Tech Events by Digital Futures

with Dr Mark Carrigan (Associate Dean for Digital Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of Manchester) · Prof Kate Borthwick (Professor of Digital Education, University of Southampton) · Prof Nick Crossley (Director of Digital Trust and Society (panel chair), University of Manchester) + 3 more

A day-long seminar on what AI is actually doing to universities: teaching, assessment, research and the admin machinery behind them. Two keynotes open it: Dr Mark Carrigan, Associate Dean for Digital Education at the University of Manchester, and Prof Kate Borthwick, Professor of Digital Education at Southampton. Then a panel chaired by Prof Nick Crossley, with Prof Keeley Crockett (Manchester Met), Prof Sunil Vadera (Salford) and Dr Sarah Clinch (University of Manchester), on how adoption is really going across the city's three big universities. Runs 10:30 to 16:00 at Citylabs 1.0 on Nelson Street, hosted by Digital Futures, the University of Manchester's digital research network. Register on Eventbrite. Why go: all three Manchester universities comparing notes in one room, computer scientists alongside education leads. Best for edtech founders and anyone selling AI into higher education who wants to hear what buyers are wrestling with.

with Dr Colin Williams (Principal Cyber Security and Resilience Specialist, CDS Defence and Security)

The November instalment of Meat the Machine, the University of Manchester's nine-part monthly seminar series on the hidden history of cybernetics and what it implies for our socio-technical futures. Dr Colin Williams - principal cyber security and resilience specialist at CDS Defence and Security, and a historian of cybernetics and its intersections with computing, AI and transhumanism - takes on the battle for the human mind. Free, in person at the University of Manchester, and open to anyone interested in where today's AI debates actually come from. Why go: a rare seminar that traces today's AI arguments back to their cybernetics roots, led by someone who works in defence cyber security and studies the history. Best for people building or governing AI who want the longer context. Free and in person.

with Dr Colin Williams (Principal Cyber Security and Resilience Specialist, CDS Defence and Security)

The second of nine monthly seminars in the Meat the Machine series, on the history of cybernetics and what it implies for how people and machines end up working together. This session is on the Ratio Club - the dining and discussion group that British life scientists, mathematicians, engineers and physicists formed after Norbert Wiener published Cybernetics in 1948. Alan Turing was a member, and his engagement with the club and its people fed into his later work. Dr Colin Williams leads it; he is a principal cyber security specialist at CDS Defence and Security with around three decades in UK government and public sector, and researches the history of cybernetics alongside that. Free, in person at the University of Manchester, 1pm to 3pm, run through Digital Futures. Why go: the current argument about machine intelligence keeps rediscovering questions this group was already arguing about in 1949, in this city. Best for people who want the long view rather than another model release.

with Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi (CBE FRS FREng, King's College London)

The first Manchester Turing Lecture, a new series from Digital Futures bringing internationally recognised research and technology leaders to the city, held in room G.003 at Alliance Manchester Business School. The inaugural speaker is Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi CBE FRS FREng, Senior Vice President for Research and Special Initiatives at King's College London, known for work on computer engineering and energy-efficient computing that sits inside billions of devices. His talk is The Future of Scientific Research: Intentionally Designed Human-AI Collaboration, on how AI is reshaping every stage of the research workflow, from literature review and hypothesis generation through experimentation, analysis and publication. Two and a half hours on the Booth Street West campus. Why go: a first edition with a speaker of this standing sets the tone for the whole series, and the subject matter matters well beyond academia. Best for researchers, R and D leads and deeptech founders.

with Dame Lesley Regan (Speaker, Women's Health Ambassador for England) · Prof Sabine van der Veer (Professor, The University of Manchester) · Lopa Patel (Speaker, Diversity UK) + 1 more

Digital Futures convenes clinicians, researchers and healthtech builders at the Core Technology Facility for a summit on women's health technology, with Dame Lesley Regan, Prof Sabine van der Veer, Lopa Patel and Prof Jacqui Cooper.

Explore a series of interconnected studies that examine human behavior and decision-making processes within social networks