From L – R: ART-AI Students: Joshua Tenn, Thao Do, Tom Ryder, Robert Clarke, Tom Cannon, Dan Beechey, Deborah Morgan
On Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March 2023, a group of seven ART-AI students attended the Alan Turing Institute’s annual AI UK conference. Joshua Tenn and Thao Do have written about their experience at this event;
Joshua Tenn writes;
“The conference took place in a great location, just a stone’s throw away from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. Arriving bright and early for a 9.30am start, the first day had a number of interesting talks. These included a timely discussion on whether ChatGPT was a ‘friend or foe’, an informative discussion on the representation of women in STEM and particularly AI fields, talks on AI governance and also on ‘digital twins’. We split ourselves up nicely and you could often find ART-AI representation at each of the various talks at each timeslot.
Lunchtime also gave us an opportunity to browse many of the exhibitions that were situated across the three floors. These were incredibly varied and included everything from uncertainty estimation to neuroscientific approaches and regulatory toolkits. Alongside some delicious lunches, this provided an opportunity to talk and network. In the evening there was an opportunity to network further; in particular, we met a number of people from different AI CDTs, and especially from the University of Exeter’s Environmental Intelligence CDT.
Enjoying a much-needed cup of tea after a busy morning of talks!
Day 2
Day 2 opened with the exciting lightning talk competition PitchFest, where Thao Do, one of the ART-AI attendees, was taking part. The level of the talks was astounding, and we were all there to cheer Thao on. You can read more about Thao’s experience below. It was also great to see how varied the PitchFest talks were, which really complemented the interdisciplinary nature of ART-AI!
The second day’s talks were just as varied as the first – covering areas such as economic and societal impacts of AI, human rights, AI in public health and in the justice system. There were lots of insights, and the use of an online platform for asking questions helped me a lot personally as some of the questions I wanted to ask were nuanced and easier to type than explain out loud!
Overall, the AI UK 2023 event was a great experience – I’d recommend that anyone interested in looking at AI from broad perspectives attends next year’s event, especially given how affordable it is for postgraduates. I have also made a few connections I will be following up in the near future!”
Thao Do writes;
“Together with five other researchers from the Alan Turing Institute, I presented my research to the audience and a panel of judges of the AI UK. I had 90 seconds to present my work, a challenging task as you need to communicate your research in a precise, easy-to-understand, but appealing way. I am really glad I did it, as this experience has sharpened my public engagement skills, though I was quite nervous waiting for my turn to present on such a big stage! I presented my research on addressing the bias in language and image recognition in AI-based anti-trafficking tools so that the tools could be used more effectively to combat human trafficking in Southeast Asia. My colleagues presented their research on a variety of topics, from algorithmic allocation of public resources, and privacy-preserving techniques for AI to AI CT scans for ovarian cancer prediction – all are very important topics and issues to be addressed. Having the chance to engage with a wider audience has been a great experience for us! This experience led to many more follow-up contacts for further collaboration opportunities. “
