Rule of the Robots: A Conversation with Martin Ford

A discussion with Rule of the Robots author Martin Ford, who argues that the true AI revolution is yet to come.

Loading Events

« All Events

Virtual Event Virtual Event
  • This event has passed.

Rule of the Robots: A Conversation with Martin Ford

Virtual Event Virtual Event

3rd April 2023 6:00 PM 7:00 PM BST

AI is impossible to avoid online. If you have a smartphone, you have AI in your pocket. And it has already changed everything from how doctors diagnose disease to how you interact with friends or read the news. But in Rule of the Robots, Martin Ford argues that the true revolution is yet to come.

In this sequel to his prescient New York Times bestseller Rise of the Robots, Ford presents us with a striking vision of the very near future. He argues that AI is a uniquely powerful technology that is altering every dimension of human life, often for the better. For example, advanced science is being done by machines, solving devilish problems in molecular biology that humans could not, and AI can help us fight climate change or the next pandemic. It also has a capacity for profound harm. Deep fakes – AI-generated audio or video of events that never happened – are poised to cause havoc throughout society. AI empowers authoritarian regimes like China with unprecedented mechanisms for social control. And AI can be deeply biased, learning bigoted attitudes from us and perpetuating them.

In short, this is not a technology to simply embrace, or let others worry about. The machines are coming, and each of us needs to know what that means if we are to thrive in the twenty-first century. Rule of the Robots is the essential guide to all of it: both AI and the future of our economy, our politics, our lives.

Speaker Biography

Martin Ford is a futurist and the author of four books: Rule of the Robots, Rise of the Robots, winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015, Architects of Intelligence, and The Lights in the Tunnel. He is also the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm.

Watch recordings

Power trip event season event flyer

POWER TRIP

Our Autumn 2023 programme of events explored leadership in all its forms – from the seats of power to the front lines of activist movements and even in our own workplaces.

Watch recordings
Love Machine event season digital flyer

Love machine

Our Spring 2023 programme of events explored the interconnections of AI and data with humanity through conversations, performances, and workshops.

Watch recordings
First Breath Autumn Event Season brand leader. Image of dandelion and umbrellas on orange background. Text reads: 'First Breath: Autumn Event Season'. Includes Edinburgh Futures Institute logo.

First Breath

Our Autumn 2022 programme featured more than 20 events exploring crisis, migration, displacement and equality coalescing around the theme of Climate Justice.

Watch recordings

"The production and intellectual content of your recent events has been fantastic! Thank you for the opportunity to attend and learn. This is probably the best event I have been to all year."

Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023

"Really, really impressed with Futures Institute events. Properly impressive speakers, and seamless technical management. Thank you for keeping them hybrid/online – it's a really nice way to keep in touch!"

Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023

"Amazing! I hope that Utopia Lab can ring in every event season, the dream space that you curate and allow to flourish is an important and novel lens that Edinburgh Futures Institute offers partners, students, staff, researchers and anyone with an interest in collaborative thinking and doing."

Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023

Our public events seasons are co-created with people from across the University of Edinburgh. If you'd like to contribute ideas for the programme please contact the events team.

Call for proposals

Meet the events team

Headshot of Alice Carr

Alice Carr

Events Co-ordinator
Headshot of Fraser Pringle

Fraser Pringle

Project & Events Administrator
Headshot of Ioannis Kalkounos

Ioannis Kalkounos

Programme Manager
Lewis Williams

Lewis Williams

Events Technician

Join us to challenge, create, and make change happen.

#ChallengeCreateChange