Page content

The Convocation Annual Lecture 2024

the 2024 Annual Lecture at the Derry~Londonderry campus in association with 'Ulster Talks', which will honour the memory of the late Professor Paul McKevitt, a dedicated member of the Convocation Executive Committee.

The evening will celebrate the substantial contribution Paul made to Computer Science, with a particular emphasis on Artificial Intelligence. Speakers include Professor Eunice Ma (Serious Games & Extended Reality for Mental Health and Wellbeing) and Professor Michael McTear (Conversational AI).

Event details:

  • Thursday 21st November 2024
  • Formal Proceedings – 6.30pm
  • MD108, Martha Magee Building, Derry~Londonderry Campus
  • Arrival and Registration followed by Light Refreshments – 5.30pm

Previous lecture topics

Dr David Glass - "From the Big Bang to Artificial Intelligence: Do Science and God Compete?

Dr David Glass is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Mathematics. As well as undertaking research in the areas of computational and mathematical modelling and philosophy of science, in a recent project he has used probability theory to help determine whether science can ‘explain away’ God. He has given many academic and popular lectures on the relationship between science and religion and is the author of Atheism’s New Clothes, which is a response to the writings of the New Atheists.

This lecture explored whether science and God are in competition or whether science might actually provide support for belief in God. The final part of the lecture briefly considered whether developments in artificial intelligence could undermine a religious view of human beings.