Biography:
Professor Roberts is School Director for Impact and Engagement, in the School of Computer Science and Engineering, and leads the Human Centred Computing (HCC) research group, and is Bangor PI for Supercomputing Wales. He is widely known for his contributions to data visualisation, particularly coordinated multiple views, visualisation design and visualisation education. Leading the workshop series in Coordinated & Multiple Views (CMV) and recently co-chairing EduVis (visualisation education) at IEEE VIS. He is the inventor of the Five Design-Sheets methodology and is an IEEE vgTC Visualisation Pioneer. He has led UKRI-funded initiatives including: Bangor lead for the UKRI doctoral training initiative cdt-aimlac.org (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Advanced Computing); heritagetogether.org visualising pre history sites in North Wales; ColloCaid.uk (a writing-support tool designed to help people write more natural and fluent English by focusing on collocations); recently GetIntoAI (an initiative encouraging people to consider AI in education and careers). He is interested in creative computing and curates an annual data-art exhibition. His work brings together AI, data visualisation, interaction, education, and visual storytelling, combining analytical rigour with creative practice to help people better understand, explore, and communicate data.

Keynote Title:
Visualisation, Creativity, and Human Insight in the Age of AI

Abstract:
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how data is analysed, visualised, and communicated. Yet as AI systems grow in capability, the core challenges of sense-making, creativity, trust, and human understanding remain fundamentally design problems. This keynote considers AI not simply as another computational tool, but as a human-centred design material for visual thinking, whose affordances, constraints, and generative behaviour must be explored and carefully shaped to support insight, curiosity, and critical reflection.
Drawing on over two decades of research in visualisation, including coordinated multiple views, design sketching methods, and sustained practice in data-art and creative coding, the talk examines how AI is influencing the process of visualisation design, from early ideation and sketching through implementation to interpretation. It reflects on how generative and analytical AI systems challenge and extend established visualisation principles, raising questions about authorship, transparency, and agency.
The keynote also considers implications for teaching and learning in computing and data science. As AI becomes embedded in everyday tools, how can students and researchers, from undergraduate to PhD level, develop curiosity, creativity, and critical engagement? By focusing on conceptual framing, design principles, and human-centred approaches, this talk highlights how emerging technologies can amplify human insight while providing a platform for further research, exploration, and public discussion.

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