ri christmas lecture

Ri Christmas Lecture: The truth about AI (livestream)

6:00pm - 8:30pm / Thursday 14th December 2023 / Venue: 502 Teaching Hub, Mount Pleasant
Type: Lecture / Category: University
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Be the first to discover the truth about AI and join us for the livestream of the Royal Institution’s CHRISTMAS LECTURES

We’re delighted to announce we are one of the livestream venues for this year’s CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution. Running for almost 200 years, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES were started by Michael Faraday to inspire and engage young people with science, and this year Professor Mike Wooldridge will be exploring the truth behind Artificial Intelligence (AI), the most rapidly evolving field of science.

This event is perfect for all the family! Children and people of all ages can come and watch the magic of the Lectures unfold in real time as they’re filmed in front of an audience in the Ri’s Theatre in London. They’ll have the chance to get involved with hands-on activities, and be the first to learn the truth about AI.

Not since the World-Wide Web emerged 30 years ago has a new technology promised to change our world so fundamentally and so swiftly as AI does. Today’s AI tools such as ChatGPT and AlphaGo are just a hint of what is to come. The future of AI is going to be quite a journey, and the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES to be broadcast on BBC Four and iPlayer in late December, will give us a guided tour.

AI has increasingly grabbed the headlines in recent years – generating excitement and concern in equal measure – but what should we believe? In these lectures Mike will reveal how AI works and how it will affect our lives – and will tackle head-on our hopes and fears for this most fascinating of fields.

We will screen the second of three lectures where Mike will explore the big questions facing AI research and unravel the myths about how this ground-breaking technology really works. How can a machine be taught to play a game or translate from one language to another? He will show how computer programmes inspired by the human brain can be taught and even teach themselves. And he will tell the surprising story of how tools like the latest chatbots work and illustrate the mind-boggling scale of modern AI systems – that can be used in everything from gaming to movie-making to designing drugs.

Across the series Michael will be joined by some major figures from the AI world, including scientists from the world’s leading AI companies. He will also introduce a range of robot friends, who will demonstrate what robots today can do – and what they can’t. Perhaps he may even surprise the audience with some Deep Fake guests who are not quite what they seem.