Events

Fixing education for the AI age

Hosted by the Data Science Institute and Department of Mathematics

In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)

Speaker

Conrad Wolfram

Chair

Professor Emma McCoy

The recent prominence of AI has exposed major deficiencies in education. Not only how much improvement can be made in the pedagogical process with modern technology, but also how the subject-matter has diverged from what's needed in the real world.

Maths education has been at the epicentre of this mismatch: required of all, seen as central to the future, yet without reformation for the technology revolution that has elevated it to such importance in society. Conrad Wolfram will explain what the problem is, how we fix it and his group's pioneering work to rebuild the curriculum to achieve "computational literacy for all". He will go further: explaining how failures in maths education should forewarn us of actions needed across the curriculum as we enter the AI age, and technology transforms our world.

Meet our speaker and chair

Conrad Wolfram, physicist, mathematician, and technologist, has been Strategic Director and European Co-Founder/CEO of Wolfram - the “computation company” behind Mathematica, Wolfram Language and Wolfram|Alpha—for over 35 years. Wolfram pioneers new approaches to AI, data science and computation-based development, with technology and consulting solutions that drive innovation in analytics, software development, and modelling.

Emma McCoy is LSE’s Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education, and Professor in the Department of Statistics. She has a broad interest in education, particularly in Mathematics and Data Science. She is a member of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee for Mathematics Education (ACME) and a governor of the Imperial College London Mathematics School.

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The Data Science Institute (@LSEDataScience) is an interdisciplinary institute fostering the study of data science and AI with a focus on the social sciences through research, education and engagement.

The Department of Mathematics (@LSEMaths) located within a world-class social science institution, aims to be a leading centre for mathematics in the social sciences. We have a stimulating and active research environment and offer a wide range of degree programmes and courses.

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