The UKRI Inter AI CDT Conference took place on 28–29 October 2025 at The Apex Hotel, James Street West, Bath. This two-day event was held in collaboration with the Environmental Intelligence: Data Science & AI for Sustainable Futures CDT  (University of Exeter), the Safe & Trusted AI CDT  (King’s College London), and the ART-AI CDT (University of Bath). Bringing together over 120 students, academics, and industry representatives, the conference aimed to foster collaboration across AI disciplines while delivering a range of interactive and impactful workshops.

See what happened at the event by watching our video:

Day 1 opened with a keynote talk from Dr Katie Ledingham, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter. Attendees then took part in a series of two morning and two afternoon sessions, each offering a range of talks and workshops on AI research, applications, and challenges.
The day concluded with a poster session featuring over 40 posters submitted by students across the three CDTs. Prizes for the best posters were presented during the conference dinner, with Miles Pemberton from ART-AI Cohort 5 winning the ART-AI Best Poster Award – congratulations, Miles!

The second day began with a keynote presentation from Dr Jindong Gu, Senior Research Scientist at Google, followed by another series of engaging sessions in the morning and afternoon. To close the conference, Dr Martim Brandão, Lecturer in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at King’s College London, delivered the final keynote, rounding off two inspiring days of knowledge exchange and collaboration.

Below is some of the feedback we have received by those that attended:

“There was a great range of speakers! Thank you for organizing such a diverse group. It was good to meet people from other universities.”

“Really enjoyed the number of student led sessions and the variety of talks, felt like there was something for everyone!”

Information about the sessions

Day 1 – Morning

Advanced Reasoning in Large Language Models

To think, or not to think: is that the right question? Emergent Advanced Reasoning in LLMs

Reasoning without consciousness, creating without intent, and solving problems without a mind. Hosted by Dr Harish Tayyar Madabushi, Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bath, this session will feature a talk on using Large Language Models (LLMs) for robotic planning and control by Dr Claire Bonial, Senior Research Scientist at the U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory. This will be followed by a short talk on the advanced reasoning capabilities of LLMs and a panel discussion (with audience Q&A) focused on their possibilities, ethical implications, and what the future might hold.

AI for Sustainability in Research and Industry

The Environmental Intelligence CDT at the University of Exeter is a centre for cutting-edge PhD research applying AI to pressing environmental challenges. This student-led showcase highlights a selection of innovative projects and invites you to take part in an interactive workshop. The workshop encourages participants to explore innovative applications of AI for sustainability while critically reflecting on the ethical and societal implications of this research.

Student speakers:

Cesar Arturo Angeles Ruiz – Using AI to Predict Green Energy Supply and Consumer Demand to Stabilise UK’s Electricity Grid

Elizabeth Galloway – Data-Driven Impact-Based Forecasting for Tropical Cyclones in the Philippines

Day 1 – Afternoon

AI effects on Labour market – ART-AI student led session

Dr. Aida Garcia Lazaro (Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath) will be giving a talk which will be followed by Q&A.

Themes that will be addressed:

• What a future might look like if income becomes increasingly concentrated in companies that automate a larger share of tasks with AI (including impacts on income inequality and skills changes).
• Potential policy responses, ranging from regulation and workforce upskilling to more radical proposals such as UBI.

Engaging with policy influencers: AI Security Institute and UK Parliament – STAI student led session

Bessie O’Dell (Strategy and Delivery Manager at the AISI)  will introduce the work of the UK AI Security Institute, how they operate within government and how their research feeds into UK policy and decision-making. She will also speak on pathways into careers in AI safety and security.

Tom Williams (Senior Education and Engagement officer for Parliament) will introduce how Parliament works:

• Learn about the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the function of UK Parliament by exploring representation, how Parliament scrutinises the Government and the legislative process
• Who uses research in Parliament? Learn about how Select Committees, the Libraries, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and All Party Parliamentary Groups draw upon research to inform their work
• How to engage with Parliament as a researcher: Learn about how UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit supports researchers to engage with Parliament, the Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme, and guidance for submitting evidence to Select Committees

Followed by a Q&A session.

