This is an occasional post highlighting some talks and events that touch on computer science or computing-adjacent tech and which are not aimed solely at an academic audience. This isn’t a complete list (an impossible task!) but is drawn from a range of venues and organisations, some already computer-focused, some that have a wider focus but who sometimes host computing events. If you have a suitable event, particularly ones for which the public / schools / home educators can get tickets for, please let me (Jo) know, thanks.

September 2025

Home Educators Day
In-person only (Bletchley Park)
The National Museum of Computing
Wednesday 17 September 2025, 10.30am to 3.00pm, £6.13-£11.55
“Our bespoke Home Educator days are created for families with non-school learners, giving them the opportunity to explore the Museum together and take part in specially-designed workshops. Our Home Educator days are accessible to visitors with special educational needs, including autism. The Museum will be closed to the public with quiet areas set aside especially for you.”

I realise posting this the day before it takes place is somewhat suboptimal but keep an eye on their Learning Visits and Eventbrite pages to find out about future events (the next Home Educators day listed is in January 2026).

Gordon Pask – Cybernetician, Inventor and Polymath
In-person (London) and online
Computer Conservation Society / BCS
Thursday 18 September 2025, 2.30-5pm, FREE
“Gordon Pask, an enigmatic figure in the world of cybernetics, was a visionary thinker with a genius for turning ideas into actuality. Working at a time when computers were still in their infancy, Pask explored the uncharted territory of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction,developing a theory of learning and interaction, and building machines to embody his ideas.

Pask’s eccentricities only added to his mystique. With his penchant for dressing like an Edwardian dandy and his habit of working predominantly at night, he was unusual and not always understood, even by those who admired him. He was best known in the field of cybernetics, which is now unfashionable. He seems to have been equally at home with digital or analogue computers, and he even tested out a self-building chemical computer.”
Speaker: David Upton

An introduction to artificial intelligence (short course)
In-person only (London)
Royal Institution
Monday 22 September – Monday 27 October 2025, 7-8.30pm, £340/400
“Across the six sessions, we will learn about AI from various vantage points. From a perspective of technology, history, governance and regulation as well as philosophy and ethics, we will investigate AI together. The course aims to equip you with a broad, comprehensive and thoughtful understanding of AI that ventures beyond the headlines and hype to help you appreciate some of the bigger questions AI poses.”
Tutor: Uwais Iqbal

AI Will Be Your Overlord: Faster, Brighter, Better Than You?
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 23 September 2025, 6pm, FREE
““Scary”, “Worried”, “Dangerous” were some of the most frequent words to describe AI in a recent UK Government public survey. Do you fear, as many do, that AI will lead to us becoming second-class entities? In this first lecture, we will explore this ascendency, considering how notions of intelligence, sentience, perception, consciousness and reasoning are being framed and challenged in an AI-centred world; and surface the social, economic and ethical implications of these developments.”
Speaker: Professor Matt Jones

Enhancing Your PyGame Projects using Generative Al for Content Creation
In-person (Hatfield)
BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT)
Wednesday 24 September 2025, 7-9pm, FREE
“Join us for a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to build simple games using Python and Pygame, then deploy them to Android devices. To make development easier and more fun, we’ll also explore how Generative Al can create graphics, sounds, and other game content, letting you focus on coding and gameplay.

Whether you’re new to programming or already familiar with Python, you’ll gain practical skills in game design, AI-assisted content creation, and mobile deployment. By the end, you’ll leave with your own playable mini-game and the confidence to continue exploring game development. Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.”

October 2025

Quantum: The future of computing?
In-person only (London)
Institute of Physics
Wednesday 1 October 2025, 6.30-8pm (tea/coffee from 6pm), FREE
“What does the future of computing look like? Explore the world of quantum computing, from the physics of qubits to quantum algorithms. We will discover how quantum computers work, how they are different from regular computers, and how we can use them to solve certain problems. Quantum computers have the potential to positively impact our everyday lives, so come along if you’d like to learn more about this incredible technology.”
Speaker: Mx Daisy Shearer MInstP, National Quantum Computing Center (NQCC)

Unlocking AI & Computer Science
Online only
King’s College London
Thursday 2 October 2025 (for 8 weeks), 5.30pm-6.45pm, FREE
“Calling all girls to join us in Unlocking AI & Computer Science!

Unlocking AI & Computer Science is back for a second year of a series of sessions where you can explore the broad field of computer science and AI. Through this eight-week online programme, you’ll meet other people interested in computer science and discover cutting-edge research in AI and tech.

Computer science is a predominantly male field – what’s it like to be a woman in this area? Hear first-hand from researchers and students and think about where computer science can take you.”

Quantum Untangled
In-person only (London)
Science Gallery, King’s College London
8 October 2025 – 28 February 2026, Price unknown
“How do we understand reality? How do the smallest particles in the universe lead to the biggest ripples across vast scales of space and time? How can Quantum change the world we live in and what will that mean for each of us?

Through interactive artworks, immersive sculptural installations and the words of physicists, philosophers and poets, Science Gallery London’s new exhibition Quantum Untangled fuses art, science and extraordinary interdisciplinary research together to consider big quantum questions and reveal the power quantum possesses to transform our futures.”

Data-related concepts and practices for AI education in K–12
Online only
Raspberry Pi
14 October 2025, 5-6.30pm, FREE
“Curricula around the world have started to include content related to AI into their agendas. This process is timely and important, but it is also challenging because the elaboration of the AI field for K–12 is still ongoing. Current efforts often underappreciate the critical role of data, despite it being a fundamental component of AI systems. If the goal is to enable students to understand how AI systems work and what their implications are, it is crucial to understand what data underpins these systems, and how it is collected and processed.”
Speaker: Viktoriya Olari (Free University of Berlin)

Craft Lecture: AI and Equity – Exploring Social Discrimination in a Digital Era
In-person only (London)
City St George’s, University of London
Tuesday 14 October 2025, 6.30-7.45pm, FREE
“Join us for this year’s Craft Lecture for a thought-provoking panel discussion examining the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and social equity. This conversation will delve into how digital algorithms can reflect and reinforce existing biases and structural inequalities.

