2025-07-09 –, Ballroom
The widespread fascination with AI often fuels a "myth of the artificial", the belief that scientific and technological progress stems solely from algorithms and large tech breakthroughs. This talk challenges that notion, arguing that truly responsible and impactful science is fundamentally built upon and sustained by the resilient, collective intelligence of the scientific and research community.
I will explore how active, well-supported, and collaborative communities, from open-source developers to interdisciplinary research groups, are the inherent drivers of innovation. Open science initiatives like Open Life Science (OLS), The Turing Way, and others demonstrate how these communities provide the foundational infrastructure for science to serve society responsibly. I will highlight the indispensable human element in science, demonstrating why cultivating diverse, engaged communities is the most powerful "intelligence" for an inclusive, responsible, and impactful scientific future. This talk serves to shed light on this often-overlooked yet critical component of our socio-technical ecosystem, essential for fostering ethical development and long-term sustainability of technology.
Dr. Malvika Sharan is the co-Director of Open Life Science (OLS), a non-profit dedicated to building capacity and diversifying research leadership through open science. Her expertise includes designing people-centered collaboration and knowledge sharing models for data science and AI research communities. Through initiatives such as The Turing Way and OLS's training and capacity building programs, she has co-created and supported inclusive communities that empower researchers at all career stages to learn from and participate in open source and open science initiatives. Malvika is an active contributor to several open science initiatives, a Software Sustainability Institute fellow and one of the 2024 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™. Originally from India, Malvika spent over a decade in Germany and now resides in the UK.