Programme
The Alan Turing Institute continues to pursue its ambitious goals: by advancing world-class research in data science and artificial intelligence (AI), training and inspiring the leaders of the future, and shaping the public conversation. AI UK, a dynamic two-day event, will see the Turing host an unrivalled showcase featuring the very best of UK academic work in AI and machine learning (ML).
AI UK takes place over three main areas:
Connect: Named after the very thing we all want to do as human beings and as data scientists. Head here for sessions that will inspire you to connect both people and ideas to the broader themes of data science and AI.
Collaborate: Named after the one thing our work is nothing without. Head here for sessions that tackle cross-sections of artificial intelligence and data science with more traditional academic and policy concerns.
Innovate: A smaller more intimate space. Head here for moderated TED style talks, academic presentations and interactive content straight from the researchers themselves.
Between the sessions, we invite you to explore our exhibition space where you can see live demonstrations from researchers and industry players alike.
Click on a session below to find out more about it and our brilliant speakers. Please be advised sessions may be subject to change.
Connect
Day 1
The algorithm will see you now: AI for health & medical science
09:10 - 10:30
Maxine Mackintosh
Chris Holmes
Mihaela van der Schaar
Catalina Vallejos
Daniel Rueckert
The algorithm will see you now: AI for health & medical science
09:10 - 10:30
The UK’s healthcare industry, supported by pioneering data science and AI, could lead the charge in revolutionising the systems that lead us to better health. Our speakers reveal how pioneering machine learning could improve the overall quality of life for everyone and address difficult questions around the ethics of data science in the healthcare sector.
The session is followed by an opportunity to explore some groundbreaking research in the main exhibition space. Come and meet the teams behind projects such as the fascinating Robots to the Rescue.
Research Associate at the University of Oxford and The Alan Turing Institute
Programme Director for Health and Medical Sciences, and Turing Fellow
Head of the Department of Computing at Imperial College London
Creating controls: Robotics and automated systems
11:00 - 13:00
Sethu Vijayakumar
Nick Hawes
Paul Newman
Creating controls: Robotics and automated systems
11:00 - 13:00
Robots and the systems that run them are increasingly common in our daily lives. But are robots ready for long-term autonomy in everyday environments, and would we be wise to unleash them? This session opens with The Turing’s Programme Co-Director for Artificial Intelligence, Sethu Vijayakumar, who presents the first of four talks revealing how research into robotics and autonomous systems could help to create a better future for everyone.
Programme Co-Director for Artificial Intelligence, and Turing Fellow
Associate Professor of Engineering Science in the Oxford Robotics Institute
Director of Oxford Robotics Institute
Ethics: The real AI challenge
14:15 - 15:30
Luciano Floridi
Indra Joshi
Alan Winfield
Ethics: The real AI challenge
14:15 - 15:30
Technological advances have always caused unease about their potential misuse, and the fourth industrial revolution is no different. The CBI has warned that the UK’s tech dominance could be at risk due to ‘public mistrust of AI’, and a recent survey of UK executives placed ‘ethical risks’ as one of their top concerns about technology. In the digital age, what is the role of ethics in enabling society to flourish? And how can data science and AI be used for the good of society?
Clinical Lead for NHS England’s Empower the Person Portfolio
Professor of Robot Ethics, University of the West of England
Mind the (AI skills) gap
16:00 - 17:30
Wendy Hall
Ray Eitel-Porter
Ben Murton
Maggie Philbin
Mind the (AI skills) gap
16:00 - 17:30
The UK is committed to growing STEM education and research: in a recent global index it was ranked third of 54 countries for accelerating the development of AI. If we are to continue to thrive, we need to create a future with many more data scientists, analysts and machine learning specialists. But how do we work out whether the skills we are cultivating today will be enough to deliver the future the nation has its sights on? This session, chaired by Dame Wendy Hall of the UK’s AI Council, features leaders from industry, policymaking and academia.
Scientific Advisory Board Member
Chair of the Data Skills Taskforce and Managing Director, Accenture Digital
Head of Researcher Development and Training
The Turing Lecture Series: Provably beneficial AI
18:30 - 19:45
Stuart Russell
The Turing Lecture Series: Provably beneficial AI
18:30 - 19:45
Professor Stuart Russell of the University of California, Berkeley, reveals why it is useful to imbue AI systems with explicit uncertainty concerning the true objectives of the humans they are designed to help.
This uncertainty allows game theory to enter into the interactions between humans and machines, opening up intriguing new avenues for research. The ideas in this talk are explored in more detail in his new book, Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control. Join us for this special Turing Lecture. This session is also open to the public.
