John Bargh and Stephen Roberts Chaired by Simon Walker

Keynote speakers including leading expert on the unconscious mind Professor John Bargh and pioneer of machine learning Professor Stephen Roberts debate the changes required to educate the human mind in a robotic age. The day-long event is the inaugural festival education leaders day and is hosted by Dr Simon Walker, co-founder of STEER, a company that uses pioneering technologies to help young people steer their minds and improve their wellbeing and help them to learn more effectively.

The morning session will focus on the effects of social media and digital technology on the human mind and its ability to learn and on mental health. The afternoon session will focus on the unique cognitive capabilities required by graduates to succeed in an economy of machine learning and artificial intelligence. There will also be an opportunity to learn about the results so far of an ongoing study of the development of adolescent social cognition between ages of 8-18 involving 30,000 students and an extended panel interview and Q&A with keynote speakers.

Bargh is director of the Automaticity in Cognition, Motivation, and Evaluation Lab at Yale University. He has led global research into cognitive priming for the past three decades and is uniquely positioned to explain the unconscious impacts of the real and digital environments on the minds of young people.

Roberts is professor of machine learning in information engineering at the University of Oxford. He has pioneered the development of intelligent algorithms to analyse big datasets. He will clarify both the power and limits of machine learning, identifying the uniquely human cognitive capacities that will remain critical to educate in a robotic age.

Walker is co-founder of STEER and has led STEER’s pioneering work in reducing mental health risks, signposting learning-to-learn skills and improving employability in students across more than 100 schools.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Conference Timings

0845     Coffee at Wadham College
0930 Conference welcome
0945 Introduction to morning: Dr Simon Walker: Signposting in schools- the effect of subtle messages
1015 Keynote 1: Professor John Bargh:  If I were a Headteacher
1130 Q&A: Professor John Bargh
1200 Head’s experience: How using priming feedback data is changing our school culture (Richard Backhouse, Berkhamsted Group of Schools)
1210 Small group discussions and summary of the morning (Jim Hawkins, Whittle School and Studios)
1230 Lunch in the great hall of Wadham College
1330 Introduction to afternoon: Dr Simon Walker: Education in a robotic age- UNESCO perspective
1350 Keynote 2: Professor Stephen Roberts: The mind of a machine
1450 Q&A: Professor Stephen Roberts
1520 Panel (Chair: Claire Oulton. Panellists: Professor Stephen Roberts, Professor John Bargh, Richard Backhouse, Professor Rose Luckin)
1615 Plenary: Dr Simon Walker: Lines of action for educating the human mind in a robotic age
1625 Summary of afternoon and close (Sarah Thomas, Bryanston School)
1630 Conference close