Understanding the world of AI and robotics at the FAIR

The Festival of AI + Robotics, the FAIR is a two-day event promising to educate, inspire and immerse attendees into the world of artificial intelligence and robotics.

Andra Müller, CEO of Jewelrock, the company behind the FAIR explains that the main aim of the event is to make sense of the technologies today and instill confidence in SMEs and the broader industry in the use and application of AI and robots as tools.

"Technology Anxiety is hampering progress so the idea was to create an event to bring everybody together under one roof and create this energetic, educational, immersive vibe where people can share and exchange knowledge, ideas, suggestions, advice,” she explained.

“Particularly when there is such a common denominator of discussions between so many of the different technologies, whether that be emerging technologies, neurotechnology, metaverse, in AI or in robotics.”

According to Müller, the FAIR will centre around eight themes. Renowned speakers across industry, academia and government have been invited to speak in a common language in discussing the topics of the themes which revolve around AI, robotics, metaverse and neurotechnology, the current issues and imperative considerations of ethical and responsible tech, risk, compliance and legislation and an emphasis on valuable and practical insights for learning and adaptation in this rapidly evolving industry.

The event said Müller will comprise of several interactive and collaborative elements.

“There will be a number of workshops. Fantastic mentors and educators who are going to be able to give hands on solutions, practical advice, problem solving for organisations who want to attend the workshops,” she said.

“Also opportunities for exclusive roundtables for organisations to take this opportunity with everybody and all technologies under one roof to bring together key academics or policy makers, government people, industry people into hosting an executive roundtable to have a very defined topic discussion.”

The FAIR will also feature a technology showcase for organisations to exhibit their products and offerings to those attending.

“[They will] demonstrate their product, their solutions, their innovation, be able to connect with people on the floor to give them advice,” she said.

Another element will be a startup showcase, which Müller said will be relevant to those visiting the FAIR.

“It is important to give startups the opportunity to come into a room like this, where you'll have investors, policymakers, academics, educators and industry,” she said.

Over the two days, attendees will be hosted by Nick Abrahams, storyteller, entertainer, and  global digital leader, and hear from prominent voices in AI and robotics including:

• Sarah Carney, CTO, Microsoft ANZ
• Dr Ian Oppermann, Chief Data Scientist, NSW Government
• Professor Sarath Kodagoda, Director, UTS Robotics Institute
• Katrina Troughton, MD and Vice President, Adobe ANZ
• Cori Stewart, CEO ARM Hub
• Professor Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist, UNSW AI Institute

Müller said the FAIR encourages collaboration.

“It's all about networking and the collaboration so that when everybody leaves the FAIR everyone has learned something, they've gained more knowledge and they've had more confidence instilled in their ability to move forward,” she ended.

The FAIR will be held on March 18 to 19 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

A significant White Paper will be produced from the collaborative discussions at the FAIR by the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, highlighting the pivotal challenges and prospects within the realms of AI and Robotics with input from ATSE’s senior Fellows who are Australia's leaders in technology, engineering, and applied science.

See you at the FAIR!

For more information head to click here.