Update: the talk is happening, despite it not being mentioned on the Pakhuis agenda (they are very slow with updating). We haven't met the targets yet, so don't hesitate to help with the crowdfunding! Livestream will be on https://www.youtube.com/@steven.pemberton/streams, and by the way, the livestream is the expensive part, so contributions are welcome even if you don't come to the physical event.
Pakhuis audience 2020
Every January for the past 16 years I have given an annual talk for a general public at the local cultural centre Pakhuis de Zwijger. It has proved to be popular and I have enjoyed doing it, and it has given me the opportunity to spend a year thinking about new topics, and prepare a new talk. Unfortunately, the sponsoring organisation folded this year, and so it looked like the talk wouldn't happen any more.
I've given it a lot of thought, taken a deep breath, and decided to try and crowdfund it for this January. I have talked with Pakhuis de Zwijger, and booked the location for Friday January 12th, 19:00. I have already prepared the talk (abstract below), and did a tryout in Denmark in November. It was exceedingly well received:
a great presentation: insights and an experience I was thrilled to get
Based on the number of people who turned up this year, I think that asking €10 in advance for a ticket will cover the cost of hiring the event location. This will also give an idea of how many people plan to come, so that if it exceeds the room size we can upgrade.
First stretch goal: if we exceed the location costs, the extra money will fund a glass of sparkling wine, as has been the tradition at these events.
Second stretch goal: if we exceed that, we will upgrade the room, and arrange for streaming.
Third stretch goal: if we exceed even that, the extra money will be used to reduce ticket prices for the following year.
Since crowdfunding sites would take 6% of the money, I've decided to keep it simple, and do it via a tikkie. If you don't know what that means, it means you don't live in the Netherlands, but if you want to come anyway, there is a Paypal.
And if you know of any organisation that would like to sponsor, please let me know.
Contribute
via ING. Leave your email in the payment if you want to receive any future
messages, otherwise watch the socials and just turn up. Your bank account
number is your ticket number.
Contribute via
Paypal Leave your email in the payment if you want to receive any future
messages, otherwise watch the socials and just turn up. Your bank account
number is your ticket number.
The talk will happen regardless! If the funding goal is not met, I will take the hit: if you contribute please come, but I likely won't repeat the experiment.
The talk will be in English:
There's no I in AI (yet)
There's no intelligence in current AI systems, but apparently we think there is, and then get surprised when it gives wrong answers. Why is this, and what will happen when we get real intelligent systems?
This talk gives an introduction to AI as we currently know it, examines how we interact with it, and envisions the consequences of real AI emerging.
Suitably enough, this bio has been produced by AI, fact checked and then edited.
Steven Pemberton is a distinguished researcher in the field of computer science and information technology, with a long and rich history of contributions to the development of the internet and the web. He is currently affiliated with the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam, where he conducts research on interaction, declarative programming, and web technologies.
At university he was tutored by Dick Grimsdale who had built the world's first transistorised computer, and who was himself a tutee of the "Father of AI", Alan Turing. After university, Pemberton -- coincidentally -- worked in Turing's old department in Manchester, working on the 5th computer in the line of computers Turing had worked on.
Pemberton was the first user of the open internet in Europe when the CWI created the first connection in 1988, and has been involved with the web from its inception, co-designing several web standards, including HTML, CSS, XHTML, XForms, and RDFa.
In addition to his work on the web, Pemberton has also made significant contributions to other areas of computer science, such as the design of programming languages, having co-designed the language that Python is based on, and the study of human-computer interaction. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work, including the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Practice Award in 2022.
As a speaker, Pemberton is known for his engaging and informative presentations, which draw on his deep knowledge of computer science and his passion for technology. His talks are always thought-provoking and entertaining, and he has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and events around the world. In 2023 he became an ACM Distinguished Speaker.