Grand Public Debate on AI and Machine Learning
Event Information
Description
Grand Public Debate on AI and Machine Learning
Is AI changing what it means to be human?
AI is widely seen as one of the world’s greatest opportunities, and greatest threats.
Rounding off the IMI's campus-wide Thematic Semester on Machine Learning, we have invited six experts to lead a Question Time style debate on how AI will impact our lives and society in the years to come.
Our panel of speakers will debate the wide-ranging implications of the rise in machine learning and the many ethical dilemmas it gives rise to. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to take active part in the discussions, with audience questions and voting in real time throughout.
Join us for the debate which will examine questions such as:
1. How do we control the use and effects of AI?
2. Will AI increase discrimination in our society?
3. How do we teach machines to be fair?
4. What happens when a robot starts doing your job?
5. Are machine learning algorithms a threat to our democracy?
Our experts will answer these questions and many more to shed light on what our new world of machine learning and AI will look like, how it will impact you and how we ensure greater transparency and accountability in the use of these technologies.
The event will conclude with a wine reception and an opportunity to continue the debate.
Programme
5.15pm: Doors Open
5.30pm: Welcome and Introductions by Professor Nick Pearce
5.45pm: Expert panel debate, questions, answers and real time voting
7.00pm: Wine Reception
Speakers
Derek McAuley is Director of Horizon Digital Economy Research, an interdisciplinary research institute funded through the RCUK Digital Economy programme. He has acted as a Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords’ European Union Committee into online platforms, and was Chief Innovation Officer during the founding of the Digital Catapult.
Joanna Bryson researches a broad range of topics from artificial intelligence, robot ethics and human cooperation. She has carried out consultancy for The Red Cross on autonomous weapons, Chatham House on the impact of AI on the nuclear threat, and is currently advising the British Parliament, European Parliament, and the OECD on the regulation of AI.
Kathleen Richardson was an instigator of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, set up to draw attention to problematic effects of new technologies on human relations. Richardson is developing a theory of robotics inspired by anti-slavery abolitionist feminism and author of the book ‘An Anthropology of Robots and AI: Annihilation Anxiety and Machines’.
Mandy Chessell is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, Master Inventor and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She is the first woman to win a Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal. The breadth of her work is reflected in her invention portfolio, which to date stands at over 50 issued patents worldwide.
Nello Cristianini carries out the large-scale analysis of media content using various AI methods. He also researches the design of new AI methods, their application to digital humanities and computational social science, and the social impact of Big Data and AI technologies. In 2014, Thomson-Reuters included him in a list of the most influential computer scientists of the decade.
Steve Fuller is a philosopher sociologist in the field of science and technology studies, an internationally acclaimed speaker and author of over 20 books He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Breakthrough Institute, the leading 'ecomodernist' think-tank and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, the leading 'transhumanist' think-tank.
