Presenting, Events and Educating

I get dragged out on occasion to speak with passion and energy about a pretty broad spectrum of topics relating to technology, innovation, the internet, creativity and everything in between. I’m comfortable in front of a crowd and always keen to go through the process of researching, curating and delivering content to inspire people. I had the (mis)fortune of spending a chunk of my school years at private boarding schools in England, before jumping back into state school midway through my education. I’m told this lends me a clear, authoritative, eloquent style, without sounding too much like a posh twat.

In recent years I have spoken on AI ethics and empathy at the Berlin Technical University, Pratt Institute (New York), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), Rightscon (human rights conference – Tunisia, Costa Rica), BelTech (N. Ireland), and I have run various Innovation & Product workshops from N. Ireland to Malawi.

The video above is from the opening panel of CPDP 2020, the international conference on Computers, Privacy and Data Protection, where we discussed the ethics of empathic AI, with a particular focus on smart toys for children.

And here is a 45-min introductory lecture on AI Ethics, which I gave to Technische Universität Berlin.

While the video below shows my participation in a fascinating discussion about Empathy in Artificial Intelligence, for the Amplifying Her Voice Father’s Day “Stronger Together” Summit, by The State of Women in 2021.

Above: sharing the story of my brush with the Big C – Did You Hear the One About the Time I Got Bum Cancer? – in front of 700-odd innovators and business leaders, to raise charity donations at the annual INVENT awards.

And pictured below is a talk I gave at Create 2015 in Derry, Northern Ireland. I had the privilege of opening the stage, speaking to a crowd of 16-18 year-olds about the maker revolution and how creativity and curiosity are great survival skills in a time where change is the only constant. Here’s the accompanying blog post. The previous year, at the inaugural Create, I was asked to host a panel of young entrepreneurs, which was a humbling thrill.