Meme-tivism: Rethinking AI’s Environmental Impact 

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure has grown in scale and complexity, the planetary resources and energy that are required to feed its computational operations have seen a significant increase, posing a substantial threat to environmental sustainability. While this impact is gaining attention, widespread adoption of sustainable practices and sustainable decision-making mechanisms in AI work remains limited. To meaningfully communicate the responsibility of AI practitioners in addressing the environmental footprint of their work, there is a need to foster situated awareness grounded in practitioners’ own contexts and that goes beyond generic, abstract and guilt-inducing narratives.

This project explores how creative, participatory strategies can make sustainability concerns more approachable and relatable, utilizing humour and memes as a medium to critically reflect not only on the impacts but also on the challenges and lived experiences of addressing them.  Drawing on the established culture of online humour within developer communities, and inspired by use of memes for climate advocacy, we investigate memes as a medium for shared reflection and critical dialogue. This workshop is a hands-on guided meme creation session to collaboratively utilize humour to shed light on lived experiences, perceptions, challenges and concerns of AI practitioners regarding environmental footprint of their work. 

Day 2 – Morning

Academic workshop: Multidisciplinary Collaboration in AI Research

Hosted by Dr Caitlin Bentley.

Multidisciplinary AI research can be challenging, especially when integrating diverse methodological approaches and disciplinary perspectives. The tension between what constitutes cutting-edge AI research across different fields creates both opportunities for innovation and barriers to effective collaboration. For instance, mismatches may occur when technical disciplines may prioritise advances in methods without current application, while social science disciplines may focus on understanding AI’s societal implications. This session will examine the benefits and challenges of multi-disciplinary collaboration through a recent study conducted at RAI UK, analysing how different disciplinary definitions of rigour, innovation, and impact can be reconciled when addressing critical AI challenges. The workshop will engage participants in a discussion, focusing on developing practical strategies for bridging these conceptual divides and establishing productive dialogue between varied research traditions.

AI Policy

A series of short talks from a panel followed by Q&A with the audience, moderated by Charles Larkin. Panel members include:

Deirdre Bane, Deputy Dean, Institute of Bankers, Ireland

Malcolm Byrne, TD, Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on AI

Jernej Renko, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana

Vladimir Sucha, Professor at the European University Institute, former DG of the European Commission’s JRC

Day 2 – Afternoon

Is AI a saint or sinner within the climate and ecological crisis? 

Seminar delivered by Environmental Intelligence CDT Director James Dyke.

Global warming will soon pass 1.5°C. Greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high. Net zero policies and pledges are being rolled back across corporations while the current US administration is doubling down on fossil fuels while also radically reducing its capacity to monitor and understand climate change by slashing federal science programmes. We are entering ‘climate overshoot’ in which policy makers increasingly recognise that efforts to avoid dangerous climate change have failed, and new approaches are needed to recover humanity back into a safe climate. It has been argued that AI could have a key role in decarbonising societies. At the same time, there is increasing concern that the environmental impacts of rapidly increasing AI cannot be sustained. In this workshop, participants will explore the current and proposed role of AI within climate and sustainability policies with outcomes including an increased ability to critically consider how and where AI can function as a saint, not a sinner within the climate and ecological crisis. 

Interdisciplinary AI Workshop – ART-AI Student led session

Hosted by ART-AI students Ben Rogers and Joshua Tenn.

Are you a Postgraduate student interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Would you like to learn more about using AI in research, and to discuss ideas with fellow students from a range of disciplines, from those experienced with AI to those new to the field? As part of this workshop, you will be placed into interdisciplinary teams and asked to come up with an idea for a solution or product that harnesses AI. It is the perfect opportunity to develop your understanding of the most exciting tools that AI has to offer, and how they can enrich your research and widen your understanding. You will be assisted by doctoral students who currently use AI in their research and asked to create a poster showcasing your idea: the best idea will win a prize!