Conference on World Affairs brings top speakers on AI, autonomy 

Engineering students and faculty can hear from experts in the field of autonomy and artificial intelligence during the annual Conference on World Affairs April 9-13 on the CU Boulder campus.

The CWA is a premier forum for discussion of world affairs, attracting a diverse group of experts and engaging panelists from around the world. Sessions are free, don’t require registration and are held in a variety of locations across campus. A full schedule of speakers and topics can be found on the conference website.

Here are five sessions that may be of interest to those in the College of Engineering and Applied Science:

Wednesday, April 10

• “Nobody Is Driving Miss Daisy,” 9 – 10 a.m., Koelbel Business School, 210. Panelists include M. Waleed Kadous, the principal engineer in the Office of the CTO at Uber and Jon Haveman, widely considered to be one of California’s leading experts on the economics of seaports, goods movement and international trade policy. 
• “The Effects of Artificial Intelligence of Business and Labor,” Noon – 1:10 p.m., UMC Center Ballroom. Panelists include Berit Anderson, the CEO and editor-in-chief of Scout.ai, a media company exploring the future of technology and David Seuss, the CEO of Northern Light. Northern Light is a provider of knowledge management systems pioneering the automated analysis and discovery of meaning from large research-document repositories using machine learning–based artificial intelligence.
• “Today’s Arsenal of War,” 3 – 4 p.m., UMC 235. The subtitle for this program is: “Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber, Elections, Space: The War of Tomorrow is Happening Now.” Panelists include Margo Squire, a career diplomat for 30 years with the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. Department of State, and Bob Dreyfuss, an independent investigative journalist for Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, The American Prospect and The New Republic.

Friday, April 12

• “Artificial Intelligence and Our Society,” Noon – 1:10 p.m., UMC East Ballroom. The subtitle for this program is: “Where Will AI Extend Beyond Hype Into Positive Societal Disruption?” Panelists include Alexander Bard, a philosopher and futurologist based in Stockholm, Sweden, who is the author of five books.
• “Past the Turing Test: The Future of AI,” 1:30 – 2:40 p.m. Hale 270. Panelists include William Hertling, the author of the award-winning “Singularity Series” — near-term science-fiction novels about the emergence of artificial intelligence and related near-future issues.