Wilder Penfield Lecture - Standing on the Edge of Error: Science in the Age of AI

The Penfield Lecture was inaugurated in 1985 to honour Wilder Penfield, pioneering neurosurgeon and founder of The Neuro. A cocktail reception will follow.

Speaker: Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FRS FREng FBCS

Principal, Jesus College, Department of Computer Science
University of Oxford, UK

Registration: here

Livestream: here

Talk abstract: 

This lecture will reflect on what makes the scientific method so powerful, how it has transformed our world, and how it has been informed, enriched, and made possible by accomplishments in engineering. The lecture will discuss the most recent manifestation of this marriage of science and engineering – the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It will review the various roles AI is playing in science and how it is augmenting the scientific process. It will discuss the need to apply our science to understand the properties and impact of new emerging AI systems. The lecture will consider how AI can generate spurious as well as accurate output, how it has the potential to be weaponised to undermine science, but also how it can be used to confront disinformation. We will review the crucial role that high quality data plays in AI, and the importance of trusted open data ecosystems. The talk will argue that current discussions around the ethics, regulation and governance of AI must involve a plurality of perspectives if we are to realise the full potential of AI.