Something Digital 2025
🧠 Reimagining Human Intelligence is at the heart of this year’s Something Digital Festival, and CSIRO is proud to contribute three dynamic speakers to the conversation: Dr David Howard, Dr Leimin Tian and Dr Justine Lacey. The festival itself promises a world-class program featuring strategies, insights, and innovations that are shaping the future of digital. Across two days, Queensland’s vibrant digital community will hear from global leaders and local innovators alike – all sharing a passion for what digital technology makes possible.
Our Speakers
As Head of the Robotic Design and Interaction Group and a Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO’s Cyber Physical Systems program, David explores the intersection of soft robotics, AI, and computational design. He leads the AI4Design portfolio, pioneering new approaches to evolutionary machine learning, autonomy, and the physical evolution of intelligent systems. His work is as visionary as it is grounded, appearing in both national media and top-tier journals including IEEE and Nature.
🎤 Session: Next-gen robotics: Intelligence that moves with us
What happens when robots don’t just follow instructions but adapt, learn, and make decisions alongside us? From harsh terrain to factory floors, intelligent robotic systems are becoming essential teammates in the real world. Dr David Howard will share how CSIRO is engineering the next generation of robots that respond in real time to our ever-changing environments and redefine what’s possible.
🗓 Tuesday 26 August
🕧 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM
📍 Tivoli, Main Stage
🔹 Dr Leimin Tian
Leimin leads CSIRO’s Human-Robot Interaction team, where her research focuses on human-centred AI and affective computing. Her mission is to design robots that don’t just think but connect. From social-emotional intelligence to ethical collaboration, Leimin is advancing the way humans and machines understand each other in high-impact environments.
🎤Session: Big ideas: Reimagining systems
What should our most critical systems look like now? From healthcare to education, many of the frameworks we rely on were built for another era. In this bold and fast-paced session, Dr Leimin Tian will deliver a 10-minute provocation on designing human-robot teams that support ethical, equitable and emotionally intelligent collaboration. Her work invites us to reimagine how we work, live and thrive alongside machines.
🗓 Tuesday 26 August
🕞 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM
📍 Rydges, Stage
🔹 Dr Justine Lacey
Dr Justine Lacey is currently acting Deputy Director of CSIRO’s Science Connect, a distinctive part of the national science agency that works to connect science with society, government and industry. The aims of Science Connect are to amplify the impact of science and strengthen public trust by ensuring that science is accessible, practical and relevant to people’s lives. Previously, Justine led CSIRO’s Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform – a research program that examined how emerging science and technology intersect with societal needs, values and expectations. Her work has consistently focused on building the conditions for trusted, responsible science that delivers benefit to communities and supports innovation across sectors.
🎤Session: Are We Building the Thing That Will Replace Us?
This thought-provoking session explores the future of artificial general intelligence and asks whether it could one day surpass and replace us. It examines the motives behind creating such systems, the potential loss of human primacy, and the possible gains of a world where we are no longer in control.
🗓 Wednesday 27 August
🕦11:30 AM to 12:00 PM
📍 Tivoli, Main Stage
The Tivoli
And what better setting than the Tivoli Theatre. Built in 1927 as a cake factory and reimagined in 1989 as a performance venue, The Tivoli is now one of Brisbane’s most beloved live event spaces. Its unique blend of industrial charm and cultural history makes it the perfect backdrop for bold ideas and creative exchange.
All photos sourced from Something Digitial
🔗 Planning to attend in person? Explore the iconic Tivoli Theatre ahead of time with this virtual tour to help plan your visit and accessibility needs.
Secure your tickets and join us as we dive into the evolving world of human-robot interaction and the future we’re building together.