The Ingenuity Labs Research Institute, the collaborative research initiative at Queen’s University focused on creating intelligent systems and robotic machines, will host its first annual Robotics and AI Symposium this fall.
The one-day event, hosted by tech reporter and innovation speaker Amber Mac, will feature a keynote by Sweden’s Prof. Amy Loutfi, and take place virtually on the gather.town platform October 12, 2021.
“I’m excited to see Ingenuity Labs hosting this important and timely event,” says Joshua Marshall, Director at Ingenuity Labs. “There are few topics as pertinent to our present and future as the development and impact of robots and AI. We’ll be exploring a range of questions in one short and intensive day, and I’m grateful to Amber Mac, Prof. Amy Loutfi, and the academic experts, brilliant students, and community members, near and far, who will engage in this discussion.”
Agenda and link to register here: ingenuitylabs.queensu.ca/symposium2021
The event will host two debates on human interaction with intelligent systems, both with an overarching theme of ‘trust in robotics and automation.’ A robotics debate will explore whether we will ever be ready to leave the care of our loved ones to an intelligent robot. The AI debate will question whether AI systems will be able to demonstrate transparency through explaining their decisions to us, same as human being would.
Debaters will be a mix of Ingenuity Labs members and external guests from international academic institutions.
The symposium will also feature a Thesis Showcase competition open to any Queen’s graduate student. Kingston community leaders will judge the competition; area high school student robotics and coding groups will also be invited to be guest judges and vote for a winner online.
Ingenuity Labs brings together researchers from across the Queen’s campus to foster innovative research, education, collaborations and partnerships with industry, communities, and the world around three main themes: Smart Environments and Infrastructure; Human Sensing and Assistive Devices, and Intelligent Mobile Systems.
“Queen’s Engineering continues to be one of Canada’s hubs of advanced thinking in AI and robotics, with Ingenuity Labs leading that charge,” says Kevin Deluzio, Dean of Queen’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. “I’m looking forward to seeing an international group of collaborators in this space discuss and debate these important issues this October, and the innovations that will come out of this first-in-Canada event.”
