MKFM visited the new artificial intelligence exhibition at Bletchley Park this week and met Tilly Davis, the display's manager.
The centrepiece of the new Age of AI exhibition, which is housed in a special gallery in the Bletchley Park ‘Codebreakers’ heritage site, is a pyramid style display explaining AI, its uses and its potential drawbacks. It has a small number of information cards at the top of the display and cascades down into more and more information. There’s a reason for this introduction.
“We have different audiences coming in, so we will have people who are already familiar with what AI is and there will be people who won’t be as knowledgeable,” says manager Tilly Davis.
“So we wanted to start with that introduction so everyone can come in on the same page. And one of the things we were looking at was definitions of artificial intelligence.”
On a wall are five definitions lined up for easy reading and understanding. The first of them is the first ever definition of AI from 1955 when it was talked about at a research conference in Dartmouth. There are several other explanations and even a definition from Google’s Gemini stating ‘what AI thinks AI is'.
The exhibition is going to be running for at least two years, and Tilly is anxious to ensure that it can be updated if necessary, due to the speed that AI is developing and changing.
“We must update where we need to and keep everything relevant,” she says. “And it’s been quite fun to think about that, and a challenge too. One of the signs we have is the timeline where we can swap out different panels and add others in along the bottom. Our latest one is 2024, but there are already a couple of things I have in mind which we might be adding to that.”
“In two years’ time we want to make sure that people are coming here and still having the same experience,” adds Tilly.
Part of that on-going process is a webpage with opportunities to learn more about the exhibition and AI in general called ‘Beyond the Gallery’.
“Our aim with it is get people talking and having a conversation so we want people to leave the gallery and be driving home and still talking and wanting to find out more. We want to give them a place to start with that.”
Bletchley Park was chosen as the site for the first ‘AI Safety Summit’ two years ago, in which global co-operation around AI was discussed, so it’s fitting that this new exhibition has found its way to Milton Keynes. Bletchley Park was chosen because of its war links and the recognition that it was one of the birthplaces of computing. The British Government has been involved too, funding much of the display.
There’s a historical section showing how the early codebreakers and pioneers in this kind of technology, Alan Turing, Donald Michie and Jack Good, began the early work towards getting machines to do human thinking.
“It’s interesting because we weren’t working with AI at that time here at Bletchley Park, that wasn’t happening, but the technology that was being developed here was groundbreaking,” says Tilly. “We had one of the first computers to be made here. And the people who were working here went on to become AI pioneers. During the war that wasn’t a priority but once they had left they started making these amazing machines and developed that work.”
The exhibition is balanced in that it shows the opportunities that AI can bring, but also the risks. Some people are still nervous about AI, but the expo is educational in that it gives both sides of the AI story.
“It was really important for us to give a very balanced view,” says Tilly. “We’re not coming in here with an agenda, we’re not trying to make people love AI or be terrified of it. We just want our visitors to come in and find out more, and then make up their own mind.”
One section on social media looks at ‘deep fakes’. It shows a series of modern and historical pictures, and the visitor must decide which are genuine photos and which have been generated by AI. The results are surprising and amazing.
You can also speak into a microphone and listen as AI clones your voice. You’ll hear yourself speaking in other languages, such as German and Chinese.
Another section of the exhibition includes a display showing how AI has made its way into TV and movies with examples such as I, Robot, The Terminator, Blade Runner, Dr Who, The Matrix and Disney’s Big Hero 6. In the centre of the display is HAL’s Eye from A Space Odyssey.
A lot has been squeezed into one room for this interesting exhibition and the designers have done well to keep the displays bright and interesting – there’s no ‘stuffy science’ feeling about this presentation.
“It was an early conversation we had with the designers as we were looking at all these dark colours and coding language, but we wanted it to be a bit different,” explains Tilly. “It’s aimed at teenagers and their parents, that’s the primary audience so we wanted something bright, to be engaging, and something that catches the eye, and things that were relevant to peoples’ lives.
“We want a regular person to come in and think ‘I can see how that could affect my life today’ or consider how they might use it in the future, making it a bit more relatable to people.”
The Age of AI is at Bletchley Park until 2027. There is a local offer for most people who live in Milton Keynes. It is 50% off ticket prices for anyone living within a 10-mile radius of Bletchley Park, which makes it £12.75 for an adult ticket, £11.50 for concessions and £8.50 for children aged 12 to 17. Children under 12 are free.
For more details, visit: https://bletchleypark.org.uk/plan-a-visit/#50-off-for-local-residents. Tickets are annual passes and last for a year.
