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Upcoming Events

Past Events

Beyond the Digital Divide? AI and Work in Africa

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JamillahKnowles-DigitBuildingCorp-1280x720

This session introduces attendees to a new, interactive way of exploring complex challenges before jumping to solutions. Traditional problem-solving often assumes we already understand the problem, but in many industries, especially healthcare and public services, the real challenge is uncovering the right problem together.

Overview
This session introduces attendees to a new, interactive way of exploring complex challenges before jumping to solutions. Traditional problem-solving often assumes we already understand the problem, but in many industries, especially healthcare and public services, the real challenge is uncovering the right problem together.
We will demonstrate a gamified conversational AI tool designed to support teamwork, spark curiosity, and make collaborative problem identification faster, more engaging, and more inclusive, even for those unfamiliar with AI.
What Will Happen During the Session
1. Short Introductory Talk (≈5 minutes)
• What “problem discovery” is and why it matters
• How conversational AI can support effective communication and creative alignment
2. Facilitated Small-Group Activity (≈15 minutes per slot)
• Groups of 2–5 participants interact with the AI, which guides them through steps of gamified activities with real time conversations. Activities aimed to:
✓ Sharing perspectives
✓ Spotting overlapping challenges
✓ Grouping and comparing priorities
• This activity requires no prior AI knowledge. Engagement is as simple as typing responses.
Format &amp; Logistics
• Duration: Each session is 20 minutes. Multiple slots offered throughout the day
• Advance sign-up would be ideal to avoid wait times and ensure group sizes
• Space requirements: A small table or breakout area
• Facilitation: Led by Malak Sadek and Echo Wan + automated prompts delivered through the AI tool

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Save the date for our Early Career Community holiday party on 26 November 2025.
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Save the date for the Early Career Community Bridgemas celebration!
<a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&amp;tmeid=M3IwZDdzdnUxZXBqdXRtMG83MTJ0M2IxMm8gb2RiMjZAY3NhaC5jYW0uYWMudWs&amp;tmsrc=odb26%40csah.cam.ac.uk">Add to your calendar</a>

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HannaBarakat -CambridgeDiversity FundPas(t)imesin the Computer Lab -2560x1333

Refine your 1-minute research pitch with experts from the Early Career Community.

Sharpen your communication skills at our Elevator Pitch Workshop, taking place on 11 November at 6pm in the Syndics Room, 17 Mill Lane. This interactive session will guide you through the essentials of crafting a clear, compelling, and memorable pitch, whether for networking, job interviews, or presenting new ideas. Participants will learn practical techniques, receive feedback, and have the opportunity to practice their pitch in a supportive environment.

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Join our student-led research group focussing on AI Cognition.

Join the Early Career Community on 21 November at 11am in the CHIA Meeting Room.
The Cognitive Alignment Research group aims to connect researchers working on bridging human and AI representations. 
Despite the strong performance of modern AI system, their inner processing differs from that of humans, which makes alignment and oversight difficult. The group is organised around projects to which members can contribute.
The group is led by <a href="https://www.chia.cam.ac.uk/team/matthieu-tehenan">Matthieu Téhénan</a>.

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Join our Early Career Community for a seminar, discussion and robot meet and greet!

Join us on 4 November in the Syndics Room at 6pm for a unique opportunity to engage with Alva Markelius, the world’s most advanced social robot. The event will feature a seminar, interactive discussion, and informal meet-and-greet, offering insights into the future of human–AI interaction and social robotics.

Speaker

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How does the use of AI in toys impact children&#8217;s development?

We are now seeing toys embedded with Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) marketed for use by children under five (e.g. GenAI chatbots in soft toys). The rise in GenAI toys&#8217; availability raises questions around impacts on young children’s development, and little is known about how early years practitioners feel about their role in education. Sharing preliminary results from a series of focus groups, this presentation will discuss the potential impacts of GenAI toys on young children through the views of those working in early years settings.

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Join our Early Career Community for their first event of the new academic year.

