About this talk

"Scary", "Worried", "Dangerous" were some of the most frequent words to describe AI in a recent UK Government public survey. Do you fear, as many do, that AI will lead to us becoming second-class entities? In this first lecture, we will explore this ascendency, considering how notions of intelligence, sentience, perception, consciousness and reasoning are being framed and challenged in an AI-centred world; and surface the social, economic and ethical implications of these developments. Artificial intelligence is no longer a concept buried away in science fiction novels or obscure research labs. It is here, being woven into the fabric of our daily lives, shaping decisions in ways that are both astonishing and unsettling. The title of this lecture carries with it a deliberate question mark. That punctuation matters. It signals that while there are reasons for angst and anxiety, there is also room for hope, agency, and perhaps even joy in how humanity confronts this technology.

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