AI CONFERENCE

31.10.24

About the conference

Friends Meeting House, ManchesteR

08:30 Registration | 5pm Evening Social

SPONSORED BY

MTF Naimuri Track Sponsor Logo

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

Louis Georgiou

Founder
Em Code

HOST - Zac Baker

Software Developer
Naiumuri

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.

Louis Georgiou
Founder
Em Code

SESSION OVERVIEW:
Join Louis Georgiou, a seasoned digital industry expert and founder of EM Code, for an enlightening session on harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive breakthrough growth in your business. In this talk, Louis will share his experience and insights on how to strategically embed AI within your operations to unlock new capabilities and achieve significant business growth. This session is designed to provide you with actionable strategies and practical steps, ensuring you can start implementing AI immediately.

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.

Equipping You for Success:
  • 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:

The term Generative AI has only been in the public consciousness since 2022, but it has already become all pervasive in our online lives. As with all technological advances, many people have been quick to attempt to harness the incredible power of Gen AI in incredible, progressive and previously inconceivable ways, while others have tried to use it to further only their own personal ambitions. But a third and arguably more interesting subset of the populace are focussed with a simple mission – to expose and subvert the use of AI wherever possible, by engineering prompts, jailbreaking LLMs and confusing them; often using ludicrous, ingenious and often hilarious alternative instructions. Are these people, trolls, trollhunters or simply anarchists intent on burning the new AI landscape? And what does their endeavours, and the rich history of breaking something just to see what happens, reveal about human ingenuity in general?
 

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!

Lisa Wood

ABOUT

 Head of Marketing and Communications, Naimuri

With extensive experience across tech, health, property, and media sectors, she excels in leading teams to build brands and create communities through content, events, and marketing. Lisa has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the northwest and played a key role in establishing the global identity for MediaCityUK. A strong advocate for flexible and part-time working, Lisa enjoys a four-day workweek herself. She is dedicated to inspiring more women to pursue careers in technology, demonstrating that excelling in tech doesn’t always require being good at maths. Outside of work, Lisa loves spending time with her two young daughters, writing features for Northern Soul, practicing yoga, and hiking. She is also studying for a diploma in mindfulness and life coaching, reflecting her passion for people and wellness. Lisa is an active member of her community, participating in local events and initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. She often speaks at conferences and workshops, sharing her insights on marketing, branding, and the importance of work-life balance.

Ben Rawson

ABOUT

Roke, Graduate Data scientist.

Bens interest in computer science started at age 8 with a programming book he received as a Christmas gift enabling him to code his very first “Hello world”. By 17 this interest in computer science had solidified into a passion for artificial intelligence. Graduating in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the university of Edinburgh during which he spent time spent working at NHS Digital creating data pipelines for Covid-19 research.
Moving into an engineering role at Roke, Ben currently acts as a data scientist and machine learning engineer, tackling difficult problems and aiming to help make the world a better place.

Anna Lackey

ABOUT

Cyber and Networks Engineer at Roke

Anna has been studying Computer Science since the age of 13. By 16, she was thinking about and critiquing traditional practices and began to investigate what Artificial Intelligence had to offer. Through this, she discovered a love of data and philosophy, about the data we collect, and the fundamentals of what it means to be human. After studying AI for four years at the University of Manchester, Anna emerged into the world with a desire to do good with what she had learnt, and found her role as a Graduate Cyber and Networks Engineer at Roke. In this role, she continues to apply her academic experience but also to expand and broaden her knowledge within the ecosystem of the cyber industry.

Sarah Pengelly

ABOUT

Data Scientist at Naimuri

Sarah is a data scientist at Naimuri working largely in computer vision and AI assurance. She joined after graduating from the University of Manchester in physics in 2023 and has since become a keen contributor to the AI capability at Naimuri. She has worked both as a part of teams of data scientists and as a tech lead. As well as contributing to project work, she has taught computer vision within the company and maintains a strong interest in showing non-technical users how AI systems work and can be safely implemented.

Aldan Creo

ABOUT

Technology Research Specialist @ Accenture Labs

Aldan studied CS in Spain, France and Switzerland, graduating as valedictorian. He completed 4 internships and was selected by Django as a Google Summer of Code contributor. He received a grant from the Spanish government to undertake research on Natural Language Processing. He garnered recognition for leadership and academic excellence through several awards. He’s also the founder of 3 associations and contributes to open-source. Currently, he works as Technology Research Specialist in AI at The Dock, Accenture’s flagship R&D and global innovation center.

Dunith Dhanushka

ABOUT

Senior Developer Advocate at Redpanda

Dunith began his career during the early days of Big Data, spending a significant portion of it at WSO2, a middleware company based in Sri Lanka.

Currently, he resides in the UK, working for Redpanda as a Senior Developer Advocate.

Dunith devotes most of his time to helping people develop software systems to handle large volumes of data, teaching them how to use data for decision-making, and simplifying complex data concepts for everyone. His work has established him as a thought leader in the streaming data space.

Apart from his passion for frequent blogging and sketch noting, he’s a regular speaker at data conferences, and otherwise an everyday learner.

Mauricio A. Álvarez

ABOUT

Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester.

Before joining Manchester, Mauricio was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield. He is internationally known for his work on multi-output Gaussian processes and physically-inspired probabilistic modelling. Dr Álvarez is interested in machine learning in general, its interplay with mathematics and statistics and its applications. In particular, his research interests include probabilistic models, kernel methods, and stochastic processes. He develops new probabilistic machine learning models and applies them in several engineering and scientific areas including Neuroscience, Neural Engineering, Systems biology, and Humanoid Robotics. His recent work has also featured new model developments and applications in Healthcare. Dr Álvarez is the Director of a new AI Centre for Doctoral Training on Decision Making for Complex Systems at Manchester. He is Associate Editor for the Transactions on Machine Learning OpenReview journal. He has been area chair for several machine learning conferences, including the Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) conference, the Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI) conference, the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), the AAAI Association conference and the Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (AISTATS) conference. He has been the main organiser of the Gaussian process summer school since 2017.  

Andrew
Morgan

ABOUT

Director of Data at 6point6 | Part of Accenture

Andrew Morgan is the Director of Data at 6point6 | Part of Accenture. He is the author of “Mastering Spark for Data Science”, a text book for learning Scalable Data Science, and has also published several open source tools. With over 25 years of data projects behind him, Andrew now draws on his deeply technical experience to manage and lead high performing data teams.

Rich House

ABOUT

Tech Lead at Counter

Having spent 15 years in the Live Music Industry, travelling across the Globe and working in events varying from tiny pub stages to the London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony, Rich transitioned into Software Development in 2020, and is currently Tech Lead at Counter. In 2022 Rich was part of the AWS GameDay World Championship winning team, which also went on to win several other GameDay competitions including the Global F1 competition in 2023. Rich has presented talks on subjects as diverse as Gamified Learning and Mental Health in Tech, and regularly writes articles on technical concepts and team management techniques. At home Rich plays guitar badly and spends time with his 2 children and his ageing Border Terrier, Dexter.

Zac Baker

ABOUT

Software Engineer | Naimuri
Zac is an integral part of the Data Science department within Naimuri, as well as an experienced full-stack software developer with over 10 years experience in working in Data Science and analytics. Zac is a subject matter expert in Knowledge Graphs, NLP, and other advanced data analytical approaches. Zac also heads up Naimuri‘s efforts in sustainability and academic outreach, and is passionate about volunteering in the local Manchester community as a counsellor and helping run a dogdgeball club