Professor of Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley
Day 2
Talks (Session 4)
09:00 - 10:30
Adrian Weller
Neil Lawrence
David Barber
Jonathan Lawry
Lilian Edwards
Talks (Session 4)
09:00 - 10:30
Talk titles
Neil Lawrence: Machine learning systems design
David Barber: Working with the machine: Human in the loop
Programme Director for Artificial Intelligence, and Turing Fellow
Professor of Artifical Intelligence at the University of Bristol
Professor of Law, Innovation and Society, Newcastle Law School at Newcastle University
UK AI national strategy
11:00 - 12:30
Tabitha Goldstaub
Tom Ilube
Tim Clement-Jones
Fernando Lucini
UK AI national strategy
11:00 - 12:30
AI is vital to future growth and innovation in the UK. So what is being done to keep the nation at the forefront of the data revolution and on track to meet its ambition to be the home of AI-focused businesses and entrepreneurs? And how can the UK create the right strategy to ensure AI has a positive, transformative impact on its society and economy?
Entrepreneur and educational philanthropist
Managing Director of AI at Accenture UKI
The future of AI
14:15 - 15:30
Timandra Harkness
Kenneth Cukier
Jon Crowcroft
Kate Devlin
Mike Davies
The future of AI
14:15 - 15:30
A more light-hearted panel discussion and look at the realistic future impact of AI on our society and economy in 5, 10 and 50 years' time. Join authors, comedians and scientists debate our AI future and separate fact from fiction.
Presenter. Writer. Comedian
Journalist, The Economist
Researcher at Large, and Turing Fellow
Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence at King's College London
Director of Neuromorphic Computing Lab, Intel
Collaborate
Day 1
Committing to smart cities: Urban analytics
09:10 - 10:30
Mark Birkin
Rachel Franklin
Flora Roumpani
Alison Heppenstall
Nick Malleson
Paul Patras
Silviu Pirvu
Committing to smart cities: Urban analytics
09:10 - 10:30
The city is the future. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the planet’s 10 billion people will live in urban centres, according to the United Nations. So we had better drag our cities into the 21st century, and fast. Will we finally see the emergence of ‘flying cars’? How will we handle the explosion in urban data? From smart cities to the use of deep learning to make sense of mobility data, we invite you to join us at the Collaborate stage as we spotlight six fascinating pieces of the research that will help to highlight the future of urban analytics.
Programme Director for Urban Analytics, and Turing Fellow
Adaptive expectations: AI & finance and economics
11:00 - 13:00
Lukasz Szpruch
Artur Garcez
Stephen Roberts
Adaptive expectations: AI & finance and economics
11:00 - 13:00
From the algorithms responsible for deciding who is creditworthy to the intuitive technology protecting us from fraud, some of the earliest adoptions of AI-driven processes were in the financial sector. This panel discussion will tackle issues arising from the ongoing impact of data science and AI in the financial services industry, society and the wider economy. It will also tackle key questions around how we can work together to create a fair economic future.
Programme Director for Finance and Economics, and Turing Fellow
Professor of Computer Science, City, University of London
AI and the future of defence and security
14:15 - 15:30
Mark Briers
Weisi Guo
Robert Hercock
Rae (Yingrui) Chen
AI and the future of defence and security
14:15 - 15:30
For many nations and their citizens, safety and security remains an elusive goal. But AI has quickly emerged as an essential component of defence and security strategies. Strides are being made as a result of AI’s ability to assess urban security threats, improve cyber security and understand complex social systems. So how will such advances in AI and data science help to tackle societal challenges ranging from disaster relief and modern slavery to civil conflict and cyber-attacks?
Programme Director for Defence and Security and Co-Chair of the Research and Innovation Advisory Committee
Data-Centric Engineering Group Leader, and Turing Fellow
Chief Research Scientist, BT Security Research Practice
AI and climate change
16:00 - 17:30
Emily Shuckburgh
Nemo Semret
Gavin Shaddick
AI and climate change
16:00 - 17:30
From global warming to the effects of a soaring population, the planet faces a challenging future. Can AI and machine learning provide the crucial insights needed to make sense of our environmental reality and create a more sustainable economy? And how can it shape the UK’s response to its own declaration of a climate emergency?
