London Data Week Panel

A couple of days ago a few of us from Reclaiming Futures ran a panel for London Data Week. It took place here at King’s (in the fortunately not so sweaty basement of the Strand building) and I’m glad to say it went well. Breaking Down AI: Technologies, Myths, Realities involved three of us PhD students here at KCL (Dylan Orchard, Mai Omer & Oriane Peter) discussing and debunking some of the usual preconceptions around AI. Perhaps most notably that Artificial Intelligence is a coherent thing in the first place.

This event was a first for us, to organise something as Reclaiming Futures and speak to a broad audience but it all went well and we’ve had plenty of positive feedback after the fact. Our aim was to not just challenge narratives but also to raise questions around where the hype narrative of ‘AI’ comes from and where the practical realities truly impact. Something which is, unfortunately, done too rarely both in and outside of (some) parts of Higher Education.

In future we’re looking to run similar panels in different settings as opportunities can be found and also to generate some more easily shareable versions of what we’re talking about (possibly a recorded, online version or printed content that touches on the same ideas).

Until then though I’m glad to say all involved from Reclaiming Futures did a great job in making the event happen. I’d also like to thank We & AI who helped with both promotion and logistics on the day as they ran a whole range of events from King’s themselves.