Hello everyone!
Let’s jump right into it.
Today began with the first of our specialist lectures. Today I was part of a group that visited Dr Peter Hollingsworth, who talked about the challenges faced in complex systems engineering, namely the aerospace industry. I was quite interested in the topic of aerospace engineering but was surprised to learn that due to independent contracting of airplane parts, there is often a lack of communication between parties building aircraft which can lead to the delay of their production. It was an eye-opener that showed us some of the issues faced and it left us thinking how these issues can be resolved.
Afterwards we had another plenary lecture. This time it was delivered by Professor Michael Wooldridge of the University of Oxford. His lecture touched base on many of the misconceptions about artificial intelligence (AI) that the public believes and went into detail about the different kinds of AI, namely General AI and Narrow AI. He showed us a video of a bipedal robot that was designed to approach a door, turn the handle, and enter. DESIGNED, not CAPABLE, however. It was an amusing display of the robot falling over while Professor Wooldridge commented on the lack of dangers we face in the event of a robot uprising. Skynet? More like SkyNOT.
Our evening finished with a massive group photo of all the participants of LIYSF 2018 and another presentation. This presentation consisted of three minute blocks where 11 students who were selected by judges during the poster night got to talk about their research in front of all the participants. It is truly impressive what some of these young minds are capable of. And truly impressive how dumb they can make me feel.
That about wraps up today, I’m about two and a half minutes from passing out.
Cheers and goodnight,
Nikola T.
LIYSF 2018