We're pleased to co-host this Cambridge Festival event with ai@cam
What does AI mean for our identity?
As part of the Cambridge Festival 2025, Prof Diane Coyle, Co-Director of the Bennett Institute will chair a conversation with Prof Neil Lawrence, DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge. Their discussion will delve into Neil’s book The Atomic Human, exploring how and why our fears of being displaced by AI might be misplaced. By contrasting our evolved, embodied intelligence with the technical origins and limitations of AI systems, Neil will explain how AI can and should be wielded, not just by experts but by ordinary people.
A book signing will follow.
About our speakers
Prof Neil Lawrence is the inaugural DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge where he leads the University’s flagship mission on AI, ai@cam. He has been working on machine learning models for over 25 years. He returned to academia in 2019 after three years as Director of Machine Learning at Amazon. His main interest is the interaction of machine learning with the real world. This interest was triggered by deploying machine learning in Africa, where ‘end-to-end’ solutions are normally required. This has inspired new research at the interface of machine learning and systems research, funded by a Senior AI Fellowship from the Alan Turing Institute. Neil is a visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and the co-host of the Talking Machines podcast.
Dame Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She co-directs the Bennett Institute for Public Policy where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity. Diane’s new book (April 2025) is The Measure of Progress: Counting what really matters. Her research focuses on productivity, the digital economy and digital policy, and economic measurement. She has been writing about the effects of digital technologies since her first book, The Weightless World, published in 1997. The underlying motivation for all her work is the question: what does it mean for the economy to improve, and who benefits? Diane is also a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Council, New Towns Taskforce, and advises the Competition and Markets Authority. She was awarded a DBE in 2023 for her contribution to economics and public policy.