Sunderland professor asks if we can build a human brain?

A Sunderland professor will take people on a journey into the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and debate its place among humankind.

Chris Bowerman is a Professor of Data Science (AI) in the University of Sunderland’s Faculty of Computer Science and will give his talk this month as part of the annual Professorial Lecture Series on campus.

His own research is centred on the areas of AI and machine learning in data science.

In this lecture, Professor Bowerman will look at how a major shift in the computing landscape is under way.

He said: “Computers are learning. They are becoming thinking machines. Such cognitive computers will aid humans in formulating solutions and decision making.

“Advances are already having an impact in our lives such as Amazon Echo, personalised medicine and IBM Watson health, computers are also making fraud predictions.

“But when and what will happen if our 60 year old AI brain-child turns on us?”

The lecture will be held on Wednesday, January 31, from 6pm-7pm, in Room 007, Prospect Building, Sir Tom Cowie Campus.

It is free and open to the public, however places must be booked by visiting www.sunderland.ac.uk/more/research/professorial-lecture-series/.

Registration and refreshments will take place at 5.30pm and the lecture will run from 6pm-7pm.

The Professorial Lecture Series 2017/2018 celebrate and share the expertise and achievements of the university’s new and established professors and showcase the breadth and quality of the research being conducted at the university.

Professor Bowerman’s research is centred around the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in Data Science. He leads the research and innovation of AI at the University of Sunderland.

He is currently working on fraud detection and health data analysis, as well as Cybersecurity and AI.

He sits on the steering groups of the North East Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence and the Digital Catapult Centre North East and Tees Valley. He also sits on the NE Regional Analytics Group of the Connected Health Cities initiative, as well as running an IEEE conference for Digital Forensics.