Samantha Collins

Page 3

The Beyond Conference looks at research and development in the creative industries and this year’s focus was AI. I was funded to represent the CDT at this year’s Beyond Conference in the stunning Assembly Rooms in the heart of Edinburgh. This was unlike many AI conferences, with a fairly even balance between examples of how the creative industries are currently using AI to create art, and how important AI issues can be shared with a wider audience through creative works. Continue reading →

I was fortunate enough to be in the lucky group of 8 students who were chosen to attend the Next++ workshop in Singapore on the 11th and 12th November. Aside from the long haul flight, which for many of us was a first, we had to dig out our summer clothes in preparation for the impending hot weather. I was very excited to go on this trip and very curious to attend the workshop. Continue reading →

The NeXt++ Workshop proved to be a wonderful opportunity to connect social issues with technical solutions, and to connect with peers on both the CDT and international level. The first day of presentations collectively worked to position current socio-technical issues within AI and connected society as the central focus of the event. Continue reading →

By Ellena Parsons Today’s WSI Distinguished Lecture was delivered by Professor Phil Howard of the Oxford Internet Institute, based at the University of Oxford. The overarching theme of Prof. Howards lecture was the notion of Artificial Intelligence having an influence – whether positive or negative – on politics, and the wider implications of AI influencing public opinion via social media. Prof. Continue reading →

This year’s Web Science Summer School provided a great opportunity to learn about the theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from a diverse range of perspectives. In the usual spirit of Web Science, we were presented with a well-rounded selection of talks and workshops covering the social, technical and ethical issues surrounding AI technology. It was fantastic that these sessions came directly from some of the leading experts in the respective fields. Continue reading →

In the social sciences, I use statistical techniques to uncover data trails of human behaviour. I look for some really hidden behaviours – ones that no-one is going to admit to in a survey, like ‘Did you cheat or guess the answers in your exam?’ We use probability based measures and look at error terms to make our judgments. It doesn’t sound wildly different from the work of people who prefer to use the title ‘data scientist’. Continue reading →

Dr Matthew West has spent the majority of his working life at the petrochemical giant Royal Dutch Shell. From the early 1990s onwards he was involved in developing company standards and guidelines to support the integration of systems and processes to facilitate different parts of the multinational working efficiently and effectively together. Essentially this work involved the development of company-wide and eventually industry-wide ISO engineering standards. Continue reading →

Chira Tochia Although many of those attending the PhD symposium were from the Web Science CDT, I was still very excited to see everyones presentations as it is easy to get lost in your own work and forget how helpful it is to share ideas and watch how others present their work in its current state. Continue reading →

Today, students, academics, alumni gathered together to mark the end of Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in Web Science and discuss the future of Web Science. By listening to the speeches provided by alumni, we were able to learn, not only how important it was for them to be a part of DTC programme, but also how this experience shaped their future career. Continue reading →