Computer Science in Action Trip Features Discussions on AI and Coding

Computer Science A level student Alfie shares his experiences of a day which featured information discussions, interactive sessions and experienced speakers.

"On Wednesday 27^th November, Computer Science students travelled up to London for a talk series in the Emmanuel Centre, held by ‘Education in Action’. We were very warmly hosted by Matthew Leeke, a professor at the University of Birmingham, who would later give a talk on the common misconceptions within the CS field.

Overall, I found the day to be very insightful; highlights included Dr Emma Byrne’s exploration of the underlying and current ethical and cultural challenges involved in large language models (i.e. general-purpose artificial intelligence), Paul Curzon’s discussion on how to minimise human error through smarter software user interface design (both physical and logical), and Amber Shard’s journey into the tech industry through a non-traditional path.

Further to this, Kate Devlin spoke on AI’s impact on society as a whole, from dismissing the fears surrounding it to how it can be used as a therapy and tool for social development, whereas Matthew Leeke’s clarification on preconception and false beliefs in the industry (e.g. “all computers are modern and electrical”, “systems design may be a dying industry”, and “computers are composed solely of logic gates”) shed new light on the evolution of computing concepts which are often overlooked.

All in all, this experience was incredibly interesting and enjoyable, and I would love to attend more events like this in the future!"

Alfie, Year 13