We are excited to welcome ECC members back and kick off the new term with a social 2nd October 6pm at The Castle Inn (upstairs). It’s a great opportunity to meet other ECRs working on AI across departments, make friends, and chat about the latest AI research. Clare Heinbaugh and Abdullah Hassan Safir will be presenting their newest work in a 10-min flash talk format. More information about the speakers and the talks can be seen below.
Imagining a Pluriversal future in AI &#8211; Abdullah Hassan Safir
In this talk I would highlight a recent intervention, a digital archive and a planned exhibition at BritCHI 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. The archive results from a previously conducted Human-AI interaction experiment in which I tried to reproduce select artworks by a Bangladeshi artist through systematic prompting techniques using a T2I AI tool. Through the exhibition, we intend to spark thought-provoking conversations around how current HCI research around AI art-making practices marginalises Global South perspectives. Through this interactive effort, I want to highlight that the design and functioning of T2I generative AI tools should not be considered as merely technical feats but as also cultural artifacts carrying the residues of colonial thought. Such decolonial and pluriversal design-thinking around AI art-making will help include diverse voices and visions of artists worldwide within the realm of such practices.
Tactical Control in 3D via Gesture Disambiguation, Speech, and Runtime Code Generation &#8211; Clare Heinbaugh
Shared control methods allow a user and system to work in tandem to accomplish tasks. For 3D tasks, hand gestures are a natural choice to represent 3D primitives such as points, axes, angles, and objects in mixed reality applications. Large language models infer user intent and enable runtime code generation to define novel interactions on-the-fly. In this talk, Clare will discuss a novel method called GestCoGen that uses gestures to represent 3D primitives used to augment speech commands and runtime code generation to define application-agnostic commands at runtime. GestCoGen enables flexible commanding and promotes high-level tactical control. In a user study, she compared GestCoGen to a traditional menu-based system in a series of 3D modeling tasks. With the ability to define new commands at runtime, she will explain how GestCoGen can be used to promote tactical control in a shared control system, which is vital to investigate as LLMs and other machine learning-enabled systems become more ubiquitous.

Speakers

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Majority World Perspectives in AI, Data and Algorithms: Early Career Voices

This panel brings together emerging scholars to foreground Majority World perspectives in the field of ethics of AI, Data, and Algorithms. The session features brief presentations from early career researchers exploring critical, context-specific insights into AI. Sumaya (University of Oxford) examines questions of governance, addressing how AI regulatory frameworks intersect with geopolitical dynamics in Africa. Suvradip (University of Cambridge) delves into the impact of state use of biometric surveillance on marginalised and culturally diverse populations. Safir (University of Cambridge) focuses on the sociotechnical design of AI, considering how culturally situated knowledge and local practices can inform more equitable and inclusive technological futures, particularly involving Bangladeshi stakeholders. This conversation aims to reframe dominant narratives and invite deeper engagement with situated perspectives often overlooked in global discussions around AI, Data, and Algorithms.

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Join CHIA&#8217;s Early Career Community for White Robots, Blue Brains, and Other Myths: AI, Reimagined, an evening of art, conversation, and critical reflection on how we picture artificial intelligence — and why it matters.
Hosted by CHIA, this special event features a curated exhibition of 10 international artworks from the Better Images of AI initiative, created to challenge stereotypical visuals of AI — no more white plastic robots or glowing blue brains!
Alongside the exhibition, we invite you to a dynamic panel discussion exploring:
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<li>How society perceives AI — and how those perceptions shape our hopes, fears, and policies</li>
<li>What role artists and alternative images play in reframing public understanding of AI</li>
<li>The impact of AI on artistic labour, and what happens when artists’ work is scraped, stolen, or repurposed by generative systems</li>
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Panelists:
Tania Duarte — Founder of We and AI
Alex Mentzel — PhD in German and Digital Humanities
Chanelle Mwale — Singer, Songwriter, Poet, and co-founder of The Ubuntu Network
Moderated by Hannah Claus, PhD student at the Language Technology Lab, focusing on large language models for low-resource languages.
The event takes place on Friday 6 June, 2025 at Robinson College, Cambridge.
The event is free, but places are limited. Please register <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/white-robots-blue-brains-and-other-myths-ai-reimagined-tickets-1380778458539?aff=oddtdtcreator">HERE</a>.

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CHIA&#8217;s Annual Conference 2025

<h3>A warm thank you to everyone who attended CHIA&#8217;s Annual Conference 2025!</h3>
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This year’s conference brought together leading voices from academia, industry, and policy to explore how we can shape a better future for AI—one that is informed by human values, insights, and needs. Please see below for our full programme and the list of keynote speakers.

