Theme: The Great Unknown

TEDx events feature diverse talks from speakers of varying backgrounds, occupations and fields, all united by one thing: an idea worth spreading.

Innovation propels us – seemingly at ever-greater speeds – into the future. It’s difficult to fathom how radically technology has changed everyday life in the last few decades. The rapid advancements in and increasing power and popularity of ‘intelligent’ systems appear to be speeding us toward another major global shift.

Very few of us fully understand how our systems work, and whether anyone has real control over them is debatable. Determining and applying digital ethics has been challenging enough, and now that systems could in some ways gain the capacity to ‘think’, conversations around everything from property to security, learning, and even the human essence have become substantially more fraught.

We need to address the great unknown surrounding innovation to ensure we build trustworthy and reliable systems which make the world a better place to live for everyone. At TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh in 2023, we’re going to demystify the future impact of some of the great unknowns on society. So often we scramble to keep up with how changing systems impact our lives. How can we use innovation to explore the great unknown whilst deliberately considering its place in our futures?

Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre
32 George Square
Edinburgh, Edinburgh, City of, EH8 9LH
United Kingdom

Elizabeth Polgreen

University of Edinburgh Lecturer in Informatics + Royal Academy of Engineering research fellow

Dr. Elizabeth Polgreen is a lecturer in Informatics at the University of Edinburgh and a Royal Academy of Engineering research fellow. Her research focuses on automatically proving code is correct (verification) and synthesizing correct code (program synthesis). Despite, or perhaps because of, this expertise she still does not trust computers.

Gill McKay

Sobriety Coach

Gill McKay runs Inquisitive Coaching helping professional, mid-life women to break free from the hold of alcohol and start living a life on their own terms – a life they don’t want to escape from. With a background in neuroscience, Gill is also a mental health first aider and best-selling author of 'STUCK: Brain Smart Insights for Coaches'.

Jonathan Feldstein

Waste solutions start-up founder + robotics researcher

Jonathan Feldstein is the founder of Bennu.ai an Edinburgh based start-up developing smart waste solutions using AI & robotics. In parallel, Jonathan is finishing a PhD in AI at the University of Edinburgh. He has studied and done research at ETH Zürich and Caltech, where his focus was on quantum transistors before pivoting to robotics.

Leonardo Castorina

Biomedical AI Researcher

Leonardo Castorina is a PhD student in Biomedical AI at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in AI-driven protein design and immune system research. With a biochemistry background and experience at IBM, NEC, and Microsoft, he's deeply passionate about how technology can enhance our understanding of life.

Simon Kirby

Professor of Language Evolution + artist

Simon Kirby is a Professor of Language Evolution at the University of Edinburgh and elected Fellow of the British Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Cognitive Science Society, and a member of the Academy of Europe. He works in parallel on scientific and artistic investigations of cultural evolution and the origins of human uniqueness, particularly the evolution of language. He founded the Centre for Language Evolution, which has pioneered techniques for growing languages in the experiment lab and exploring language evolution using computer simulations.

Tiffany Ma

Oncologist + Start-up founder

Tiffany is an American-born Hong Konger who finished her PhD and postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Oxford in Molecular Cancer Biology. She co-founded GambitBio, an early stage start-up where she and her co-founders are creating a novel at-home self-test kit for early cancer detection.