AI / ML & Data jobs in Bristol

A one-day hackathon where teams of women use AI and real data to build tools that make the gender pay gap more visible and solvable. The rules are strict about output: something real and usable, not a concept note or another coaching app. Morning to form teams and pick an angle, afternoon to build with mentors, late afternoon for pitches, judging, prizes and drinks. Presented by SW*AID, the South West and Wales women in AI and data community, with Taught by Humans and Bristol law firm Ashfords co-organising. Part of the Brazen tech festival, at Hargreaves Lansdown, 09:00 to 17:30. Free but approval-gated: applications close 15 October, decisions the week of 19 October. Open to women based in the South West or Wales who are free all day. No tech background needed. Around 40 places.

A 90-minute morning session on who is being shut out of digital access across the South West, and the risk that AI widens rather than narrows that gap. It opens with headline findings from The Connection Project's new national report and what they mean regionally, then AbilityNet on accessibility and AI, then short talks from local government, grassroots projects and businesses. Tech4Good South West presents, hosted by Annie Legge, in partnership with The Connection Project and AbilityNet, as part of the Brazen festival. The second half is facilitated conversation on what is already working and where collaboration could happen. 10:00 to 11:30 at RWK Goodman's Bristol office. Individual speakers are not named. Free. Guest details are shared with Brazen.

Bristol AI Ethics' monthly evening of talks and discussion on how AI actually gets used — and where that goes wrong — at Torchbox on Colston Street. This month: arrival and networking from 6, a news roundup at 6:30, then Hugh Williams on "responsibility gaps" in care-sector AI — when an automated system causes harm, who or what do we hold responsible, why the gap exists, and whether design can ever close it. Q&A and discussion follow, then drinks and a "positive actions" wrap by 8, with more conversation until the building closes at 8:30. Free; 18 places left when checked.

A public lecture from the University of Bristol's Digital Futures Institute on how AI chatbots are moving into the space of close relationships - companionship, advice, intimacy - and what society does about it. The listing frames it as how AI chatbots are reshaping our relationships, and how society can respond. It runs one hour on a Tuesday evening at the Sloane Robinson Building on the University's Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, part of BDFI's public lecture programme. The speaker isn't named on the booking page yet; registration is on Eventbrite.

A Festival of Economics lunchtime panel in Cinema 1 at the Watershed, asking whether an undergraduate degree is still worth it in the age of AI — and who should pay for it. The question sits on top of nearly three decades of rising tuition fees and student debt, now colliding with AI's disruption of the graduate labour market. Chaired by the FT's Chris Smyth, with Gill Wyness (UCL/LSE, economics of higher education), Glen O'Hara (Oxford Brookes), Debbie McVitty (editor of Wonkhe) and Sarah Bevan (Universities UK). 11:30–12:30, ticketed, with group and school discounts.