This open forum, held on 20th November, was hosted by Connects-UK and supported by AE Cardiff.
The forum opened with a welcome from AE Hub Director Professor Ole Peterson. The Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor Jas Pal Badyal, gave an overview of how the Welsh Government has responded to the development of AI. Anna Fumarola, Project Manager for CONNECTS-UK, described the work of her organisation. Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament and co-Rapporteur of the Artificial Intelligence, highlighted the European AI Act, one of the leading pieces of legislation in AI and one he believes will ensure protective measures, a reduction in risks and an increase in opportunities in the use of AI.
Keynote speaker Professor Teemu Roos (University of Helsinki) considered the evolution of AI across disciplines and its relevance to research data. He specifically highlighted the relationship between generative AI and the mass production of scientific articles (‘papermills’). He encouraged greater awareness of AI, suggesting a shift away from a binary assessment of AI as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and instead, arguing for an understanding of AI systems and their limitations.
On the first panel, Dr Cecilia Rikap (University College London) gave a presentation on “The political economy of Al: by whom, for what and for whom?” She presented an analysis of the economy of science and technology, focusing on the complexities of the AI value chain. She examined the production process of AI, how AI is produced, and who is profiting from it.
Dr Qingxiu Bu (University of Sussex) spoke on “Balancing the Benefits of Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) and Privacy Protection”. He addressed privacy implications in the digital era, examining the processes involved in data management, the economic value of data and the potential social harms associated with data collection, facial recognition and poor data regulation.
On the second panel, Professor Peter Flach (University of Bristol) gave a presentation on “Generative Al in Research: Tool or Threat?” He addressed the topic of generative AI and its influence on research and the academic publication process. He highlighted the growing concerns regarding the misuse of AI by students, particularly the issues of plagiarism and the implications for the teaching and production of research.
Dr Marco Palombo (Cardiff University) spoke on the theme “Towards Democratized and Sustainable Medical Imaging through AI”. He provided insights on the intersection of AI and medical imaging. He underscored the environmental costs and demands associated with AI, as well as the importance of global accessibility of the technologies and concerns related to the training of such systems.
The final speaker, Dr R. Gonzalo Parra (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) gave a talk on “Local Frustration: A computational biophysics-based strategy to understand proteins and its implications for biomedicine”. This examined the development of advanced tools aimed at understanding how proteins work and identifying potential conflicts in proteins. He emphasised the use of technologies like machine learning to analyse proteins and predict mutations, thereby facilitating more personalised and effective medical treatments.
Following the presentations, a Q&A session addressed questions such as open access to scientific knowledge, the influence of technology companies in research, the future of data interpretation and the environmental implications of advanced AI systems.
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Updated 26th November 2024. For further information please contact info@connects-uk.org
