It was a pleasure to welcome a group of 2023/24 Foundation Circle members to our first event this autumn. We joined the MCR for their termly Franks Society Talks and afternoon tea, and were given a real intellectual treat.

Katie Challoner (2023, DPhil Quantum Computing) started proceedings with her talk titled How to Build A Quantum Computer, which challenged our understanding of reality as she delved into the concepts of superposition (Schrödinger’s cat being alive and dead at once) and entanglement (two subatomic particles remaining connected even when they are lightyears apart). By using super-smooth mirrors, Katie traps ions as the basis for building a quantum computer. Quantum computing has the potential to transform the world around us, from discovering new drugs to rendering all existing cyber-security systems redundant.

Joel Pollatschek (2022, DPhil Ancient History) was next to the microphone, speaking on One Ideology Underlying Ancient Greek Slavery: The Patriarchal Family Structure. Joel opened by asking ‘how could they?’ – how could the ancient Greek society which prized freedom accept and live with slavery? He explored how we should understand slavery in the ancient world as part of a patriarchal system which saw all household members – wife, children, concubines and slaves – as possessions of the master. Using linguistic analysis, he then compared this across cultures, from sub-Saharan Africa in the first millennium to the United States in the twentieth century.

Tort Liability in the Age of AI was next on the programme, as Amelie Berz (2024, DPhil Law) explored who should be held responsible when AI systems go wrong, particularly in the medical context. Do we blame the developer? Do we blame the consultant who decided to use AI to assist diagnosis, or the consultant who didn’t spot that the AI-generated results were off? And when should we blame someone for not using AI assistance, and a diagnosis is missed by a human being working alone?

Professor Ben Morgan (Fellow & Professor of German and Comparative Literature) closed proceedings with his talk on Reclaiming Liberalism: The Culture of a Democratic Society. In light of the profound changes in political discourse, especially since 2016, he asked how we understand work and action, reducing political discourse and finding points in common across ostensible divides. It is always better to try to persuade someone of your point of view by reminding them of issues you agree on first!

Thank you to everyone who contributed questions and lively discussion from the audience too. It was a demonstration of the academic conversation and intellectual exchange that make an Oxford college so special.

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