During the Lodz Night of Scientists, we will discover the most interesting scientific achievements together in a friendly and accessible form. The programme includes lectures, laboratory workshops and a panel discussion. The Lodz Night of Scientists 2023 is organised by: the University of Lodz, the Medical University of Lodz, the Lodz University of Technology, the Institute of Energy, Thermal Technology Branch "ITC" in Lodz and the Science and Technology Centre in EC1. The Lodz Night of Scientists programme is addressed to everyone, regardless of age!
The programme prepared by the University of Lodz includes:
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. First panel discussion: “How does artificial intelligence (AI) affect happiness?”
The discussion participants will take up the concept of happiness in a broader sense – including the happiness of animals.
The following topics will be discussed:
- how AI contributes to happiness, including non-humans,
- happiness in the context of robot/cyborg ethics and digital slavery.
The panel will be led by: Dr hab. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek with the participation of: Dr Dominka Kaczorowska-Spychalska, Dr Artur Modliński and Dr Ada Florentyna Pawlak.
8:15 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. Power speech by Dr Ada Florentyna Pawlak: "Techno-Intimacy. Relationships with Artificial Intelligence"
The question of happiness is also a question about how we want to program the world of values in technoculture. Are technological solutions designed to support human flourishing and the fulfilment of our psychological needs? Do they help build valuable relationships and improve users' well-being? Thanks to generative artificial intelligence, artificial people become part of our on-screen life. These hyperrealistic figures, which do not exist in the physical world, are supposed to be a remedy for digital narcissism and loneliness.
Dr Ada Florentyna Pawlak is an anthropologist of technology, a lawyer and art historian, academic lecturer (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Lodz; Artes Liberales University of Warsaw; Faculty of Management University of Lodz; Kozminski University in Warsaw, "Trendwatching & Future Studies" at the Faculty of Humanities of the AGH University in Krakow ) and a speaker at the Digital University in the field of social contexts of new technologies. She is the Vice-President of TEFT (Society for Ethics and Philosophy of Technology), one of the founders of the Polish Transhumanist Association. She specialises in the area of social implications of artificial intelligence and transhumanism. She teaches classes on the anthropology of technology and digital culture, Techno-Intimacy and human-machine cooperation. She has been a curator of numerous exhibitions in the field of art@science, including 'TransCommunities. Vectors of Transformation' as part of Fotofestiwal 2022 in Lodz.
Scientists from the Biobank Laboratory at the University of Lodz and the University of Lodz Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology will try to answer the following questions:
- How to read DNA?
- What are population studies?
- What is the "Genomic Map of Poland in Open Access"?
- What is Biobank laboratory? How does it operate? How does it protect data?
- How to use barcodes in ecology?
7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. The stand "What is Biobanking?" in a shared space.
9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Workshop in the laboratory: DNA isolation. Together, we will isolate DNA from biological material using home methods. We will show how to touch DNA strands without using special laboratory equipment. In order to participate in these classes, you need to reserve about an hour of time. Due to the limited number of places, you should register in advance.
During the Night of Scientists, you will get an opportunity to participate in, among others, a chemical educational path prepared by the Lodz University of Technology and visit a part of the exhibition of the Science and Technology Centre in EC1 as well as watch a show in the EC1 Planetarium.
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz