AI: The Human Interface
Toby Walsh and Rob Brooks in conversation
Moderated by Rae Johnston
10 September 2023
In the Playhouse
Talks & Ideas
In a year when everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, we need to talk about the human kind. Join AI expert Toby Walsh and evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks as they tackle the fundamental questions we should be asking amid the advent of superintelligent machines.
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Date |
Time |
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Sunday 10 September |
3pm |
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Ticket |
Price |
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Standard |
$29 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
The authorised agencies for this event are Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
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In English
Wheelchair accessible
Audio loop available
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
This talk runs for approx. 90 minutes.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
16+ recommended.
Recommended for mature audiences only. Contains adult themes.
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Also on this page
Seating map
Suddenly this year, AI is everywhere...
Whatever is happening behind closed doors with the development of generative artificial intelligence - essentially machines that can teach themselves how to think - it was enough to spook some of our top scientists and developers of AI to issue a dire warning. We were on the road to doom, with some predicting species extinction.
Some called these warnings overblown. AI is the new Y2K, they charged, creating a panic that would inevitably under-deliver on catastrophe.
Still others charged that the technology development was accelerating and we were approaching the “singularity” (that moment when machines far surpass the capabilities of human beings).
Debate rages around this question. Will machines develop a “superintelligence” that begins to look and feel like what we experience as consciousness? And if they do, what does that mean for what we think being human is in the first place?
In a year when everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, we need to talk about the human kind. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be conscious of your existence, your thoughts, your dreams? As machines develop, what might be left that is uniquely human? Our pursuit of pleasure and its rewards? Our ability to love?
Whether robots take over or not, it might be that their rapid rise and development help us to answer these fundamental questions for the first time.
Sydney Opera House presents
Speakers
Toby Walsh is one of the world's leading researchers in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and leads a research group at Data61, Australia's Centre of Excellence for ICT Research. He has been elected a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI for contributions to AI research, and has won the prestigious Humboldt research award. Hailed as a “rock star” of Australia’s digital revolution, Walsh is the author of the forthcoming book, Faking It: Artificial Intelligence in a Human World, and three previous books about AI.
Rob Brooks is an international expert on the conflicting evolutionary interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complex. He has won Australia's most prestigious award for science communication, the Eureka Prize, and is the author of Artificial Intimacy: Virtual friends, digital lovers and algorithmic matchmakers (2021), and Sex, Genes and Rock 'n' Roll: How evolution has shaped the modern world (2011), which won the Queensland Literary Award for Science Writing. He is Scientia Professor of Evolution at UNSW, Sydney, where he founded and directed the Evolution and Ecology Research Centre.
Rae Johnston is a multi-award-winning journalist, TV, and radio presenter focusing on the geekier side of life.
The first Science & Technology Editor for NITV at SBS, Rae is also a producer and host of the top-rated technology podcast, Queens of the Drone Age.
A leading commentator on all things science, technology, business and pop culture, Rae has worked with every major television and radio network in Australia at some stage of her decade-long career. Today, you will most likely catch her hosting documentaries or travel shows, presenting science and technology segments or reading the news with SBS, NITV, ABC and Network Ten.
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see their website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six min walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene. Please stay home if you feel unwell and read more about our flexible ticket options.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues. Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside are also available for you to enjoy.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
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