Director of Cambridge Zero, University of Cambridge
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Gro Intelligence
Day 2
AI, public policy and regulation
09:00 - 10:45
Helen Margetts
Cosmina Dorobantu
AI, public policy and regulation
09:00 - 10:45
Programme Director for Public Policy, and Turing Fellow
Deputy Programme Director for Public Policy, and Policy Fellow
Are you the prototype? The future of digital twinning
11:00 - 12:30
Pranay Seshadri
Mark Girolami
Ruchi Choudhary
Theo Damoulas
Michael Batty
Are you the prototype? The future of digital twinning
11:00 - 12:30
Digital twinning is making the leap from digital representations of single items and structures to models of interconnected systems. This session features a series of talks revealing how this evolution is taking place, through a range of illuminating research. The journey starts with aerospace and learning unknown physics, before moving to futuristic digital solutions with a spirited exploration of long-term scenarios.
Data-Centric Engineering Group Leader
Programme Director for Data-Centric Engineering
Data-Centric Engineering Group Leader
Deputy Programme Director for Data-Centric Engineering, and Turing Fellow
Emeritus Professor of Planning, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL
Innovate
Day 1
Talks (Session 1)
09:10 - 10:30
Adrian Weller
Chris Williams
Derek Long
Sebastian Vollmer
Talks (Session 1)
09:10 - 10:30
Chair: Adrian Weller
Talk titles
Chris Williams: Why practical data analytics is still so painful ... and how we can help
Programme Director for Artificial Intelligence, and Turing Fellow
Scientific Advisor at Schlumberger and Professor at King's College London
Programme Co-Director for Health, Director of Turing Data Study Groups, and Turing Fellow
There’s a script for that: AI for science and humanities (Part 1)
11:00 - 13:00
Ruth Ahnert
Anna Scaife
Nick Wright
Biao Cai
There’s a script for that: AI for science and humanities (Part 1)
11:00 - 13:00
You will be amazed at what machine learning can discover, given large sets of images. Fuelled by anything from electron microscope imagery to digitised manuscripts, cutting-edge AI and data-driven tools are supercharging research across science and the humanities, with the UK’s centres of excellence leading the way. These laboratories and research institutes are generating colossal amounts of data, and this talk explores the challenges of transforming it into useful knowledge.
Talks (Session 2)
14:15 - 15:30
Michael Wooldridge
Conor Houghton
Ross King
Barbara McGillivray
Mark Plumbley
Talks (Session 2)
14:15 - 15:30
Chair: Michael Wooldridge
Talk titles
Conor Houghton: EEG and models of language
Barbara McGillivray: How multidisciplinary have we become? Mapping research areas with hierarchically-enriched embeddings in scientific literature. In collaboration with Google (Khalid Salama and Donna Schut) and Springer Nature (Gard Jenset)
Mark Plumbley: AI for Sound
Programme Co-Director for Artificial Intelligence, and Turing Fellow
Professor of Signal Processing at the University of Surrey
Talks (Session 3)
16:00 - 17:30
Mike Wald
Peter Flach
Chanuki Seresinhe
Talks (Session 3)
16:00 - 17:30
Talk titles
Mike Wald: How can AI overcome the barriers to inclusion
Peter Flach: Computer says 'I don't know' - the case for honest AI
Chanuki Serensinhe: AI for wellbeing
Day 2
AI for e-Infrastructure and e-Infrastructure for AI
09:00 - 10:30
James Hetherington
Mark Parsons
Kenji Takeda
Tony Hey
Christopher Woods
Dhiraj Mallick
Alison Kennedy
Anat Elhalal
AI for e-Infrastructure and e-Infrastructure for AI
09:00 - 10:30
Director of EPCC and Associate Dean for e-Research
Director of Health and AI Partnerships (Academic) for Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK
Chief Data Scientist at Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK
EPSRC Research Software Engineer (RSE) Fellow
Vice President of Engineering and Business Development at Cerebras Systems
Director of the Hartree Centre
Head of AI Technology at Digital Catapult
There’s a script for that: AI for science and the humanities (Part 2)
11:00 - 12:30
Jonathan Rowe
Thomas Hills
Christian Arnold
Paolo Turrini
Lise Jaillant
There’s a script for that: AI for science and the humanities (Part 2)
11:00 - 12:30
You will be amazed at what machine learning can discover, given large sets of images. Fuelled by anything from electron microscope imagery to digitised manuscripts, cutting-edge AI and data-driven tools are supercharging research across science and the humanities, with the UK’s centres of excellence leading the way. These laboratories and research institutes are generating colossal amounts of data, and this talk explores the challenges of transforming it into useful knowledge.
Programme Director for Data Science for Science, and Turing Fellow
Lecturer in Politics, Cardiff University
Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University
