By Elena Connarty (Communications and Events Officer at the Scottish AI Alliance)

This year, I was fortunate enough to attend Turing Fest on behalf of the Scottish AI Alliance alongside my colleague, Maggie Dziezyc. Held at the EICC on July 9th and 10th, the conference was filled with inspiring talks and speaker roundtables focussing on tech, product development, and growth.

For those working in the tech industry it is a great opportunity to learn from the speakers’ experiences, inspiring those attending to follow in their path and pursue growth and success. It is also a great space for marketers who work in the world of tech, where skilled professionals share their knowledge and experiences.

My personal favourite talks during my two-days at Turing Fest where ‘Beyond Google: Why 2025 Will See the End of Era’ by Tom Anthony, CTO of SearchPilot, ‘Convey the Awesomeness of Your Tech with Human Messaging’ by Emma Stratton, founder of Punchy, and the panel discussion ‘How Will AI Change Marketing’. As someone working in marketing and communications, I found these three sessions to be beneficial to my career and aligned with my interests.

Tom Anthony highlighted how AI is changing the way people use Google, suggesting that Google, a platform that has dominated for decades, now requires innovation to stay competitive with emerging platforms such as ChatGPT. He also provides insights into how marketers should focus not only on traditional search platform SEO but also on optimising websites for AI systems like ChatGPT.

Emma Stratton’s talk was delightfully enjoyable. Her fun and engaging approach made her session highly entertaining whilst also sharing valuable knowledge on how to tackle tech marketing - a field that can be challenging without a background in the industry.

Finally, the panel discussion provided an overview and differing opinions to AI in marketing, approaching the difficult questions of how AI might impact marketing and other creative. It was interesting to hear from the four different perspectives on how AI might affect their field of work and their thoughts on how to safeguard their careers.

Participating in the two-day conference and hearing diverse perspectives on AI, tech, and product development was a valuable experience. However, as a representative of the Scottish AI Alliance, I could not help but notice a concerning lack of discussion around AI ethics. This absence might stem from the predominant focus on commercial success. Nevertheless, such a setting, filled with business leaders, could have been a pivotal space for these important conversations.

At the Scottish AI Alliance, we are dedicated to promoting trustworthy, ethical, and inclusive AI, with the goal of positioning Scotland as a leader in this new approach to artificial intelligence. The audience at Turing Fest consists of key stakeholders involved in the development and promotion of AI systems, whose influence will significantly shape the future of AI.

While we understand and support businesses building commercial success, integrating trust and ethics should be equally important. We hope that in the coming years the Scottish AI Alliance can make a lasting impact and see these vital topics discussed at future Turing Fests.

We ask those attending Turing Fest and working in tech with data and AI to reflect on the following questions: What measures do we have in place to prevent biases in our AI models? What steps are we taking to protect user and data security? In what way do we promote inclusivity in your AI research and development teams? How do we ensure that your AI systems are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities?

If you attended Turing Fest this year and would be interested in speaking to us more about our mission and how you can get involved, please reach out to us via email: hello@scottishai.com.