Parte din rețeaua EUt+ (European University of Technology Alliance), UTCN invită studenții, doctoranzii, cercetătorii și cadrele didactice interesate de subiectele propuse să participe la webinarele pachetului de lucru T2.2 – Digital Transformation (prof. Silivan Moldovan):
On Tuesday, November 10th, 12:00 WET (Dublin), 13:00 CET (Berlin), 14:00 EET (Bucharest), Dr. SJ Beard, Research Manager at the Safe AI Forum and Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Technology and Humanity, will join the EUt+ and friends to deliver a webinar on the topic “Building Existential Hope in a Time of Perils”.
This webinar will be of interest to staff, students, and academics interested in AI, and AI Safety.
In order to join the webinar, you must first register here. After you do, a joining link (Zoom) will be sent to you nearer the date of the webinar, probably the morning of the webinar.
Speaker: Dr. SJ Beard
Title: “Building Existential Hope in a Time of Perils”.
Date and Time: 12:00 WET (Dublin), 13:00 CET (Berlin), 14:00 EET (Bucharest)
Registration Link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/VD68dTCcKa
Abstract: Carl Sagan once argued that “It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous and, at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history.” Yet fate is not what governs either the reality of our existential anxiety and risk or the possibility of a way out, of existential hope. Humanity’s technological dream of a utopian future and our nightmares about extinction and collapse were born together in the 18th century, and have worked hand in hand to shape a contemporary narrative in which technologies like AI can only either destroy humanity or make our dreams come true. The reality is unlikely to be anywhere near so clear cut. AI certainly poses many risks; however, the path to avoiding them is not to run headlong towards an imagined utopia, but to accept and work with the messy reality of human existence, with all it’s joys and imperfections. This talk will trace the history of techno-utopian and dystopian worldviews and how they have shaped contemporary views about existential risk, before exploring other options for thinking about and addressing it.
Speaker Bio: Dr. SJ Beard is a philosopher and existential risk researcher based in Cambridge. Their work engages with large scale global transformations being driven by AI, climate change, societal transitions, and environmental breakdown, and building existential hope in the possibility of safe, joyous, and inclusive futures for human beings on planet earth. As well as academic research in philosophy, futures studies, and existential risk studies, they have a strong portfolio of work across policy and media engagement, including establishing an All Party Parliamentary Group for Future Generations and making programmes for the BBC. They are currently a Research Manager at the Safe AI Forum and an Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Technology and Humanity. Their latest book, Existential Hope, was published by Polity in 2025.
More about UTCN in EUt+: https://utcluj.ro/international/european-university-of-technology-eutplus
Responsabil din partea UTCN: Silivan Moldovan, Assoc. Prof. dr. arch.
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