Teaching AI about war: Why democratising history leads to better AI | Nick Hodder | TEDxWinchester
What if the key to better AI isn't more data, but better stories? This journey from class confusion to cultural revolution reveals why teaching machines about war requires a more rounded perspective that can only be achieved by removing barriers to people participating in the collection and interpretation of our cultural heritage.From 11 million uncatalogued war photos to your grandmother's untold stories, we'll learn how democratising historical narratives doesn't just make museums more human—it makes artificial intelligence more intelligent. This isn't just about fixing museums or improving algorithms; it's about ensuring that our cultural memory includes everyone's voice. The stories we feed our machines today will shape the history they tell tomorrow. Nick Hodder is an accomplished leader in digital transformation and engagement, bringing over 20 years of experience driving technology innovation across commercial and non-profit sectors. Nick has developed and executed digital strategies, cultivate innovation, and lead large-scale change initiatives. His expertise spans digital transformation, emerging technologies and human-centred design. Currently leading a major AI focussed digital transformation in the cultural sector, Nick leads an award-winning team at Imperial War Museums who have grown a digital audience of hundreds of millions people across the globe and has been recognised by Computing as one of the UK's most influential technology leaders in the UK. Nick chaired the Digital Transformation conference in 2023, the AI in Business Conference in 2024 and presented keynotes at both the IT Leaders Summit and Microsoft Global Non-profit Leaders Conference. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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- 9:37We need ugly art — here’s why | MJ Chiao | TEDxUBCWhen we think academia, the comic book and comic form is usually overlooked as a piece of valuable literary scholarship. Comics are often presumed as not academic or critical enough to be a valid source of literary study, and if they are to be taken seriously only a certain kind of tragic, memoir style are considered worth analyzing. By arguing that ‘bad art’, ‘ugly comics’, or ‘juvenile fiction’ are necessary fragments of history to navigate the quickly developing world around us, MJ Chiao advocates for the comics form as a radical form of activism and social remembering. Ugly comics becomes survival. MJ Chiao is a fourth year English Literature student who is passionate about comics and graphic forms. With a love for teaching and writing, MJ wishes to challenge the status quo of English studies and academia to encompass the new medias and technologies of our everyday. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
