Academic Scholars’ Symposium 

The Blackheath High Academic Scholars’ Symposium is an ambitious new initiative designed to inspire students, bring them innovative ideas and empower them to think in new ways. Our inaugural event this term, entitled ‘Heady: AI & the Future of Humanity’, kicked the series off in style, challenging scholars to grapple with one of the most urgent and transformative questions of our time. 

Joined by students from Sutton High, Croydon High, Notting Hill & Ealing and Sydenham High, the event was led by Blackheath High’s Co-Head of Academic Scholars and Head of Futures Ms Day and Head of Psychology and Co-Head of Academic Scholars, Miss Banks. Their agenda was designed not only to deepen students’ understanding of artificial intelligence, but to reframe how they think about ethics, careers, society and their own futures.  

Keynote speaker, Sofia Gkiousou, a specialist in public policy and lecturer in digital futures who has worked at Google and Airbnb among others, opened the event with a focus on how new technologies - especially AI - can be used safely, fairly, and responsibly. It was an inspiring, energetic start and students commented on how powerful it was to see a woman leading in coding and AI, on the importance of considering how deeply AI is embedded in society and whether it should be feared or better understood. 

Students then enjoyed a wonderfully diverse, thought-provoking series of workshops delivered by Blackheath High teachers and Sixth Form students, with topics including: the encroachment of AI into theatre and music; the impact of AI on learning languages; ‘Bots, Business, and the Bottom Line’, exploring where new technologies meet business and economics; a philosophical comparison between Plato’s Allegory of a Cave and our digital selves; and the curiously named and hugely engaging 'Nature vs future: how to design an atomic bomb. Or a cat basket', delivered by our DT team and focused on AI’s place in design. 

Miss Day led the afternoon’s keynote with a fascinating look at the life and legacy of Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr – after whom the event was named (with an extra ‘a’!). Students were surprised and inspired to learn that the technology behind Wi-Fi and frequency hopping originated from one of Hedy’s many inventions - challenging assumptions about innovation, history and representation in STEM.  

The Symposium closed with a powerful opportunity for students to prepare and deliver group presentations – requiring close collaboration between teams, deep reflection of big ideas and connections across topics and the articulation of complex ideas. 

The Symposium’s aim was to change how students think about AI and think more deeply than a binary ‘good/bad'. By exploring the significant benefits in healthcare, science, business and daily life as well as the risks, particularly surrounding jobs, ethics, and environmental impact, a much more nuanced, balanced picture was revealed. It also aimed to inspire thinking around their futures; while AI may replace some roles, it also creates new opportunities across diverse fields such as music, languages, design, and technology. Several students commented that the event helped them see AI as a tool that humans control, rather than an inevitable takeover.  

As well as an academic learning opportunity, our students also welcomed the opportunity to meet students from other schools, sharing ideas, perspectives and collaborating in workshops, as well as the informal discussions over lunch. A truly inspiring day.