2023-03-29 Brighton Data Forum - Special event on AI

UPDATE: To meet high demand, we will be live streaming this event on youtube. Live stream will start at 19:30. Click here to join. If you plan to join us remotely, please make sure your RSVP isn't on 'attending' as we use that to estimate the size of in the in-person audience.

The Brighton Data Forum's is proud to welcome you to this special event on AI and society.

There is no shortage of commentary on the impact that artificial intelligence can have (and already has had) on our society. Still, we want to add some smart, local voices and novel perspectives to the conversation. To that end, we have put together this event, where diverse viewpoints can gather to discuss the prospective futures that this AI revolution heralds.

We will first hear from Jon Mead, CEO of Rittman Mead, whose talk "Have We Gone Too Far? (Is There a Grown Up in the Room)?" sets the stage and raises some of the thorny questions to discuss.
Jon writes:
"This presentation looks at the societal, moral and ethical perspectives of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) and asks the question 'have we gone too far?'
I am a lover of technology, however when I observe the development in these fields there seems to be a unfettered, sometimes childish, and often highly profit-driven desire to push them further and further. There seem far fewer people trying to work out their impact and the fundamental philosophical questions we should be asking.
When I look around the large companies and governments, I see very little understanding or incentive to make decisions for the good of society. It feels like we are at a crossroads for humanity and the grown ups have left the room."

Following that opening, an expert panel will join Jon on stage:

• Adebisi Adewusi, a science and technology policy consultant at Technopolis Group with a particular focus on emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality, and virtual reality.
• AI artist Shardcore, who long has played in the lands of algo-culture, seeing farther than most, alternating between summoning and exorcising the ghosts in the machine. A selection of his works can be enjoyed from his website and his views and warnings on the societal impact can be glimpsed in his presentation to the Brighton Data Forum in July 2021.
• Colin Hayhurst, CEO of mojeek.com, the search engine that won't track you. Colin was the co-founder of DataJavelin, a machine learning consultancy spun up at the University of Sussex's DISCUS initiative. For years, Colin organised the Sussex data science meetup, where he recently appeared to talk about how the race for AI supremacy poses threats to the web as we know it.
• Jeremy Horne, founder of Datacove, has agreed to act as the panel moderator, keeping the conversation on track while ensuring everyone gets their chance to speak.

The panel will state their own position on the topic/questions and then field probing questions from you, the audience. Please do join us and participate in tackling this important and mind-blowing topic. It promises to be an enlightening and entertaining evening.

Refreshments to be served.

This event is supported by Silicon Brighton, and sponsored by Rittman Mead Consulting, and mpb.com.