The legacy of a mathematician and writer hailed as one of the earliest pioneers of computer science will be celebrated at an Aberdeen literary festival.
Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Aberdeen-born Romantic poet Lord Byron, is remembered for her groundbreaking work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general purpose computer, first described in 1837.
Her legacy is the focus of a special event at the University of Aberdeen’s cross-arts festival WayWORD that will combine the impact of Lovelace’s work on our lives today with a demonstration of new AI technology developed by Aberdeen engineers which enables audiences to enjoy a unique musical performance created from live painted drawings.
The software, developed by AI developer Jack Caven and AI specialist Dr Andrew Starkey from the University of Aberdeen, translates tangible painted marks into audible sounds in real time and unique for each performance.
They have worked with visual artist Kate Steenhauer’s on the ‘PaintingMusic’ project and her artwork depicts and pays tribute to Lovelace's contributions to technological advancement, reflecting on the role of technology today, current advancements in AI and the impacts on our world.
The project has also produced creative tools for audiences to explore AI’s limitations, encompassing performance and an interactive app which the audience will be able to try on the day.
Developed using ‘Explainable, Green and Creative AI’, the app allows audiences to create their own interactive ‘performance’ by creating musical scores from their drawings through the Painting Music software.
The free event will take place at 3.30pm on Wednesday 26th March at St Machar Academy and is supported by Aberdeen City Council Creative Funding and Explorathon: a pan-Scotland festival celebrating research taking place in Scottish institutions and the impact it has on people’s lives which will return in September. Public Engagement and Events Coordinator Charlotte Lever explains, ‘We are supporting this activity as it connects people in local communities who don’t have day-to-day engagement with universities and showcases important research’.
Earlier in the day at St Machar Academy, all female S1 pupils will attend workshops with Kate exploring Lovelace’s legacy as well as Kate’s own career and experiences as an engineer and visual artist based in Aberdeen.
Other events in the WayWORD ‘Spring into Summer’ programme across March to May includes a community readthrough of a brand-new play exploring the past, present and future of Torry in Aberdeen, street art workshops with Outlines Collective at Sunnybank Park, and a series of events at Sir Duncan Rice Library including the Aberdeen launch of a new queer Scottish writing anthology Fierce Salvage, and a Gothic writing workshop, Carrion Crow book launch and talk about what it’s really like to be a professional writer with acclaimed author Heather Parry. All of these other WayWORD’s events are free and supported by Creative Scotland’s National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations. Tickets can be booked online at www.waywordfestival.com
WayWORD is part of the WORD Centre for Creative Writing within the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture.