Current Workshops

Cybernetic Culture Workshop: Consumption, Security & Society in the Digital Age - Friday, 11th April - 09:00 - 17:40

The concept of cybernetic culture was first crystallised in the 1990s to invite critical commentary on the complex intersection of computational systems with human imagination, community, material culture, and political economy. Since its initial formulation, cybernetic culture’s borders have rapidly widened and intersected with consumer culture to encompass many aspects of everyday life leading to academic and popular concerns about privacy and digital sovereignty, commercial surveillance, the spread of misinformation, ‘deepfakes’, online populism, radicalisation, cybercrime, and the damaging effects of ‘callout culture’ or ‘cancel culture’. This workshop invites interdisciplinary contributions to critically explore these and other issues pertaining to digitalisation, consumption, deviant leisure, and social harm.

The workshop provides a space for sharing and collaboration between those with expertise in consumer culture, marketing, cultural theory, and the cybersecurity ecosystem. Oral presentations and roundtable conversations will centre on the most pressing social issues emerging from cybernetic culture, theoretical conceptualisations of these problems, and ideas which can inform solutions.

Workshop Programme

The day's programme is designed to be both intellectually stimulating and professionally rewarding. You’ll find a range of engaging talks, interactive discussions, and ample opportunities to connect with fellow innovators, scholars, and practitioners. Whether you are here to gain fresh insights, share your expertise, or simply spark new ideas, we are confident you will leave this workshop with new perspectives and valuable connections that will inspire future collaboration.

You can download the full Cybernetic Culture programme

Introducing Our Keynote Speaker

We are delighted to welcome Professor Simon Winlow, one of Britain’s leading criminologists, and a distinguished interdisciplinary scholar as our keynote speaker for the inaugural workshop. Professor Winlow has published extensively on political economy, criminal markets, cultural dynamics, and social, political, and ideological aspects of consumer culture. Simon's latest book, 'The Politics of Nostalgia: Class, Rootlessness and Decline'explores our common desire to take refuge in the past, and what it means for our political future.

Meet Our Cybernetic Speakers

We are honoured to have an exceptional group of speakers who bring diverse expertise and perspectives to this inaugural Cybernetic Culture Workshop. Each speaker is a thought leader in their field, with deep knowledge and experience in the intersection of technology, society, and security. Their contributions will challenge our thinking and inspire thought-provoking discussions, offering valuable insights into the ways digital landscapes are transforming consumption, security, and society at large.

Workshop Registration

All participants featured in the workshop programme will be automatically registered.

We ask that for all those interested in attending (non-speakers), please complete your registration by Tuesday, 18th March 2025 to confirm your attendance. While this is a free event, early registration is required to secure access to the event, as unregistered individuals will not be permitted entry.

Please note: Upon registration through Eventbrite, please email the event co-chair and organiser Sophie s.james7@lancaster.ac.uk with the following details:

subject line "Cybernetic Culture"

Your full name;
Job title/academic level of study
Place of work/institution

The event is intended for an audience of academics, researchers, and practitioners. PhD candidates and Master's students are welcome to attend also. However, all attendees must register by the above deadline.

Please visit: cyberneticculture.com for more information, or contact Sophie at s.james7@lancaster.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

Mathematics, Ai and Data Science for Material Innovations (MADSMIN) 9th - 13th June

The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the latest methods of rigidity theory, geometric data science and artificial intelligence for real objects such as, but not limited to, solid 3D materials (periodic crystals or polymers) and molecular graphs including proteins, and more complex 3D genome structures.

Organised by Vitaliy Kurlin (Computer Science, Liverpool), Anthony Nixon (Mathematical Sciences, Lancaster) and Abbie Trewin (Chemistry, Lancaster) and jointly funded by Lancaster's Data Science Institute and Mathematics for AI and Real-world Systems project.

Confirmed speakers:

Murad Banaji (Oxford)
William Jeffcott (Liverpool)
Matthias Himmelman (TU Braunschweig)
Jonathan McManus (Liverpool)
Catherine Mollart (Birmingham)
Therese Malliavin (Lorraine)
Henry Moss (Lancaster)
Lilja Metsalampi (Aalto)
Michael Peach (Lancaster)
Bernd Schulze (Lancaster)
Ellena Sherrett (Lancaster)
Jack Trainer (Lancaster)
Daniel Widdowson (Liverpool)
Andrea Fusiello (Universita' degli Studi di Udine)
Jiayi Li (Max Planck Institute)
Louis Theran (St Andrews)

This conference will take place at Lancaster University in Fylde Lecture Theatre 1. It will be free for Lancaster Staff and Students.

How can AI help people to generate adaptation strategies to manage environmental risks? 16th - 17th June

How can AI support real-world adaptive strategies to manage environmental risks? We will be hosting discussions and a networking dinner to explore this question. Join us at Lancaster Castle on 16–17 June 2025 for a two-day workshop to define a new research agenda at the intersection of AI, decision science, and environment.

Environmental resilience involves decisions taken in the face of deep uncertainty with complex trade-offs. Examples arise in water management, flood and coastal risk management, land use and conservation, amongst other applications. Could AI help to generate, evaluate, and communicate adaptive strategies that are robust in the face of future uncertainty? What are the issues and opportunities that we can foresee as people start to use LLMs and other deep learning models for this purpose? This workshop will bring together colleagues from across disciplines to map out the key challenges, identify research priorities, and shape future collaborations.

This workshop is funded by Mathematics for AI and Real-world Systems project.

This conference will take place at Lancaster Castle. It will be free for Lancaster Staff and Students.

FACTOR Summer School - Mon 28th Jul to Wed 30th Jul 2025 �� Theme: Fraud & the (Mis)use of AI

In 2024, a Hong Kong employee of Arup joined a video call with their Global CFO and other executives. During the call, they were ordered to make a series of bank transfers totalling £20 million. The catch? The only real person on the call was the employee. The rest were AI-generated deepfakes.Countless frauds and scams are being perpetrated all around us right now, and AI has made it easier than ever. From fake voicenotes pleading for bail money to heartbreakingly convincing romantic messages, the landscape of crime is changing, and it's in everyone's interest that we all keep up.With that in mind, the world-leading FACTOR team is running a three-day summer school that will take you through the cutting-edge worlds of forensic linguistics, forensic speech science, and the ever-growing challenges that we now all face - the (mis) use of AI. We'll talk about how easy it is to clone someone's voice, whether we have telltale linguistic habits, and how good ordinary people are at distinguishing human language from AI. On the last day, you'll have the chance to turn detective with your own high-profile fraud case to crack.

Whether you're an industry professional interested in the risks posed by AI, a teacher looking to inspire students about the real-world applications of English language and linguistics, or simply someone fascinated by language and crime, this summer school could be the one for you.

✅ No prior experience needed
✅ Gentle pace for absolute beginners
✅ Interactive and hands-on
✅ Learn from world-leading experts, including Georgina Brown, Justin Lo, Isobelle Clarke, and Claire Hardaker

🎟️ Tickets: £30 each (includes sessions, materials, refreshments, and a packed lunch). Note that spaces are limited, and demand for our summer schools is always high

👉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eGBEruQh

👉 Book your ticket here: Sign up for only £30 - Summer School enrolment

We hope you'll leave not only with new insights, but also better prepared for the future of AI fraud.