STFC Astronomy and Artificial Intelligence Online Event

Context

As part of the Epistemic Insight Initiative of the LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) research and outreach centre, an STFC Astronomy and Artificial Intelligence summer school with public engagement was held in July 2024. As part of this, an additional free Astronomy and AI Online Event day was held the week before on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 to provide panel discussions and example use cases of AI in astronomy, organised by Prof Berry Billingsley and Dr James Pearson. This event hosted two talks by Prof Berry Billingsley and Dr Marc Sarzi, as well as panels of astronomy PhD students and researchers with experience in using AI and deep learning, to discuss the broader questions about AI. The panellists for the event were Ingo Waldmann (University College London), Xinyue Sheng (Queen’s University Belfast), Benjamin Joachimi (University College London), Josh Wilde (The Open University), Weiguang Cui (University of Edinburgh), and Kevin Walsh (Westminster School). The event aimed to reach a wider diversity of students than the summer school: while STFC-funded and self-funded students took priority, any astronomy PhD students could register, as well as final year undergraduate & master's students in physics and computer science.

09.15-10.15 Talk – An Introduction to Astronomy and AI by Dr Marc Sarzi, with Welcome by Prof Berry Billingsley
10.15-10.30 Break
10.30-12.00 Panel Discussion I – What is the Future of Astronomy with AI?
12.00-13.00 Lunch Break
13.00-14.00 Talk – Big Questions about Generative AI by Prof Berry Billingsley
14.00-15.30 Panel Discussion II – What Relevance can Generative AI have within Astronomy?

Here, we provide the slides and recordings of the talks and panel discussions, as well as a short hightlight video covering some of the event and case studies.

Alongside this event, a number of recorded case studies were released showcasing how researchers in astronomy are using AI and deep learning in their own work, which can be found here: https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12594632

Production Coordinator: Dr James Pearson (The Open University)
Video Editors: Chris Duncan (Spark Film Production) and Dr James Pearson (The Open University)
Principal Investigator: Prof Berry Billingsley (Epistemic Insight Initiative)

Recordings

Highlight Video - [In Progress]. Edited by Chris Duncan (Spark Film Production) with input from Dr James Pearson.

Talk 1 - An Introduction to Astronomy and Artifical Intelligence, by Dr Marc Sarzi, with Welcome by Prof Berry Billingsley. Edited by Dr James Pearson.

Talk 2 - Big Questions about Generative AI, by Prof Berry Billingsley. Edited by Dr James Pearson.

Panel Discussions and Panellists: