January 2017

Invitation to "Artificial and Human Intelligence: a winning mix, no zero-sum game"

A Digital Practice workshop, organized by Digital Europe, on 9 February 2017, 8:30 - 10:00, Brussels              

Artificial Intelligence (AI) conjures up many images, utopian or dystopian, of futuristic societies, advancing well beyond what was once thought possible for humankind. Computer programmes can gather and analyse vast quantities of data. But making decisions without specific instructions has been a challenge: The easiest tasks to instruct an AI were complex calculations, while challenge was ‘programming’ day-to-day activities, built on trial-and-error and experience.  

Upgrades in technology and synergies between computer components are now unlocking the potential of ‘neural networks’ and ‘deep learning’. Hardware and software is mimicking more and more the human brain. One can argue that AI is becoming actually intelligent – Learning from mistakes, predicting outcomes and forming a semblance of improvisation. For industry, these developments have led to leaps forward in terms of understanding speech, image recognition and also in the health sector with interpreting medical data.  

Will AI be able to take over any type of work instead of only hard-coded tasks and routines? Is society, let alone our regulatory framework, ready for these evolutions? Without question, we need a feedback loop between technology and society. Let’s think and learn together with our (still human intelligence) experts.  

Speakers:

- Mady Delvaux-Stehres MEP, Chair of Working Group on Robotics, European Parliament
- Juha Heikkila, Head of Unit, Robotics & Artificial Intelligence, DG CONNECT
- Erik Mannens, CTO, Data Science & Research Manager, Ghent University
- Eddie Seymour, European Technical Director, NVIDIA
- Jonathan Sage, Artificial Intelligence Policy Lead EU, Gov.& Regulatory Affairs, IBM   

Moderator:    
- John Higgins, Director General, DIGITALEUROPE   Registration: The number of seats is limited. Please register online before 7 February.

Register to the event 

When:  9 February 2017, 08:30 – 10:00.  
Where:  DIGITALEUROPE’s offices Rue de la Science, 14 (7th Floor) 1040 - Brussels      

 
Background

The Digital in Practice Programme aims to make a case for the digital industry and to evidence the transformative impact of digital products and services. By fostering short, crisp and open debates between leading experts and interested guests, our workshops afford the industry, policy makers and other key stakeholders a powerful educational platform where to share information and discuss informally how a truly ICT-enabled Europe will look like.  

For more information on the Digital in Practice Programme, do not hesitate to get in touch with us or visit our website: http://www.digitaleurope.org/

We hope that you will be able to join! --

For more information please contact: Kivanç Akil, Events & Office Assistant Tel: +32 2 609 53 30 or kivanc.akil@digitaleurope.org