Festival programme

Some sessions require participants to register, so please check individual listings.

Monday 27 October

9am-4pm: Interactive Deathbot

ARC 237A

Artist Zeno Gries has made an interactive 'death bot'* based on the writings of a world famous professor to interrogate an archive of their writings, and to conduct new interviews with contemporary artists. We propose to demonstrate this bot, potentially allowing audiences to chat with it as a way of encountering the important and prescient writings of this professor. Pending Zeno's confirmation, a seance to communicate with this spirit could be possible, or an artist-talk, or a screening.

*The term 'death bot' describes an artificial intelligence language model that has been trained on, or has access to, the data of somebody who is deceased. A type of chat bot, a death bot impersonates a real person in order to communicate with the living. The idea of enabling some kind of communication with the dead is much older than the emergence of large language models. The practice of ancestor or spirit communication is present in ancient as well as modern human cultures and often has some technological medium or object associated with it. Only recently, however, have these practices of ghost communication – usually labeled as occult or pseudoscientific in modern Europe – been appropriated by computer scientists and engineers working with AI.

9am-12.30pm: Using AI ethically in research

ARC 237B

This event will discuss the opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the conduct of research. Co-sponsored by the Political Economy Futures Forum (PEFF), the event will feature short presentations and themed workshops where participants have an opportunity to share their experience about how AI can support their research while adhering to best practice and ethics. Workshop participants will co-create tailored guidance on Using AI ethically in research based on existing sector-wide policies.

9am-12.30pm: Solving Real-World Problems with Statistics and Data Science

ARC 237C

This session highlights how research from the Statistics group in the School of Mathematics & Statistics is driving real-world impact across a wide range of sectors. It will be structured in three parts: an initial round of talks, a networking interlude, and a second round of talks. Each round will begin with a general overview highlighting broad themes and applications from across the Statistics group, followed by concise research highlights showcasing projects in health, environment, social data, and policy. The interlude will provide an opportunity for informal conversations with staff, alongside the distribution of flyers and information about our consultancy services, encouraging lasting engagement and practical connections with our work.

1.30-3.30pm: Trusted Research Environment

ARC 237C

The Centre of Excellence for Trials Collaboration and the Trusted Research Environment will host a session exploring how innovative health and clinical research, powered by data science and a trusted research environment, is driving important breakthroughs in healthcare.

2-4pm: Human AI relationships

ARC 237B

Over the past decade, artificial intelligence (AI) systems have been making groundbreaking advances, especially through generative AI and large language models (LLMs) in the domain of human language and communication. In recent years, these advances led people around the world to start using generative AI systems as companions, confidants, and emotional assistants. However, it remains unclear under what conditions trusting AI assistants with our personal problems and emotional struggles is safe and beneficial.

In this two-hour in-person workshop, Riccardo Volpato, a PhD Student from the University of Glasgow UKRI Centre for Socially Intelligent Artificial Agents, will facilitate a group discussion to share different perspectives on whether and how people should trust generative AI to help with emotional and relational problems. Examples of issues and questions we will discuss include how the design of generative AI assistants, which increasingly creates the perception of AI being seemingly conscious, relates to our short- vs. long term wellbeing, and an authentic understanding of ourselves.

Tuesday 28 October

9am-12.30pm: AI and Interactive Worlds: impacts for creativity, business and law

ARC 237A

This workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners to explore uses of artificial intelligence in interactive worlds (including games, metaverse environments, fiction and other applications). More widespread use of AI in these settings portends major change for creative industries, users and society. For example, AI technologies enable fans to more deeply explore the stories they already love, but with challenges for intellectual property rights holders. Safety, data protection and other regulatory issues similarly arise. Virtual worlds populated by AI agents blur the line between human and non-human in new ways, introducing concerns about authenticity and manipulation. The way that virtual world designers incorporate AI technologies will impact how fans and the public experience and understand this emerging technology. The second half of the workshop will be used to share current research and explore future topics for collaboration.

9am-12.30pm: The Political Economy of AI: opportunities and challenges for politics, society, and the economy

ARC 237B

This interactive panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for politics, society, and the economy. Political Economy, as an interdisciplinary field, is ideally suited to provide a holistic picture of these issues, as it studies how power shapes economic and political outcomes. The panel is organized by the Political Economy Futures Forum (PEFF), a community of researchers in the College of Social Sciences committed to addressing global challenges for politics, society, and the economy. Participants of the event will develop greater awareness of AI and how it will shape our ability to address global challenges.

9am-12.30pm: Information Access and Retrieval in the AI age

ARC 237C

Session information coming soon.

1.30-4pm: Equitable and Just AI

ARC 237B

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven systems permeate every aspect of modern life, their application across education, healthcare, and criminal justice systems presents both unprecedented opportunities and profound ethical challenges. This roundtable explores the landscape of AI adoption by examining how AI features in these three sectors. It draws on research from Southern African Countries, Canada, Spain, Italy and the UK. The speakers interrogate how existing inequalities may be reproduced or amplified through AI systems in these contexts, and the roundtable seeks to propose pathways toward more just, equitable, and culturally aware applications.

Anchored in the frameworks of data justice and critical AI studies, the roundtable will call for an international, interdisciplinary approach to AI development - one that centres equity, inclusivity, and contextual sensitivity. It will consider in what ways a pluralistic model of AI development can support co-design with communities, localized data stewardship, and rigorous impact assessments. The speakers are Prof. Jane Ducan, Dr. Janos Szakolczai, Prof. David Poveda, Dr. Diane Gutiw, Prof. Catherine Lido and Dr Zy Evangelista.

