Artificial Intelligence
THE EXPERT MIND
Spencer graduated with a double-first degree in Computer Science from Cambridge University, and specialised in Artificial Intelligence.
Since then he has documented the rise of AI for BBC Click, the global technology TV programme, and was chosen to present the BBC’s landmark Understand: Tech & AI podcast series.
No other speaker in the world combines deep knowledge of AI with 30 years experience of international broadcasting, and Spencer uses his story-telling techniques to make complex concepts simple, and bring audiences bang up to date with the very latest developments.
In Spencer’s AI keynotes, tailored to your industry, he will explain how to embrace AI as a powerful co-pilot, to enhance creativity, boost productivity and unlock new opportunities for growth.
Your audience will leave feeling empowered, not fearful.
Authority Meets Energy
A KEYNOTE TO REMEMBER
DEMOS LIKE NO OTHER
This is not just a presentation, it’s an interactive experience that educates audiences while also leaving them smiling and singing:
Learn how AI works in a unique demo that the audience won’t forget (it’s called Spot the Fuggler)
Understand how AI can supercharge your business
Cut through the hype to make sure it will work for you
Generate software using AI, live on stage
Sing along to a song, specially created for your event in front of your eyes!
Spencer has witnessed the rise of AI first hand. After studying the subject at Cambridge University (where he tried to use it to break the world-record for visiting all London Tube stations in the shortest time), he has used his deep understanding of the subject to explain how AI has been quietly changing the world for decades.
He’s demonstrated how AI is used in phones, home appliances and self-driving cars, and he’s surfed the rise of Generative AI – using Large Language Models to make music albums and short films, write computer code, and – believe it or not – perform improv comedy.
“At the moment employees are trying to work out whether AI is going to take their jobs, and companies are trying to work out how useful it will be for their sector,” Spencer says. “There’s an awful lot of hype out there, and it’s always been my job to cut through it.
“I’ve travelled the world to see AI that diagnoses cancer, predicts crime, and understands the economy. These systems can do what they do because they’ve absorbed massive amounts of training data – and that’s the key to a successful deployment.”
“I’m a computer scientist, and I know how to break down problems into logical steps that can become standard computer code. But the problem is, the real world is messy – nothing is precise, everything is bumpy and infinitely varied. There’s no computer program you could write that would be able to cope with the endless possibilities of human conversation, for example.
“So that’s when we use AI. We gather as much data about a situation as we can and pour it into a big AI bucket, and we let it work it out for itself.
“And,” he adds, “without us realising it, the web has provided enough training data for AI to learn how to do some really human things – how to speak, how to draw, and how to create videos.”
“Artificial Intelligence has been around for a lot longer than most people realise”, says Spencer. “When I was researching it at Cambridge, it was already decades old. But only now has it grabbed people’s attention, because it’s finally behaving like it does in the sci-fi movies. We can talk to it, have a conversation with it – it’s acting like a human. Although it’s really important to remember that it still doesn’t think like a human. And I have a demonstration that shows its limitations.”
“The problem is,” says Spencer, “what’s going on under the bonnet of AI is incredibly complex. It’s full of maths, and matrices, and neural networks, but ultimately companies just want to know how best to use it, and in what parts of their organisation.
“That’s where I come in.
“Think of me as a geek-to-business translator. I’ve had so much great reaction to my AI keynotes, with members of the audience thanking me afterwards for helping them finally understand where they should and shouldn’t use it.”
“I hosted an AI event for the BBC a couple of years ago, in which I explained how the technology worked, along with its limitations. Just days later I was asked to host the BBC’s in-depth series Understand: Tech & AI, which was a fantastic opportunity to do a deep dive into the topic. I spoke to some brilliant experts to take listeners on a journey from the very basics, right the way through the secrets of ‘The Algorithm’ to the question of whether AI really will take over the world.”
“The passion for this stuff has never left me, which means I’m constantly absorbing the new advances in the field of AI. Some researchers say we’re on the verge of another breakthrough, while others think its capabilities might be topping out.
“When I speak to companies, either in a keynote or on a more advisory level, I can always bring the latest thinking to the table, along with the tools they can use right now to boost their productivity.
“And in my spare time, I write about the AI bots that are filling the internet with slop, and I create AI music albums with my daughter.”
