Maja Pantić
Chief AI Research Officer of Natwest Group
Conversational AI Agents and Deep Fakes
How far are we from talking to AI in truly natural language? How do current AI systems render photorealistic avatars? And how is generative AI being used to deceive humans, particularly in the creation of deep fakes? The talk will touch upon modelling and implementation of the AI embodiment in a photorealistic manner and it will end in discussion of possible applications and misuses of this technology, including Deep Fakes.
Professor Maja Pantić is Chief AI Research Officer at NatWest Group, leading AI integration in banking. She previously held senior roles at Meta AI and co-founded the Samsung AI Centre in Cambridge. With over 500 publications, 57,000+ citations, and an h-index of 108, she is a recognized expert in human behavior analysis. Her honors include the 2020 IAPR Maria Petrou Award and the 2011 BCS Roger Needham Award. She is a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, IEEE, and IAPR..
Tommy Thompson
Founder and director of AI and Games
Days of Future Past: Celebrating 20 Years of IEEE CoG
In 2025, the connection between AI and video games is stronger than ever -games drive frontier AI research, while the industry navigates generative models and machine learning. But in 2005, things were different: game-based simulations masked their origins, and machine learning was mostly academic. As we mark 20 years since the first IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Games, we reflect on the evolution of game AI research, its growing ties to industry, and the shared challenges ahead in the age of AI proliferation.
Dr. Tommy Thompson is the founder and director of AI and Games, a company that supports game studios in integrating AI through development, research, and training. A former AI researcher and lecturer, Tommy is a leading voice in the game AI community, known for his YouTube series AI and Games and weekly newsletter. He serves on the advisory board of the GDC Game AI Summit and is the co-founder of Game AI Events CIC, which organizes professional networking events across Europe, including the AI and Games Conference in London.