PINT OF SCIENCE FESTIVAL
19-21 MAY 2025
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Doors open at 18:30. Please note the bar only accepts cash.
Today, computers and daily life go hand in hand. But what more can they do for us? How far can we push technology to improve our lives even more? But also: what are the possible dangers involved with our dependence to technology and how do we mitigate them?
The second quantum revolution: quantum computing
Daniel Pérez Lozano
Postdoctoral researcher
IMEC-KU Leuven
Are our bank accounts, national secrets or on-line communications safe? No, of course, if the person trying to get this information has a quantum computer at hand. Daniel Perez, from IMEC will tell us about quantum computers, how this novel technology has promised to revolutionize cryptography, chemistry and logistic, and how we are building one of these computers in Leuven.
Is artificial intelligence a cure for fake news?
Liesbeth Allein
PhD researcher
KU Leuven (Department of Computer Science) & European Commission's Joint Research Centre
Since the popularization of the internet and the birth of online social media, we are flooded with information. Information that is sometimes disguised as real news and meticulously designed to deceive us for monetary or ideological gain. This particular phenomenon is commonly known as ‘fake news’. As social media allow fake news to spread like wildfire, we need to nip in the bud as soon as possible. This is where AI steps in. Liesbeth Allein, PhD researcher at KU Leuven and the European Commission, will guide you through the latest developments in AI research on fake news detection, and will discuss why AI systems may never be flawless.
Personalized medicine using computer chip technology
Mihir Gupta
Researcher
IMEC KU Leuven
When you go for shopping, why are there are so many different sizes of clothes? Or when you go to buy a pair of glasses, why do some glasses fit better than others? The answer is simple, because one size cannot fit all. So, how come our medical treatments are not customized and tailored to each individual’s body’s biological needs? In my PhD research, I focus on how to use computer chip technology to potentially analyze our biological composition, for example, the information stored in our DNA or proteins, in a faster and cheaper way, to enable personalized medicine in the future.