Programme

Keynote Speakers

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<h1>Collective Generative Futures</h1>
Join our first Early Career Conference 2025 to share insights and methodologies that push the boundaries of what is possible when humans and AI work together, aiming to shape a future where generative technologies serve as extensions of human capabilities rather than replacements.
In this half-day event, we will consider critical questions:
How can we put the synergistic potential of human-in-the-loop AI at the heart of our data-driven innovation?
How can AI and humans collaborate to enhance creativity, productivity and effective decision-making?
What ethical considerations must we address to ensure AI augments human life responsibly?
Together, we will examine the future of AI agents and robotics, discussing their integration into daily life, their autonomy, and the societal implications of such advancements. Through a keynote, panel discussion with colleagues from both academia and the industry, as well as presentations from the community members, we aim to envision a future where technology and humanity co-evolve to foster sustainable, inclusive, and dynamic societies. Join us to shape the narrative of our collective future with AI.
You will have the opportunity to present your work at the conference through either a 3-minute thesis or abstract presentation, with prizes awarded for the best contributions. Keep an eye out for our upcoming call for abstracts &#8211; your research and ideas will help shape this important discussion.
Please, complete <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefRbu2zv93Bw920j6uHBaKAWSBmi4CaOTKxwbkeeSwRAidBw/viewform">this form</a> to register your interest for attending our in-person conference. If you are interested in presenting, it will take you to the next page. If you have any questions, please contact the conference organisers:
Cherry Benson at <a href="mailto:cb2279@cam.ac.uk">cb2279@cam.ac.uk</a>
Abdullah Hasan Safir at <a href="mailto:sa2168@cam.ac.uk">sa2168@cam.ac.uk</a>
<h2>Schedule</h2>
<ul>
<li>1:00 PM – Arrival and Registration</li>
<li>1:15 PM – Conference start</li>
<li>1:25 PM – Keynote: Irmak Dogan</li>
<li>2:15 PM – 3-Minute Thesis Presentations</li>
<li>2:45 PM – Break</li>
<li>3:15 PM – Abstract Presentation</li>
<li>4:00 PM – Panel Discussion: Industry and Postdocs</li>
<li>5:00 PM – Pub Social</li>
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Date: 14 March 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Keynes and Chetwynd Rooms, King&#8217;s College, King&#8217;s Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1ST
Last Date of Registration: 5 March 2025
Abstract Submission Deadline: 28 February 2025
Picture: Elise Racine &amp; The Bigger Picture / Better Images of AI / Web of Influence I / CC-BY 4.0

Schedule

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Focused Students Working on Advanced Robotics

Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Workshop

<h1>Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Workshop</h1>
The relationship between the body and mind of a robot has been a topic of debate for centuries, driving scientists to explore intelligent and adaptive behaviour in both animals and machines. In robotics, this relationship is critical to designing systems that can interact meaningfully with their environments, adapt to new challenges, and exhibit humanlike intelligence. Embodied Intelligence studies how physical interactions shape thoughts, emotions, and actions—not just in humans but also in robots.
In the age of AI and Machine Learning, this research is vital, offering insights that enhance traditional AI technologies by integrating physical embodiment and environmental interaction. Robotics plays a central role in this exploration, serving as both a tool for studying intelligence and a field that benefits directly from embodied principles.
This topic is particularly relevant and timely given the underrepresentation of women in robotics. Promoting diverse perspectives is essential for fostering innovation and ensuring that the field reflects a broad range of ideas and experiences. By engaging young researchers, especially women, this workshop aims to inspire participation and contributions to a field where diversity is needed to address complex challenges and drive meaningful progress.
This event is organised by the <a href="https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-researchers-showcase-robots-globalwiin">Women-in-Robotics Cambridge</a> initiative and sponsored by the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA).
<h2>Schedule</h2>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>9.45-10:00</td>
<td>Welcome and coffee</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:00-10:10</td>
<td>Introduction</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:10-10.30</td>
<td>Yiannis Demiris</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:30- 10:50</td>
<td>Hatice Gunes</td>
</tr>
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<td>10:50-11:10</td>
<td>Tom Erez</td>
</tr>
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<td>11:10-11:40</td>
<td>Panel Discussion</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11:40-12:30</td>
<td>Interactive discussions in focused groups</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>12:30-13:30</td>
<td>Lunch</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>13:30-13:50</td>
<td>Thrishantha Nanayakkara</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>13:50-14:10</td>
<td>Kaspar Althoefer</td>
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<tr>
<td>14:10-14:40</td>
<td>Panel Discussion</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>14:40-14:50</td>
<td>Concluding remarks</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>14:50-15:30</td>
<td>Coffee and networking</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>15.30-16.30</td>
<td>Bio-inspired robotics lab (BIRL) tour</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Location: Lucia Windsor Room, Newnham College, Cambridge
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/robotics-and-embodied-intelligence-workshop-tickets-1205393025989?aff=oddtdtcreator">Tickets available here</a>

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Join Prof Anna Barford, CHIA Steering Committee member, as she discusses work and AI in Africa.

Join our Early Career Community group on 14 November at 1pm in SG2, Alison Richard Building, for an insightful discussion with Prof Anna Barford on how artificial intelligence is reshaping opportunities, challenges, and the future of work across the African continent.

Beyond the Digital Divide? AI and Work in Africa

Upcoming Events

Cambridge Festival: Problem Solving? More Like Problem Discovery! Using Conversational AI to Support Problem Identification

Early Career Community: Bridgemas

Early Career Community: Elevator Pitch Workshop

Past Events

Early Career Community: Cognitive Alignment Research Group

Early Career Community: Meet Our Advanced Social Robot

Fear of the Unknown: How do early years practitioners feel about GenAI toys?

Early Career Community Welcome Event

Majority World Perspectives in AI, Data and Algorithms: Early Career Voices

White Robots, Blue Brains, and Other Myths: AI, Reimagined

Annual Conference of CHIA

14 March: Early Career Conference 2025

18 February: Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Workshop