Controversies in the Data Society 2026

A cross-disciplinary series of public lectures and discussion on AI and the datafication of society.

Science Technology and Innovation Studies, and the Critical Data Network in the Edinburgh Futures Institute

30 Jan - 3 Apr 2026

Lectures and Discussion

Fridays, 3:10pm - 5:30pm
Seminar Room 2, Chrystal Macmillan Building

Two 30-minute presentations of recent research, followed by 45 mins of discussion

30 Jan	Mediating AI innovation for dependable healthcare
	Speakers Professor Robin Williams and Professor Stuart Neil Pollock
6 Feb	The Dark Side of the AI: Detecting and combating the criminal use of AI
	Speakers Dr Ben Collier James Stevenson
13 Feb	Rethinking sustainable AI: Labour and environmental perspectives from the Global South
	Speakers Srravya Chandhiramowuli Dr Beatrive Bonami
27 Feb	Prediction models for survival: critical infrastructure, credit and insurance
	Speakers Chris Dent Reffaella Calabrese
6 Mar	Scams, bubbles and the financial technologies of data societies
	Speakers Professor Liz McFall Dr Lana Swartz
13 Mar	Can we tame language technologies? How to think about Large Language Models in the wild.
	Speakers Dr Adam Lopez Dr Zee Talat
20 Mar	AI and the operationalisation of responsibility
	Speakers Dr Alex Taylor Lara Dol Molin
28 Mar	Between Law and Technology: Explainable AI and AI Assurance
	Speakers Dr Vaishek Belle Professor Lilian Edwards
3 Apr	Building the distributed economy: Sociotechnical shaping of DiFi and DOA by developers and regulators
	Speakers Dr Morshed Mannan Dr Taylor Spear