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.

Quantum Untangled
In-person only (London)
Science Gallery, King’s College London
8 October 2025 – 28 February 2026
“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.”

The Age of AI (exhibition)
In person (Bletchley)
Bletchley Park
until late 2026, entry to this exhibition is included with admission.
Experience this exciting temporary exhibition and discover how artificial intelligence is a part of our lives today and how AI could affect our future.

January 2026

Economics and Artificial Intelligence
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 13 January 2026, 6pm, FREE
ChatGPT, the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, was the fastest growing app in history. But this achievement, as sudden and remarkable as it might seem, was simply the most recent chapter in a fascinating story that has been unfolding for almost seven decades. This lecture explores the full history of the relationship between AI and work, and how economists have tried to make sense of it. It’s a journey that begins with a remarkable gathering of minds in a nondescript mathematics department at Dartmouth University in 1956 and ends with the technological convulsions that we see around us today.
Speaker: Professor Daniel Susskind
Part of: The Future of Work
If attending online you may need to register to get the direct link to the streamed video, though a recording will later be added to their YouTube channel.

Further reading
When a chatbot acts as your “trusted” agent… – a CS4FN article about the usefulness and trustworthiness (or not) of AI chatbots, and research done on their behaviour by Steve Phelps, who studies computational finance at UCL.

Home Educators Day
In person only
The National Museum of Computing (Bletchley)
Wednesday 14 January 2026 10:30am – 3pm, Child ~£13, Adult ~19

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 or so before it takes place is somewhat suboptimal but keep an eye on their Learning Visits and Eventbrite pages to find out about future events.

Webinar: Digital exclusion in the UK, and what works to help fix the digital divide
Online
BCS
Wednesday 14 January 2026, 7.30-9pm, FREE
“While the world moves ever more online, a considerable number remain excluded from participating fully in the online world. 7.9 million adults in the UK lack basic digital skills, 3.7 million households are below the minimum digital living standard, and 1.6 million adults don’t have access to a digital device.

With age, disability, health, education and poverty all shaping people’s capacity and opportunity to be online, the digital divide is not experienced equally across society.

In this presentation, we will look at the nature and extent of digital exclusion in the UK, and also explore the work Good Things Foundation is doing to improving people’s digital access, skills and confidence, with clear positive impacts for their lives.”
“Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.”

Embracing the New Ofsted Framework – What You Need to Know
Online only
Computing At School (CAS)
Thursday 15 January 2026 4.15-5pm, FREE
“As the new Ofsted Framework comes into force from November 2025, there’s never been a more important time for computing and STEM leads to align their provision with inspection expectations. In this session, Ellie Overland will guide you through what the new framework means for your computing curriculum, online safety and any use of AI. She will share ideas as to how you can proactively prepare for inspection and demonstrate quality, inclusive practice in your STEM provision.”
Note: you’ll need to create a free account in order to register.

Certified for Success: How AI Skills Improve Job Prospects
In person and online
Oxford Internet Institute
Tuesday 20 January 2026, 12-1pm, FREE
AI is often seen as a job killer — but our latest OII study suggests it could actually help you get hired. A new international experiment with 1600 recruiters and HR professionals in the US, UK, and Germany shows that AI skills significantly improve a candidate’s chances of being invited to an interview. Applicants with certified AI skills — through online courses, platforms, or university programs — were even more likely to be shortlisted. These certifications not only increase visibility in hiring processes but, in some cases, also help offset traditional disadvantages, such as lower levels of formal education or career changes. As AI continues to reshape the world of work, it may also be opening new doors to employment. The findings highlight the need for inclusive reskilling programmes and accessible certification pathways to ensure broader access to the benefits of AI. Investing in micro-credential infrastructure can play a key role in making the future of work more equitable.
Speaker: Dr Fabian Stephany
Watch their previous events on YouTube.

Lunch Hour Lecture – Language Translation for Medical Care
Online only
University College London (UCL)
Tuesday 20 Jan 2026, 1-2pm, FREE
Many cancer patients with limited English proficiency face significant challenges understanding critical treatment information, often relying on family members or bilingual staff for translation. Professor Federici, working alongside haemato-oncologist Dr Stephen Hibbs from Queen Mary University of London, conducted an innovative two-phase study with Bengali-speaking participants to compare the effectiveness of Google Translate versus professional human translation in conveying complex medical information.

BCSWomen Lovelace: Insights from Students, Academics & Industry Innovators
Online
BCS
Thursday 22 January, 6:30-7:30pm, FREE
Discover the BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium, its mission, sponsors, and inspiring student stories beyond the event.
“Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.”

Teaching about neural networks in junior high schools in Ghana
Online only
Raspberry Pi
27 January 2026, 5-6.30pm GMT [12:00–13:30 ET / 9:00–10:30 PT / 18:00–19:30 CET]
In this talk, Salomey Afua Addo will take you through her three-year PhD study exploring how to teach about AI in junior high schools in Ghana (learners aged 13–16). First, she will lay the foundation by describing the Ghanaian education system through the lens of her case study. Then, she will share how she created a role play and a board game to learn about the feedforward, evaluation, and backpropagation stages of training a single-layer neural network, using simple synthetic data based on a farming scenario.

