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Can Machines Be Conscious, and Would It Matter If They Were?

The question “Will AI artefacts ever be conscious?” was raised by Turing seventy years ago, and will not go away even though no one quite knows what it means, nor how we would know they were conscious if they were.

AI Weapons, War and Ethics

This lecture will explore fully autonomous weapons, the products of AI technology, and the arguments for and against their use.

The Cockney Romantics: John Keats and his Friends

Jonathan Bate will track Keats to Hampstead and tell of the extraordinary circle of writers – opium-eater Thomas De Quincey, essayist Charles Lamb, master-critic William Hazlitt – who wrote for The London Magazine, until its gifted editor was killed in a duel with a rival critic.

Is There Danger Ahead With AI: Superintelligence, Ethics, Work, Leisure and Automation

Professor Wilks will discuss the argument that ‘superintelligent’ AI may turn against us, as Hawking and Bostrom have warned.

The Search for Meaning on the Web: The Semantic Web and Managing a Lifetime's Information

Professor Wilks will describe the Semantic Web and its origin in annotation methods from the humanities and will argue the need for this form of AI to manage a lifetime’s information on the web.

Making Information Personal: Companions

Professor Wilks will discuss the notion of an artificial Companion, a long-term software agent that could be present in any device: a screen, handbag or even a furry toy - and which understands the person it 'lives' with.

Did Prison Change Mandela?

Prof. Elleke Boehmer explores how prison did or did not...

Nelson Mandela in the 21st Century

To mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, the legacy of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), first president of democratic South Africa, will be considered - both within his country and in the wider world.

Lenin and the Russian Revolution

How, as a Marxist, did he justify the seizure of power and would the October Revolution have been possible without him? How in this centenary year, are these events being commemorated in Putin’s Russia?

Artificial Intelligence

Alan Turing famously proposed a test of artificial intelligence. What has been achieved? Stephen Hawking has said that real artificial intelligence will mean the end of mankind. Is that a real threat? Are there limits to what a silicon brain might do?

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