Technology networking in the heart of London
Daniel Wagner Data mining can find cancer cures
A flood of molecular and clinical data is now available describing how biomolecules interact in a cell to perform biological functions, in large, complex systems. Our challenge is how to mine the enormous data bases describing molecular systems to answer fundamental questions, gain new insight into diseases and improve therapeutics.
How computers can help us extend our individual human powers of understanding
Using computers as sophisticated tools provides us with immense resources, but does not enhance our individual capabilities. However, communicating directly with our computers as partners – symbiosis – can extend everyone’s ability to learn, understand, master complex topics, and even be more intelligent.
Could advances in neural prosthetics potentially herald Prosthetic Brains?
Our speaker: Dan Dennett
There’s a lot more heat than light in the debate on security, privacy and how we form laws that actually work. Last month Adrian Kennard gave a barnstorming critique of the issues facing ISPs and so on the 16th of February, Duncan Campbell is going to put the current debate into some sort of historical context. Our ideas on privacy and the rights of the government to search based on Georgian ideas of liberty may not make sense in the mid 21st century or we might be giving up a little freedom for an illusion of security?
In essence, is there a way we can have a rational balance between competing concerns?
Big Nanny is watching you
Do you want to die in a terrorist attack?
Do you want your children to watch internet videos of kittens dying in horrible ways?
Should drug dealers have access to secure communications?
No?
Future near, Future far: Surveillance and AI
The future will be different. A trivial truism, that conceals our inability to successfully predict much about the times to come.
Our speaker, Dr Stuart Armstrong will look at two futures:
Firstly, the very likely and near term rise of universal surveillance, and the great changes (and the great similarities) it could cause.
Secondly the very uncertain impact of artificial intelligence, and the far greater transformations it would trail in it’s wake, either starkly terrible or wondrous.
What is creativity? Historically, human creativity has been a neglected topic in psychology in general and intelligence testing in particular. Despite this, creativity is considered by most to be an essential component of human intelligence and of thinking.
Consequently, in attempting to answer the question of whether computers can be creative we must first ask if they can think and then it is only natural to ask whether computers can think creatively.
Many feel, in fact, that whereas computers can excel in well-structured areas of problem solving – e.g. logic, algebra, etc. – they have little hope of ever producing truly creative work. For a work to be creative it must be novel and useful – this represents an enormous challenge.
Artificial intelligence – is it an existential threat to humanity? Is it all hype? Or is it the shape of things to come?
Artificial Intelligence is currently a hot topic. In the past year or so it has been the subject of a number of films, and has received substantial industrial investment.
At the same time, a number of prominent thinkers have issued grave warnings of its existential threat to humanity. Is artificial intelligence all hype? Or is it really a transformative technology? And should we be afraid?
In this talk Prof Shanahan will go beyond the media soundbites and discuss some of the real technological and philosophical challenges of AI.
The New Industrial Revolution Goes Back to School: 3D printing in Education
With the recent disclosure that the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft uses more than 1000 3D printed flight parts, 3D printing technology has truly come of age, is no longer a hobbyist fad and enters the new industrial revolution with gusto.
The promise that 3D printing will change our lives in areas is coming to fruition with applications as a new digital manufacturing technology with uses in every industry; it is possible to design, build and test 3D structures that are un-makeable by any other technique.
However, with a current huge shortfall in recruits into engineering and a deeper decline in recruitment into Design and Technology who is going to become the Engineer 2.0 to create the future using this technology? And how will we encourage the creative spark needed?
Government is too often associated with bad news stories of expensive IT disasters. However the period since 2010 has seen serious and deep reform of how technology is used in government, and for public services. Tariq will take us through the diagnosis of the problems that plagued technology in 2010, explain the strategies to remedy these, and give an honest appraisal of success and lessons learned, as well as propose ideas for further reform. Topics as wide as digital by default, agile development, contract disaggregation, firm spend controls, skills gaps, intellectual property, modernising security, the primacy of information over technology, transparency and incentivising change in a sector without competitive threats, will no doubt fuel a lively debate!
Information, evolution, and intelligent design
The Brain Mind Forum, one of the Real Time Club’s successful special-interest spin-offs, organises a talk by Prof. Daniel Dennett at the Royal Institution on 25th March.
Dan is a philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist and one of the highest profile speakers in cognitive neuroscience. His writings bring together cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, psychology and philosophy. (The New Statesman referred to him as on of the “Four Horsemen of New Atheism” together with Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.) Usually based in the US, this a great chance to see Dan here in the UK. He will talk on the Convergence of Biogenetics, Cognitive Neuroscience and Computing.
Full details and tickets are available on the Royal Institution’s website.
As this talk is co-hosted by the Royal Institution and the Brain Mind Forum/Real Time Club, we are arranging a small meet-up with Dan from 6 pm before his talk at 7 pm. If you want to come along, please e-mail me when you have booked your ticket and I will send you more details.