Fun, fear and climate change: How social engineering might doom the planet

Digital anxiety is on the rise — from once-burnt users deleting social media to avoiding online services altogether — this talk explores the very real fears fuelling technology paranoia. But what if the bigger danger isn’t just phishing links or data breaches? What if the ripple effect of online manipulation extends into our physical world, accelerating global issues like climate change?

Blending personal stories, real-world examples of social engineering, and the emerging risks of AI-fuelled deception, this session examines how distrust of technology and unchecked tech misuse are two sides of the same coin. We’ll look at how human behaviour, driven by fear or manipulation, could simply mitigate or magnify not just our digital footprint, but our environmental footprint too.

This talk doesn’t aim to solve climate change in 30 minutes — but it will challenge how we think about technology, trust and our collective responsibility in this era of misinformation and disinformation.