As part of the Discover STEM@Kent lecture series the School of Computing will be hosting two lectures, open to students, staff and the wider community, looking at technology and the modern world.

In the first lecture Dr Tomas Petricek will discuss ‘Making Data Relevant in an Age of Fake News’

When: Monday 20 January at 15.00-16.00

Where: Cornwallis Central Lecture Theatre 1

Governments and journalists have access to increasing amounts of raw data about the world, making it possible to produce factual reports based on solid evidence. At the same time post-truth politics means that data and facts are becoming less relevant in public debate. Can more transparent, open and engaging ways of working with data reverse this dangerous trend? In this talk, Tomas will discuss how novel research on tools for data exploration and data visualization can help. Along the way, he will show a number of fun examples, looking at data about the UK government spending, Olympic medals and financial markets. Open to all, just come along.

In the second lecture Dr Colin Johnson will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Will a Robot take my Job? Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work’.

When: Wednesday 5 February at 17.00-19.00

Where: Grimond Lecture Theatre 3.

A new industrial revolution is upon us, as intelligent machines take the place of humans across the economy. The impact of this could be vast – from increasingly sophisticated robots carrying out manual work, to artificial intelligence doing work in the law and accounting, through to robots working in the most human of jobs such as health and social care. This talk will examine whether the hype around AI is justified, which areas of work this will revolutionise, and which jobs will be untouched.

Please book for this event via the Eventbrite website