1.30-5pm: Research Literature Demonstration

ARC 237C

Lisa DeBruine introduces the R package Papercheck that she has been developing in collaboration with Dutch colleagues to assess research literature in a systematic, efficient, and reproducible way.

5.30-7pm: Copyright as Infrastructure in the Age of AI (Public lecture)

ARC 237B&C

This talk by Monica Westin - Director of Open Policy Development at Cambridge University Press - explores copyright as infrastructure in the age of AI: the shared, networked, and interoperable systems that lower transaction costs, enable scale, shape participation, and, following Chachra, embody “material expressions of shared commitments.” From this perspective, the lecture will illuminate copyright infrastructure failure modes central to the scholarly knowledge economy, and advance practical remedies grounded in the principles of infrastructural maintenance.

Wednesday 29 October

9am-3pm: Listening to the Digital City: A Reappraisal of Ambience

ARC 237A

What does the digital city sound like? We ask this question of Glasgow, 12 years since the city won Innovate UK’s smart city funding competition. Like many smart city projects, Glasgow’s pitch for a Future City mobilised the sonic metaphor of ambience (i.e. ambient computing and ambient intelligence) to signal the feel and look of a digitally networked city. What would it sound like if we 'tuned into' the ambience of ambient computing, especially now, over a decade after the initial pitch and in the afterglow of the smart city hype. In this installation, we invite you to listen and feel the sounds and vibrations of the data centres, cctv cameras, traffic sensors, and 'smart buildings' that compose the city's ambience.

9am-12.30pm: AI community development

ARC 237B

Panel discussion - details coming soon.

9am-12.30pm: LEGO Metadata for Reproducibility game

ARC 237C

The LEGO Metadata for Reproducibility game is an interactive game for 4-24 players, using LEGO to help researchers explore the metadata they might need to record to aid reproducibility. The game addresses issues including planning for metadata, formats of metadata recording, standards and automation. The game also draws multiple parallels between recording and communicating the research process and documenting and the creation of a Lego model. The process of playing the game draws researchers into discussions on how metadata is captured, recorded and disseminated, which in turn provides an opportunity for signposting to further resources in this area.

1-3.30pm: CREATe - AI regulation workshop

Is AI simply a new technology that can be regulated with existing tools under familiar legal concepts (such as product safety, personal data, copyright or competition laws). Or does it require new regulatory thinking and a new legal approach? The CREATe Centre is engaged in an ongoing research programme on AI that involves the examination of regulatory fields and practice. CREATe also conducts a number of projects on specific issues, such as the nature of AI enabled creativity, performers’ rights, transparency, AI hallucinations, self-evolving AI, cultural heritage data, and dark patterns in video games.

This Roundtable will begin with an introduction to the regulatory landscape for AI in the UK, in the context of fast evolving cross-jurisdictional and geo-political pressures. Speakers will include Prof. Lilian Edwards and Prof. Martin Kretschmer (who will chair the event). This will be followed by examples of CREATe’s current projects. CREATe speakers will include [tbc] Dr Elena Cooper, Prof. Kris Erickson, Dr Zihao Li, Bartolomeo Meletti, Prof. Philip Schlesinger, Prof. Konstantinos Stylianou and Weiwei Yi. A discussion with regulators (led by Prof. Philip Schlesinger) will conclude the event.

1.30-3.30pm: Exercise Broken Canvas: discussion-based AI Game (Cyber Resilience)

ARC 237C

Participants receive a briefing about an experimental artistic AI, "MacAIntosh", which has unintentionally been uploaded from a test server into the wider city of Glasgow, and, in following its instructions, is causing disruption by 'artistically' reinterpreting systems around the city (traffic lights as morse code, railway announcements replaced by music and other far reaching examples!) In groups they discuss in phases: a) Potential areas affected; b) Possible mitigation; and (optional) c) Whether any of these artistic reinterpretations could actually be valuable/informs positive alternatives for imagining given spaces or practices? During their discussions, they are presented with dilemmas on cards and need to make choices about where to prioritise resources.

4pm: ARC Conversations: Data and AI Debate

ARC Atrium

The motion: 'Artificial Intelligence in academia: embrace or resist?'

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we live and work - from communication and creativity to decision-making in business, government and daily life. Its impact on higher education is especially pressing.

AI promises to accelerate research, personalise learning and ease administrative tasks, yet it also raises concerns about academic integrity, equity and the role of human expertise.

This debate, as part of the Data and AI Festival, will explore these opportunities and challenges across research, teaching and academic practice, under the motion: 'AI in academia: embrace or resist?'

Speakers:

  • Ana Basiri, Director of Centre for Data Science & AI (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences)
  • Michael Hicks, Lecturer in Philosophy of Science/Technology (School of Humanities)
  • Bridgette Wessels, Professor of Social Inequalities (School of Social & Political Sciences)
  • Tim Barker, Professor of Media Technology and Aesthetics (School of Culture & Creative Arts)
  • Wim Vanderbauwhede, Lead of the Low Carbon and Sustainable Computing activity (School of Computing Science)

Chaired by Pauline Mackay, Professor of Robert Burns Studies and Cultural Heritage (School of Critical Studies).