Ex Machina: What happens when Turing meets Bechdel test

Alex Garland’s first feature film as a director, Ex Machina, had its US debut at SxSW on March 14. This stylish idea film explores the Turing Test in a very Pinteresque fashion as a young coder falls in love with an advanced AI. Ex Machina is beautifully framed, but Garland’s stark script succeeds on the …

Avatars and Social User Interfaces

How do we talk to our machines in the 21st century? From typing to swiping, 20th century interfaces translated the world of switches, gears and punch cards into a language that anyone, from the smallest toddler, could speak. In the 21st century, the graphical user interface is gaving way to a social user interface. We …

Robots, humans and the need for science super communicators

 “Take me to your leader.” Complex technologies require multidisciplinary thinkers, who can bridge knowledge silos and convey nuanced science and technology messages effectively. We don’t educate for these qualities nor do we reward them in employment. Where do we turn for policy advice in an emerging area that spans multiple domains?  Where do we find …

Why isn’t my mother a mechanic?

As a child, my mother had her own overalls. She grew up stripping engines and cleaning carburettors. She was the daughter of a mechanic and master builder. Then she became a librarian.As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut. I grew up playing with punch cards and radio telescopes. My father was a physicist …