School of Computing hosts Discover STEM@Kent lectures

robot and hand image

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.

On Monday 20 January, 3-4pm in Cornwallis Central Lecture Theatre 1, Dr Tomas Petricek will discuss ‘Making Data Relevant in an Age of Fake News
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.

In February Dr Colin Johnson will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Will a Robot take my Job? Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work’ on Wednesday 5 February, 5-7pm in 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.

Furthermore, he will discuss how the structure of the workplace and management will need to change, and where legal responsibility will sit in cases of error, harm or negligence. Of course, this revolution will not happen in a vacuum – in the final part of the talk he will consider how the economy and politics will need to change to cope with one of the most disruptive changes of the 21st century.

This talk will be followed by a reception and networking event and is open to staff, students, local business and anyone interested.

Please book for this event via Eventbrite.