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Natural and Artificial Cognition IV

Fika-to-fika Workshop about research on how aspects of human, animal, or artificial cognition, through communication and other forms of interaction, influence behaviour in the individual, dyadic, or collective context.

When: 7 October 09.00 – 15.30 (CET)

Where: Lund City Hall, Stortorget 1 Lund, Sweden and online.

Confirmed speakers and preliminary programme

9.00 Registration, posters* & fika

9.25 Online meeting opens

09.30 Morning programme

Introduction

Kalle Åström, Computer Vision and Machine Learning, Coordinator Lund University profile area Natural and Artificial Cognition

Keynote 1: Active sensing collectives - a multi-disciplinary venture

Thejasvi Beleyur, Active Sensing Collectives group, Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz

Abstract: When multiple active sensing agents (animals or robots) come together in decentralised groups they face the issue of jamming. Truly decentralised active-sensing robot groups are difficult to engineer. Animals like echolocating bats however live and fly regularly in large groups of tens to thousands of individuals only using sound. I will discuss our attempts at understanding what happens in echolocating bat groups and the strategies they may be using through a mix of computational modelling, controlled swarm robotics experiments and multi-sensor characterisation of bat groups in the wild.

Session 1: Cognition and decision-making

Short presentations and panel discussions with:

  • Panos Athanasopoulos, English Studies, Lund University
    Experimental cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistic relativity, bilingual cognition, language acquisition to understand to what extent speakers of different languages think and perceive the world differently and to what extent additional language learning transform the way we perceive the world.
  • Ines Bramao, Psychology, Lund University
    Cognitive and neural processes underlying episodic memory.  Behavioural and cognitive testing in combination with advanced analysis methods.
  • Erik Wengström, Economics, Lund University
    Decision making, delving into the intricacies of how incentives, social concerns, and cognitive processes shape our choices.

Keynote 2: The illusion of communication

Christine Howes, Philosophy, Linguistics, Theory of Science, University of Gothenburg


Abstract: As George Bernard Shaw once said "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." He's got a point: we never really share the "same" language as anybody else - we bring different experiences to any conversation; we have different previous interactions, different cultural backgrounds, and different social communities. This means that mismatches between our takes on a conversation are not the exception, but the norm. The ability to deal with these mismatches on the fly underpins successful communication, and it is only in interaction that meaning is made. This talk will explore some of the consequences of this -- including when one of the interacting partners is a non-human agent.

12.00 Lunch and poster*  session

Posters

  • Explainable AI, Sule Tekkesinoglu, Computer Science, Lund University
  • Short presentation of LU Innovation, Magnus Gäfvert, LU Innovation
  • CurricuLLM: Designing a Personalized and Future-Proof Cybersecurity Curriculum using Fine-Tuned LLMs, Arthur Nijdam, Electro and Information Technology, Lund University
  • Sycophancy in Large Language Models, Minahil Malik, Political Science, Lund University
  • Understanding avian navigation during migratory periods through machine learning, Jamie Scotcher, Evolutionary Ecology and Infection Biology, Lund University
  • Temporal Gestures in Different Temporal Perspectives, Emir Akbuğa, English Studies, Lund University
  • A Cognitive Model for Code Review as Decision-Making, Lo Gullstrand Heander, Lund University

12.55 Online meeting opens

13.00 Afternoon programme**

Session 2: AI, vision and language

Short presentations and panel discussions with:

  • Sonja Aits, Cell Death, Lysosomes and Artificial Intelligence, Lund University
    AI/ML methods in Medical and Biological Research, AI/ML for structural biology, neutron and x-ray science, Educational tools for learning about AI, AI in health care and pharma. AI Lund Coordination group.
  • Hanna Bäck, Political Science, Lund University
    Political behaviour and political psychology, focusing mainly on explaining protest activity, radicalisation and affective polarisation. NAC Steering group.
  • Viktor Larsson, Computer Vision and Machine Learning, Lund University
    Focused on robust estimation problems that appear in 3D computer vision e.g. Structure-from-Motion, visual localisation and Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping


 

Session 3: Networks and communication

Short presentations and panel discussions with:

  • Michael Bossetta, Media and Communication Studies, Lund University
    How politicians and citizens use social media to campaign during elections. Particularly interested in how platform design influences how social media are used for politics.
  • Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Strategic Communication, Lund University
    AI as a method in social science research, computational social science, NLP, social network analysis, AI and politics.
  • Anders Rantzer, Automatic Control, Lund University
    Modelling, analysis and synthesis of control systems, with particular attention to uncertainty, optimisation and distributed control.

≈ 14.30  Poster session* , fika and mingle

Organisation and contact

Last updated: 23 Oct 2025