Sydney Opera House presents — AI: The Human Interface
Sydney – In a one-off event at the Sydney Opera House, evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks and artificial intelligence expert Toby Walsh will appear in conversation with Rae Johnston on Sunday 10 September to explore the impact of developing AI on humanity.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Brooks, a scientist who studies the evolutionary consequences of sex, and Walsh, one of the world’s leading researchers in AI, look at whether the concerns surrounding AI are justifiable, and what its impact will be on our society and culture.
As debate rages around artificial intelligence – and even the experts disagree about what is to come – AI: The Human Interface will ask what it means to be human. How will these technologies affect our relationships and the ways we connect with one another? And will these machines affect how we view what makes us uniquely human?
Sydney Opera House Head of Talks & Ideas, Chip Rolley says: “In a year when everyone else is talking about ‘artificial’ intelligence, we at Sydney Opera House want to talk about the human kind. However hyped some of the AI panic might be, it does feel like we’re on the precipice of something very new in our world. If machines are able to overtake the capabilities of human beings, what does that mean for what we think being human is in the first place? Whether robots take over or not, it might be that their rapid rise and development help us to answer this fundamental question – perhaps for the first time.”
AI: The Human Interface will delve into how deeply AI could permeate our world, exploring whether we’ll be able to preserve what we love about being human as we engage with these machines more and more.
KEY INFORMATION
WHAT: AI: The Human Interface
WHEN: 3pm, Sunday 10 September 2023
WHERE: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
PRICES: From $29.00 + $8.95 booking fee
PRE SALE: 9am, Wednesday 2 August 2023
GP ON SALE: 9am, Thursday 3 August 2023
About Rob Brooks
Rob Brooks is an international expert on the conflicting evolutionary interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complex. He has won Australia’s most prestigious award for science communication, the Eureka Prize, and is the author of Sex, Genes and Rock ‘n’ Roll: How evolution has shaped the modern world (2011), which won the Queensland Literary Award for Science Writing. He is Scientia Professor of Evolution at UNSW, Sydney, where he founded and directed the Evolution and Ecology Research Centre.
About Toby Walsh
Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading researchers in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and leads a research group at Data61, Australia’s Centre of Excellence for ICT Research. He has been elected a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI for contributions to AI research, and has won the prestigious Humboldt research award. Walsh is also the author of three previous books about AI.
About Rae Johnston
Rae Johnston is a multi-award-winning journalist, TV, and radio presenter focusing on the geekier side of life. The first Science & Technology Editor for NITV at SBS, Rae is also a producer and host of the top-rated technology podcast, Queens of the Drone Age. A leading commentator on all things science, technology, business and pop culture, Rae has worked with every major television and radio network in Australia at some stage of her decade-long career. Today, you will most likely catch her hosting documentaries or travel shows, presenting science and technology segments or reading the news with SBS, NITV, ABC and Network Ten.