As AI and digital data become increasingly pervasive across all areas of society, their impacts are not experienced equally. Marginalized communities, in particular, may be misrepresented, neglected, or even discriminated against by these technologies.”
Speakers: Professor Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Dr Kanwal Bhatia, Professor Andreas Tsanakas

British polar researcher Richard Collinson and his encrypted communication system
Online only
National Museum of Computing
Wednesday 22 October 22 2025, 7-8.30pm, £3.41
“Between 1850 and 1855, the London-based newspaper The Times published over 50 encrypted advertisements apparently intended for the same recipient. As we know today, the ads in that series were meant for the sea captain Richard Collinson, who at the time was on a mission in the Canadian Arctic trying to solve the mystery of the lost John Franklin expedition. Before Collinson’s departure, his family was taught how to encrypt brief reports about what was going on at home and to publish these messages as encrypted ads in The Times once a month. The cipher used was based on a signal-book of the Royal Navy. As the circulation of The Times stretched far beyond the UK, Collinson would have the chance to get his hands on a copy even at the remotest of ports. The Collinson ads were finally broken in the 1990s. The lecturers of this talk are members of a project aiming to decrypt all of Collinson’s ads and to place them in their geographic and cultural context.”
Speakers: Elonka Dunin, Taylor Leach, Klaus Schmeh

Responsible innovation in a digital world
In-person only (London)
Royal Institution
Saturday 25 October 2025, 7-8.30pm, £10/16
“Innovation is an integral part of science, but is it always good? Join ethics and technology expert Jeroen van den Hoven as he explores how to make sure our innovations and new technologies serve the public interest in a systematic way, and help to address the grand challenges of society, including climate change, energy transition, and global health infrastructure.

For example, how can we design AI applications responsibly? Jeroen will demonstrate how being bound by moral values can in fact be an economic advantage, providing a comprehensive view on the world that opens up new options not available to others. In a high tech world, the systematic and meticulous attention to design seems the only way to bring our moral values to bear on how technology shapes of life world.”
Speaker: Jeroen van den Hoven

Ghost Hunt with the micro:bit
In-person only (Cambridge)
Centre for Computing History
Wednesday 29th October 2025, 11am to 12.30pm, £12/16
“It’s Halloween and our classroom has become a hideout for ghosts! So, this half-term, we’re going on a ghost hunt armed with micro:bits. micro:bit is a pocket-size codeable device that can be used to teach computing in a fun way. Why not come and join us for some spooky coding fun?

The session is aimed at children aged 9 years and older and is ideal for children at the upper KS2 and KS3 levels.”

November 2025

Discourse: A New Quantum World: “spooky” physics to tech revolution
In person (London) and online
Royal Institution and Institute of Physics
Friday 7 November 2025, 7.20-8.45pm, £15/20
“Physicist and renowned broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili takes a look back at a century of quantum mechanics, the strangest yet most successful theory in all of science, and how it has shaped our world. He will also look forward to the exciting new world of Quantum 2.0 and how a deeper understanding of such counterintuitive concepts as quantum superposition and quantum entanglement is leading to the development of entirely new technologies, from quantum computers and quantum sensors to quantum cryptography and the quantum internet.

The United Nations has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, to celebrate the centenary of quantum mechanics and the revolutionary work of the likes of Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger. Together with the Institute of Physics, join us to celebrate the culmination of the International Year of Quantum at the penultimate Discourse of our Discover200 year.”
Speaker: Professor Jim Al-Khalili

Milner Prize Lecture: How to spot and debunk misleading content
In-person (London) and online
The Royal Society
Monday 17 November 2025, 6.30-7.30pm, FREE
“Misleading content is hard to spot — and equally dangerous to humans who consume it and to generative AI that might amplify it. Examples of such misleading content include false claims on social media supported by the misuse of credible scientific publications, images or videos taken out of their original context and paired with false narratives, and misleading charts designed to persuade audiences to accept inaccurate statements. How can we identify and debunk misleading claims? This talk will educate the audience on the tactics used to create deceptive content and demonstrate how the latest advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence can be applied to protect both people and machines from misinformation.”
Speaker: Professor Iryna Gurevych

Support Students into Tech Careers
Online only
Computing At School, BCS
Monday 24 November 2025, 4.10-5pm, FREE
“Join us for a practical webinar focused on helping you support students in making informed decisions about careers in tech. Hear directly from BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT), STEM Ambassadors, The Careers & Enterprise Company and TechSheCan as they share the latest resources, guidance, and support available to schools.”
Note: you’ll need to create a free account in order to register.

Becoming AI – Your Journey to Assimilation?
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 25 November 2025, 6pm, FREE
“Wittgenstein wrote: “If a lion could talk, we would not understand it”. That is, as lions and humans are not of the same material, they could not say anything meaningful to each other. AI is not like us; the only way we can have a relationship with it is for us to become like it. We will look at how digital services are already making us machine-like; and, we explore how advanced AI-human fusions may undo our essential “humanness”.”
Speaker: Professor Matt Jones

December 2025

Smartphone Free Childhoods? (Lunch Hour Lectures)
Online only
UCL
Tuesday 9 December 2025, 1-2pm, FREE
“In this lecture, Professor Jessica Ringrose reports on a research project on teachers, parents and young people’s views on smartphone restrictions.”
Speaker: Professor Jessica Ringrose

Featured image credit: Microphone image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay