7 - 16 July, 2023
2023 Uncharted Territory
Platform for the courageous
Across 10 days, artists, entrepreneurs and researchers will intersect to push the boundaries of what is possible.
From 7 to 16 July you’ll discover new, uncharted territories in innovation, art and science.
The festival will showcase some of Canberra’s most formidable minds and talents, share what is unique about Canberra, and tell the story of our contributions to national and international discourse.
12 - 14 July, 2023
Maria Reay Teaching Centre, Kambri ANU
Canberra is a place of immense possibility, with a creative community passionate about the future. It has a reputation as the ‘serious’ heart of government, but in fact, Canberrans love to play. In this fourth Play Symposium, we explore the power of play to engage with our worlds in new ways and to transform places and communities.
The University of Canberra’s Associate Professor Cathy Hope brings together an exciting mix of urban designers, place-makers, artists, thinkers and community leaders – including globally-acclaimed NZ placemaking team Gap Filler – to playfully disrupt your thinking and practice.
The Symposium will also explore compelling creative tools – across the real and digital worlds – to contribute to Canberra’s city’s vibrancy and wellbeing as we participate in the capital’s ‘laboratory of the possible’.
Kate Finnerty
Ryan Reynolds
A Conversation with a Robot
Grab this chance for a chat with Pepper – the most advanced Artificial Intelligence-driven retail robot in the world.
It’s the Softbanks Pepper robot’s first time out at a public event in Canberra, and you’ll be able to explore the fascinating world of AI with thought-provoking questions and discussions, while experiencing the limitless potential of human-robot interaction.
All ages will be able to converse with Pepper, but above-18s will also have a chance to be part of a larger study to drive better understanding of the interaction between humans and robots – your insights will help shape the future of AI tech itself!
6.30pm
Friday 7 July, 2023
Kambri Cultural Centre, ANU
A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, and lays down some cash.
Bartender says, "Hey, we don't serve robots."
And the robot says, "Oh, but someday you will."
Cue (very) slight snigger… and whole lot of apprehension. Because we love our robot vacuums, but maybe still harbour a faint niggling suspicion that they’re one cleaning cycle away from evolving into Skynet and taking over.
Enter “Will robots…” into Google, and the top search is “…take my job” (followed by “…take over the world”, “…replace humans”, “…rule the world in future” – you get the picture).
Then there’s the flip side: sometimes we’re so busy gawking at the dancing humanoid robots that we forget the first industrial robots were actually created in the 1950s, and robotics itself is far from a new or alien concept.
The irony is, most conversations around robotics are strongly coloured by emotion – can we balance this with fact-driven rationality and reassurance?
The fact is that robotics, AI and technology in general will evolve and drive forward no matter what – if we don’t get informed, involved, and empowered, we lose the chance to influence this evolution.
Join our panel discussion, moderated by Adam Shirley of ABC’s Canberra Breakfast radio program.
Nicci Rossouw
Dr Damith Herath
Stelarc
Dr Bruce Baer Arnold
