About the conference
Friends Meeting House, ManchesteR
08:30 Registration | 5pm Evening Social
SPONSORED BY
With AI not only being the topic of many discussions and debates, but now becoming integrated in many organisations across the tech space, we thought it was about time we held our very first AI conference.
Our AI conference is specifically designed to offer a deep dive into the artificial intelligence landscape. We’ll be taking a look at the recent advancements of AI, the genuine use cases of AI versus AI as a marketing tool, AI ethics and governance, among many more divisive and thought-provoking AI sub-topics. This conference is ideal for anyone with a passion for AI, those looking to implement AI within their business, and those looking to learn more about the exciting advancements within the field.
What to expect
Our AI day will feature detailed talks and panels, designed to enhance your knowledge, encourage discussion, and help us all learn how we can use AI for both business progression and social change.
Throughout the day, our main stage will cover the most pressing topics in AI. Shortlisted by over 20 professionals working in the Manchester tech space, our talks cover what matters most to our community and have been chosen for their originality.
Alongside our Main Stage our breakout room will be delving deeper into the more granular topics such as governance and ethics, giving you the opportunity to get into the details of how AI impacts your business.
Throughout the day you will have the opportunity to forge connections with the Manchester Tech Community. From our breakout areas and tech showcase to our evening social – you can connect with members from every corner of the industry.
SPEAKERS
Check out our lineup of speakers by clicking their images below! We will be continuing to announce speakers over the next few weeks, so sign up to our newsletter to be the first in the know!
HOST - Lisa Wood
Software Developer
Naiumuri
Ben Rawson
Graduate Data Scientist
Roke
Anna Lackey
Cyber and Networks Engineer
Roke
Sarah Pengelly
Data Scientist
Naimuri
Aldan Creo
Technology Research Specialist
Accenture Labs
Dunith Dhanushka
Senior Developer Advocate
Redpanda
Mauricio A. Álvarez
Machine Learning Snr Lecturer
The University of Manchester
Andrew Morgan
Director of Data
6point6 | Part of Accenture
Rich House
Tech Lead
Counter
AGENDA
Woah! We’re still busy pulling together this year’s agenda, so check out the talks below and sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear when new talks go live!
Dunith Dhanushka
Senior Developer Advocate
Redpanda
SESSION OVERVIEW: When I was a child, I had an uncle who was blind. Every day after returning from school, I would describe the sunset to him.
What if, with the help of Generative AI and computer vision technologies, I could make this a reality for many people like him today? In this talk, I’ll share a hobby project I’ve developed to narrate the world in real-time.
The “Be My Eyes” project leverages AI to extend the scope of experience for blind or visually impaired people, utilizing OpenAI’s advanced object detection and computer vision models.
The magic unfolds through a simple yet powerful set-up: a video camera that continuously records the user’s surroundings. These real-time recordings are then fed into an AI model trained to analyze and interpret the visual content of the video.
In a remarkable feat of technological integration, “Be My Eyes” converts the AI model’s textual narration of the scene into an audio description via a text-to-speech model.
Anna Lackey
Cyber and Networks Engineer
Roke
Ben Rawson
Graduate Data Scientist
Roke
SESSION OVERVIEW: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions can often be considered as silver bullet solutions by business owners. But as the technology matures, so does the sophistication of potential cyber-attacks against them.
Here we explore how the introduction of Machine Learning models can create new attack vectors that companies may not be aware of- leaving them vulnerable to adversaries. We investigate different kinds of machine learning models, and explore some of the attacks they are vulnerable to.
In this talk we will discuss:
– Techniques causing incorrect classification of computer vision models.
– Methods to manipulate sentiment analysis or translation outputs.
– Poising a model to learn incorrect or hidden patterns.
– How adversaries could recover potentially private data from models.
– Methods for defending against these attacks. From robust training techniques to enhance model resilience, to regularization methods, anomaly detection and encryption
Aldan Creo
Technology Research Specialist
Accenture Labs
SESSION OVERVIEW: Knowledge Graphs (KGs) are data structures that can capture complex relationships between concepts in a very flexible way. They excel at harmonizing huge amounts of heterogeneous data, and we can train AI models to generate embeddings of its nodes and vertices. These embeddings can be used to infer knowledge from the graph. For example, if we have the Facebook graph, we can train a model and ask “What’s the probability that I’m friends with this person?”.
Are you ready to dive into the world of AI and Knowledge Graphs? We’ll learn the technical side of these algorithms, their real-world applications, and how to overcome their limitations. We’ll also explore current lines of research to combine them with LLMs. Join us to learn about the future of AI and how you can use it to your advantage!
Sarah Pengelly
Data Scientist
Naimuri
SESSION OVERVIEW: How important is it for your classification model to tell you when its predictions are wrong?
Calibration is a measure of how well the confidence scores produced by a model match its accuracy (a well calibrated model gives high confidence scores to correct predictions and low confidence scores to incorrect predictions, a badly calibrated model does the opposite). This talk gives a detailed look into this often forgotten metric and investigates when you should (and shouldn’t) care about it.
We will cover a range of different methods that can be used to improve model calibration, their pros and cons, and how to implement them. For anyone interested in ways to measure model performance that go beyond accuracy, this talk will offer insight into all the different ways confidence scores can matter and what you can do to make them better.
Em Code
SESSION OVERVIEW:
We’ll Cover:
- Understanding AI Integration: Grasp the fundamentals of AI and its potential impact on your business.
- Identifying Business Needs and Goals: Learn how to align AI initiatives with your specific business objectives.
- Exploring Proven Processes for Embedding AI: Discover tried-and-tested methods for integrating AI into your operations.
- Key Considerations in Implementation: Understand the critical factors to consider for a successful AI deployment.
- Practical Steps to Integration: Get step-by-step guidance on embedding AI within your organisation.
-
Q&A Session: Engage directly with Louis for personalised advice tailored to your business.
- Toolkit for AI Integration: Identify opportunities to integrate AI into your business needs.
- Critical Questions for Decision-Makers: Learn 5 essential questions to secure buy-in from key stakeholders.
- Blueprint for Success: Receive a clear blueprint on successfully embedding AI, with critical success factors.
- Live Q&A: Interact with Louis and get personalised advice tailored to your business needs.
Andrew Morgan
Director of Data
6point6 | Part of Accenture
SESSION OVERVIEW: We’ll demonstrate how graph-based Retrieval-Augmented Generation (Graph-RAG) can be used to unlock the potential of knowledge graphs in AI-powered chat, discovery and ad-hoc reporting. We showcase our text-to-cypher solution with two use cases on open data – including a chat with the UK’s electricity substation graph, showing how Graph-RAG can facilitate efficient and accurate information retrieval for complex networks of connected data. While a technical talk, we will explain why organisations need Graph-RAG and review the problems it solves for our customers, and then dive into a demo and the engineering. Join us to see how graph-based RAG can unlock new possibilities for AI-powered decision making.
Mauricio A. Álvarez
Machine Learning Snr Lecturer
The University of Manchester
SESSION OVERVIEW:Discover the transformative power of AI at the forefront of innovation! Join us at the AI Track Day during MTF, where Naimuri presents an exclusive panel of top-tier AI experts.
Uncover the thrilling possibilities and potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence. Our esteemed panel will delve into the critical discussions on how AI can revolutionise our lives for the better, ensuring a healthier and safer future, while also addressing the significant risks and challenges that come with it.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to gain valuable insights and stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of AI
Rich House
Tech Lead
Counter
SESSION OVERVIEW:
Purchase your pass
Tickets for our AI conference are £36 each and include admission to the day conference at Friends Meeting House and the after party. Ticket price also includes refreshments & lunch.
AFTER PARTY
DiSH MCR, Heron House, 47 Lloyd St, Manchester M2 5LE
Following the conference, we will be hosting our inclusive and accessible after party at DiSH MCR, giving you the opportunity to network and forge connections in the community.
During the evening we will have music, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and somewhere comfy to sit. There will be positive networking opportunities and the chance to grab a bite to eat from Caribbean Kitchen, a local family owned caterer (a fan favourite at our events!)
Take to the MTF Stage
At MTF we are proud of the incredible community we are part of, that’s why at the end of every conference we welcome members of the community to take to the stage and have their say for 99 seconds!
It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned speaker or new to the tech scene we want to hear from you! In fact, some of Manchester’s most experienced speakers started with a quick 99 second pitch!
We welcome sign up’s on the day, so make sure you grab a member of the team if you want to take to the stage!