Self-aware AI & Digital Immortality

Today, we'll have two talks and a group discussion. These have worked really well in the past, and so we'll be devoting 40 minutes to it this time.

• Talk 1: Towards Self-Aware AI - Dr. Peter Lewis - 30 mins

Artificial intelligence is transforming society, raising questions
around its responsible use and trustworthiness. As humans, we reflect on
our behaviour, ensuring it is acceptable. But machines without
self-awareness lack this ability. My research is underpinned by the
belief that in many situations, self-awareness will be an essential
feature of intelligent systems operating in a social context. In this
talk, I will discuss definitions and current understanding of
self-awareness, describing how these concepts are being translated from
psychology to computing. I will discuss how a self-aware machine may
learn about and reflect on its internal state, history, goals, social
and physical environment, and the acceptability and impact of its
behaviour.

• Talk 2: From chatbots to digital immortality - David Burden - 30 mins

David will speak about the work that his company Daden has done with Chatbots since the early 2000s, and where he sees chatbots fitting into a bigger picture of virtual humans and artificial intelligence. In particular, David will talk about Daden's work on virtual personas and semantic knowledge graphs the role they could play in corporate knowledge management, and the ethical issues they raise as pre-cursors to a form of digital immortality.

• Group discussion: How will AI impact the structure of society over the next fifty years? - Peet Denny - 40 mins

Dr. Peter Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Aston
University. Peter’s research advances our understanding of how to create
autonomous, socially intelligent systems, that perform higher-level
cognition like self-awareness. He is interested in where AI meets
society, and how to help that relationship work well. In 2016, he
co-edited a book on Self-Aware Computing Systems, and he contributed to
a recent book on AI in Marketing. His research has been applied in smart
camera networks, interactive music, manufacturing, cloud computing,
vehicle routing, and mobile robotics. He is Director of the £1.7m Think
Beyond Data initiative, that provides an artificial intelligence R&D
capability to SMEs across the Midlands of England.

David Burden has been involved in AI, VR and immersive environments since the 1990s. David set up Daden Limited in 2004 to help organisations explore and exploit the social and commercial potential of using chatbots, AI and virtual environments. David and his team have delivered over 50 immersive learning and chatbot projects for clients across the globe. David has led collaborative research projects funded by InnovateUK and the MOD, and Daden have won prizes for their work in the UK and USA, and have worked for clients as far afield as Oman and Hong Kong. David was a finalist in BCS’s Machine Intelligence competition, and has authored over a dozen papers on virtual worlds and AI and recently published a book with Taylor & Francis New York on virtual humans.

As usual, there will be pizza and beer courtesy of Wealth Wizards and move thirty-seven!

Also, a few of us will be heading out for a cheeky pint afterward if you'd like to join in?