In addition, Salomey will explore how storytelling can be a useful and engaging tool for teaching about AI ethics in a relatable way for young learners. She will also explore the perspectives and real classroom experiences of teachers as they use unplugged tools in their AI lessons, as well as the elements of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) required for teaching neural networks.

Further reading
See our page on Storytelling in Computer Science.

International Year of Quantum in Review
In person (London) and online
BCS
Wednesday 28 January, 6:30pm – 9pm, FREE
Join us for this panel event where we’ll look back at the events, news & activities across the nation for International Year of Quantum 2025.
“Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.”

February 2026

Will you be AI’s pet?
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 3 February 2026, 6pm, FREE
“I have two pet dogs; they are happy, wagging their tails and reacting well when I come home from work. They are well fed; have good healthcare; get daily exercise; and have times of play; they do no work or chores. But their long-gone ancestors were wolves, howling at the moon, hunting, creating their packs, taking risks. In this lecture, we will consider a similar domestication of humans by AI, pondering benefits as well as being clear about the costs.”
Part of: AI As Your Overlord: Assimilation, Acceptance or Resistance?
Speaker: Professor Matt Jones
If attending online you may need to register to get the direct link to the streamed video, though a recording will later be added to their YouTube channel.

BCS computing teacher training scholarship: information webinar
Online
BCS
Wednesday 4 February 2026, 9-10am, FREE

Find out more about the support available through the BCS Computing teacher training scholarship.

The content of the new Computing GCSE
Online only
Computing At School (CAS)
Wednesday 4 February 2026 4-5pm, FREE
“During this session we’re hoping to show you a proposed list of content for the new GCSE. To give your feedback on the topics which feed into this proposal please complete this form: Computing curriculum in secondary

You’ll be able to give your opinion on the content before it moves to the next stage of the process.

We have invited the Department for Education and the exam boards to this session.”
Note: you’ll need to create a free account in order to register.

Michael Faraday Prize Lecture: This is not the AI we were promised
In-person (London) and online
The Royal Society
Wednesday 18 February 2026, 6.30-7.30pm, FREE
Contemporary AI systems like ChatGPT are remarkable. They appear to be confident, articulate experts that can turn their hand to anything we might care to ask them about. It is easy to be dazzled and to conclude that the long-held dream of truly intelligent machines is no longer a dream but a practical reality. Yet these new AI behemoths present a conundrum. While on the one hand, they truly are remarkable, they manifestly fail many of the most basic tests of rational intelligence. For one thing, they simply don’t know, and can’t tell, what is true and what isn’t. They are hopelessly inconsistent; they have no sense of their limits of their knowledge or abilities; they are comically suggestible; and they are easily steered to flights of surrealistic fantasy. AI researchers are busy inventing a completely new field of experimental AI to try to get to grips with these bizarre new artefacts. This is all the more surprising because it is so far removed from popular expectations of what AI would be like: remorselessly logical. So what are we to make of it all? How should we think about the new AI?

In his talk, Professor Michael John Wooldridge will look at how the new AI works and why, as a consequence, it exhibits these weird, frustrating, fascinating behaviours. He will show just how far the new AI is from classical expectations and talk about the next frontiers for AI – and how far we are from the dream.
Speaker: Professor Michael Wooldridge

Work, Out of Reach
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 24 February 2026, 6pm, FREE
Right now, the technological challenge we are most likely to face in the labour market is ‘frictional’ technological unemployment – where there is plenty of work available, but not enough people are able to do it. This lecture explores the phenomenon and its main causes – that people might lack the right skills for the work, not live in the place where the work is created, or have an identity that is at odds with the nature of the work.
Part of: The Future of Work
Speaker: Professor Daniel Susskind
If attending online you may need to register to get the direct link to the streamed video, though a recording will later be added to their YouTube channel.

March 2026

Born Supremacy – AI as a Pale Shadow of Real Humanity
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 17 March 2026, 6pm, FREE
In this lecture, we glimpse our best selves and compare that to a world where we lose everything of ourselves to AI. We are glorious creations that revel in agency, freedom and creativity. What do innovations such as cars that don’t need us to drive and creative AIs that remove the effort of, say, writing or music making mean in this context? Further, with a future being forged by limited perspectives, how can human diversity inform better AI for all?
Part of: AI As Your Overlord: Assimilation, Acceptance or Resistance?
Speaker: Professor Matt Jones
If attending online you may need to register to get the direct link to the streamed video, though a recording will later be added to their YouTube channel.

Unauthorised Deepfakes and Digital Replicas: Time for Reform?
In-person (London) and online
Gresham College
Tuesday 24 March 2026, 6pm, FREE
Three categories of harms have materialised from unauthorised deepfakes; disinformation, demeaning content and displacing creative workers. As this technology continues to develop, without any safeguards in place, it will exacerbate the inequalities of society. This lecture discusses the regulation of unauthorised deepfakes and explores the introduction of personality rights into laws across the UK as part of a wider solution including educational, cultural and technological intervention.
Speaker: Dr Hayleigh Bosher
If attending online you may need to register to get the direct link to the streamed video, though a recording will later be added to their YouTube channel.

Featured image credit: Microphone image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay