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Keynote Lectures

Is Artificial Consciousness the Missing Ingredient for Ethical AI?
Antonio Chella, University of Palermo, Italy

Understanding and Improving the Next Generation of Conversational Systems: Trends, Challenges and Future
Luis Fernando D'Haro Enriquez, Speech Technology Group, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

The Major Challenges for Cyber Security and AI
Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Chairman, International Commission on Cyber Security Law India, and Chief Executive, Artificial Intelligence Law Hub, India

Is Artificial Consciousness the Missing Ingredient for Ethical AI?

Antonio Chella
University of Palermo
Italy

Brief Bio
Antonio Chella is a Professor of Robotics at the University of Palermo, Italy, and the Director of the Robotics Lab at the Department of Engineering of the same University. He is a former Director of the Department of Computer Engineering and the Interdepartmental Center for Knowledge Engineering. The primary research expertise of Prof. Chella concerns Machine Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognitive Robotics. He is a fellow of the Italian National Academy of Science, Humanities, and Arts. He received the James S. Albus Medal award from the Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures (BICA) Society for his outstanding contribution to the science of BICA and support and scientific achievement of the BICA Society. He is a founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness and the Book Series on Machine Consciousness by World Scientific. The work of Prof. Chella is regularly covered by the press, such as The Guardian, New Scientist, and the New York Times.

Abstract
Can we conceive of machines that can formulate autonomous intentions and make conscious decisions? And if so, how would this ability affect their ethical behavior? The debate is specifically about whether or not a moral agent requires a form of consciousness to act ethically. This issue has generated intense debate within the scientific community, with theorists taking opposing positions, some favoring that conscience is a necessary component of ethical behavior. In contrast, others believe it is not essential. At the heart of this debate is the fundamental question regarding the "capacity to have intentions" and whether this capacity can be extended to machines. In other words, can we conceive of devices capable of formulating autonomous intentions and making conscious decisions? And if so, how would this ability affect their ethical behavior? The talk will provide an up-to-date overview of current positions in this field, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities ahead as we attempt to develop machines with a form of ethics.

Understanding and Improving the Next Generation of Conversational Systems: Trends, Challenges and Future

Luis Fernando D'Haro Enriquez
Speech Technology Group, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Spain
https://blogs.upm.es/gthau/luis-fernando-dharo/

Brief Bio
Luis Fernando D’Haro is Associate Professor at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSIT, UPM), Spain, and member of the Speech Technology and Machine Learning Group. His research mainly focuses on spoken dialogue and natural language processing systems; he has written more than 150 international peer-reviewed publications in different areas of speech technologies and dialogue systems; he is the editor of 2 books and co-author in 5 research and educational books; he has actively participated in more than 25 research projects at National and International level. He is also a reviewer for several top journals, top conferences, and research organizations. Currently he is the PI and Coordinator of the EIC funded ASTOUND project (101071191 – HORIZON-EIC-2021-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01).
Prof. D’Haro has also organized many activities to promote the research and access to dialogue technologies and resources including: the co-organization of workshops and challenges like the WoChat, DBDC and DSTC series (including the recent Track 4 at DSTC11 - multilingual and robust dialogue metrics evaluation). He has also been organizer of conferences such as Interspeech in 2014, Human Agent Interaction conference in 2016, the International Workshop on Spoken Dialog System Technology (IWSDS) in 2018 and the General Chair for IWSDS 2020. He was Senior Member for the Chanel workshop at the Johns Hopkins Summer school (JSALT2020). Recently, he has been the Faculty Advisor for the Genuine2 (SGC4) and Thaurus (SGC5) Teams for the prestigious Amazon Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge.

Abstract
Thanks to outstanding models such as ChatGPT, GPT-4, Claude or Llama, conversational systems or chatbots have become trending technology. Their human-like natural answers, flexibility to follow instructions, general domain knowledge and easiness of access for public and companies are making (and will continue making) a high impact in the way we interact with technology and with each other. These systems are eliminating the need for users to learn complex commands or interfaces, allowing people to complete tasks more quickly and efficiently. In addition, these new chatbots are also revolutionizing many industries by providing very accessible and customizable services and applications to enterprises and final users.
In this presentation, we will first learn how these systems work, what are their current trends, strengths, and limitations. More specifically we will cover some of their main challenges, including automatic evaluation, personalization, awareness or contextualization, and ethical aspects. Finally, we will provide some insights gained when deploying such systems for real users.

The Major Challenges for Cyber Security and AI

Pavan Duggal
Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Chairman, International Commission on Cyber Security Law India, and Chief Executive, Artificial Intelligence Law Hub
India

Brief Bio
Dr. Pavan Duggal is an internationally renowned thought leader in the field of cyber law, cybersecurity, and internet governance. He has been a pioneer in shaping the legal framework for the internet in India, and his contributions have been instrumental in protecting the rights of individuals and businesses in cyberspace. His expertise spans a wide range of areas, including data protection, privacy, e-commerce, intellectual property, and cybercrime.

Abstract
The potential misuse of emerging technologies such as advanced applications of Artificial Intelligence needs to be understood as a major challenge for society. The European Union is preparing a regulation for the EU. Yet, with the passage of time, appropriate steps need to be taken by international stakeholders too, so as to minimize the impact of cyber security breaches caused by or powered by Artificial Intelligence.
In the lecture I would like to encourage all stakeholders to go for voluntary auditing of the AI offerings of their countries. Moreover, I would like to address all efforts spent by India compared to the efforts by the USA (business, see Big Five), European Union (AI Act, expected to pass in 2024) and China (State control).
Audits for preventing or minimizing discrimination in AI algorithms (and consequently by AI algorithms) are to be reiterated. This does hold for discrimination as well as for bias ( a very challenging topic for countries with a diversity of cultures like India) Next to the US, the EU and China, the AI activities in India and Africa need our attention. Strong laws on Cyber and AI can help to deter cybercrime and provide victims with legal recourse. However, it is important that these laws are balanced and do not hinder innovation or legitimate online activities.