Festival of Science

Trieste is gearing up for its annual festival of science, TriesteNext, and ICTP will participate with an exhibit, interactive activities, panel discussions and outreach to local schools. 

From Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September, ICTP research, along with that of other local science institutes, will be on display in Trieste's Piazza Unità, which will be transformed into a showcase of the city's technology and innovation for the TriesteNext science festival. The ICTP exhibit space, shared with SISSA, will be open all three days, with a programme of activities for schools as well as hands-on activities for people of all ages. 

The theme of this year's TriesteNext is "A New World: Science, Culture and Innovation for a Sustainable Future". The festival will feature 40 temporary exhibits and labs, nearly 100 events and 300 speakers, and 3 thematic sessions focussing on biotechnologies, artificial intelligence and robotics and medical sciences. Many events will be held in English. Most activities will be taking place in Piazza Unità and the surrounding areas.  

The full programme of activities is available online at www.triestenext.it.

Participation is free; please remember to register online for the conferences and workshops you wish to attend. Most events will be soon sold out.

ICTP Panel Discussion on Saturday

On Saturday 23 September at 15:00, a panel discussion organised by ICTP will take place. Titled "I Lost My Job to an AI Chatbot", the discussion will consider Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered technologies and the efficiencies they introduce into the workplace. Do the sophisticated capabilities of AI to mimic human communication and thinking make it an impossible competitor in the job market? What effect will AI have on the future workforce? The panel will investigate the impact of AI on our jobs, and the ethical aspects of replacing humans with AI-powered bots. Will this make the world a better or a more dystopic place? (moderated by Marco Zennaro of ICTP's Science, Technology and Innovation unit; see https://www.triestenext.it/tc-events/i-lost-my-job-to-an-ai-chatbot/ for full details).