[SIGCIS-Members] AI and data science: Opportunities and threats

[Brian Randell]

 Hi:

Last week a colleague of mine, Paul Watson, gave a lecture in Newcastle University's Insights Public Lecture Series:

Title: AI and data science: Opportunities and threats.

Abstract: Vast amounts of data are being generated in every aspect of our lives, and in every area of industry. How can we use this data to improve the economy and society for everyone’s benefit? Data science and AI are increasingly proposed as ways to achieve this, but what are they, and what are their strengths and limitations? This talk will introduce AI and data science, giving real-world examples of the opportunities and threats that they bring with them.

Biography: Paul Watson is Director of the UK's National Innovation Centre for Data, Professor of Computer Science at Newcastle University, and a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute. He began his career at Manchester University before moving to industry to help design a product based on his research. In 1995 he joined Newcastle University. He now leads the National Innovation Centre for Data which plays a key role in enabling private and public sector organisations to exploit data science and AI. Professor Watson is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and received the 2015 Microsoft Jim Gray award for e-Science.

I was not able to attend, but a recording of this lecture is now available on Youtube, at:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTTmAcZWAU

I've just watched Paul’s lecture. I strongly recommend it to you all - not just the last section, which is highly relevant to our recent discussions of ChatGPT as an untrustworthy aid to historical investigations, but in fact Paul's talk in its entirety.

Cheers

Brian