Weekend of AI

The Library of Mistakes is hosting the Weekend of AI from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, a three-day run of discussions on artificial intelligence tucked away in the heart of Edinburgh. The library itself is a bit of a hidden gem — a collection of commerce, financial history and economics tucked into 33A Melville Street Lane. It was built on the idea that we learn far more from catastrophic miscalculation than from success, and it describes itself as an intellectual antidote to hubris. The Keeper, Professor Russell Napier, runs it alongside a podcast that unravels finance one mistake at a time.

This weekend is led by the library team and Robbie Mochrie, a recently retired economics professor from Heriot-Watt. They've gone out of their way to avoid the usual corporate panels, opting instead for iconoclastic sessions aimed at students, teachers and people working in business, the creative arts, education, academia, policy and philosophy. It's designed to be a conversation for anyone with an interest, rather than a trade show for the industry.

The weekend opens on Friday with workshops for students on how to use AI and thrive as it becomes ever-present. Saturday and Sunday then move into the bigger questions: what AI actually is, its impact on the economy, investment management, security and organisational governance, and what it will mean to be human while living with AI. It's a broad sweep, starting with the practical tools for the next generation and widening out to the systemic and philosophical shifts that follow.

Entry is free, though donations are encouraged. The whole thing runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November at The Library of Mistakes, 33A Melville Street Lane, Edinburgh EH3 7QB.