugees難民 lose失去 throughout始終
resettlement安置 and integration積分
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這些是他們在重新安置
和整合的過程中所失去的,
05:57
by giving them the resources資源 that
they need in order訂購 to help themselves他們自己.
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而我們的做法,
就是提供他們自助所需要的資源。
06:02
Thank you.
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謝謝。
06:03
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Lilian Chiu
Reviewed by Jin Ge

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Muhammed Idris - Entrepreneur, investor
Muhammed Idris wants to improve social services delivery through collective and artificial intelligence.

Why you should listen

Dr. Muhammed Y. Idris, PhD is a Fellow at Capria, a leading global impact investment firm, and the cofounder and lead developer of Edel Technologies, an organization that build AI-powered tools and products for frontline humanitarian organizations and service providers, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Inspired by own personal experiences with refugee resettlement, Idris left academia to build the world's first virtual advocate bot, Atar, that empowers refugees and other newcomers with information about what to do, where to go and what to expect using customized step-by-step guides.

Trained as a computational social scientist, Idris started his career in finance at BlackRock and went on to complete a PhD with a focus on research and development of open-source tools for leveraging socially-generating "big data" and make it easy to digest this complex technical information into actionable insights.

Idris's work has been presented at numerous academic, policy and industry conferences, and he has held teaching and research positions at the University of Washington, The Pennsylvania State University, Concordia University in Montreal as well as Harvard University, where he held a predoctoral fellowship at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affair while completing his dissertation.

As a self-taught programmer, Idris enjoys teaching statistics and programming in his spare time. While his current focus in on helping streamline and scale refugee resettlement, his mission is to help improve social services delivery for all through collective and artificial intelligence as an entrepreneur and investor.

More profile about the speaker
Muhammed Idris | Speaker | TED.com