Speaking
Keynotes, workshops, training, and advisory retainers for conferences, universities, and organisations.
Keynotes
Five core keynotes, each tailored to the audience. Other topics available on request.
Critical AI Literacy: What Your Organisation Is Getting Wrong
AI literacy is not knowing how to write a good prompt. It is knowing how to read AI output critically, identify what is missing, and make informed decisions about when to use these tools. This talk covers the AI Literacy Deficit Model and gives educators, professionals, and leaders a framework for building genuine critical AI literacy. Grounded in research, delivered with practical examples your audience can use immediately.
Bot or Not: What a Game Taught 10,000 People About AI Detection
Most people score 4 out of 10 at distinguishing human writing from AI writing. Bot or Not is a game that proves it. This talk uses live audience participation to demonstrate how unreliable AI detection is, what that means for education and professional trust, and why the skills that make us human are the ones we keep undervaluing.
Nobody Is Clean: AI Ethics Beyond the Headlines
Every AI company trains on data scraped without meaningful consent. Every one operates in a regulatory vacuum it has lobbied to maintain. Choosing the right AI tool is not an ethical position. This talk cuts through the utopian and dystopian noise to give audiences a practical framework for evaluating AI trade-offs honestly. No heroes, no villains, just better questions.
The Skills AI Cannot Automate (and Why We Keep Calling Them Soft)
Judgement, empathy, critical thinking, ethical reasoning. The capabilities that matter most in an AI world are the ones we dismiss as 'soft skills.' This talk makes the case that these are the hard skills, examines why we systematically devalue them, and shows what happens when organisations build AI strategies without them.
Science Communication Through Creative Practice
Poetry, games, and dialogue as tools for making complex ideas accessible. This talk draws on 20 years of creative practice: work performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, games played by thousands, a global best-selling textbook, and research published in Nature. For audiences interested in public engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and finding new ways to communicate what matters.
Workshops, training, and retainers
AI Adoption Audit Workshop
Your team completes the AI Adoption Audit before the session. The workshop unpacks the results: where you are over-adopting, where you are under-adopting, and what to do about both. Half-day or full-day. For leadership teams, departments, or cross-functional groups.
Critical AI Literacy Training
Structured training for staff at any level. Not how to use AI tools. How to evaluate them, question their outputs, and decide when they belong in a workflow and when they do not. Covers the common failure modes, the psychology of AI trust, and practical exercises your team can apply immediately. Available as a single session or a multi-session programme.
Ongoing Advisory Retainer
For organisations that need sustained support rather than a one-off session. Monthly check-ins, policy review, staff Q&A sessions, and direct access for emerging AI questions. Particularly suited to universities, public sector organisations, and companies navigating AI adoption across multiple teams.
'He is passionate and driven to make learning and teaching stimulating and stick. His work around cross-disciplinary working and poetry for teaching is inspirational. Sam is making a real difference to our students and staff.'
Chrissi Nerantzi, Professor in Creative and Open Education, National Teaching Fellow
'I signed up for the certificate and it feels like I have found a raft in the ocean of AI hot takes. Not exaggerating when I say I feel like you’ve saved my relationship with my job.'
Louisa Mackenzie, Higher Education Professional
Recent and upcoming
Keynote, RCA AI Festival 2026, Royal College of Art, London
Invited panellist, CIC AI Ready Webinar, Council of Independent Colleges (US)
Keynote, Institute of Physics
Invited speaker, Equity Unbound
Keynote, U!REKA EduForum, VSB Technical University of Ostrava, Czechia
Keynote, Brain to Machine Generative AI Conference, Learning Planet Institute
Keynote, ARC Speaker Series, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
Slow Takes, weekly live AI news and analysis with Leor Gayr (watch past episodes)
Also invited by
- Council of Europe (expert witness)
- European Commission (expert witness)
- Westminster Education Forum
- House of Lords Select Committee
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Google (SciFoo, Googleplex)
- NPR (All Things Considered)
- BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Scotland
- Royal Astronomical Society
- Stockholm Resilience Centre
- Swedish Research Council
- Science Foundation Ireland
- Policy Connect
- Falling Walls
- British Science Association
- Wellesley College
- Barcelona Biomedical Research Park
- University of Edinburgh
- Brock University
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Green Man Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company
Booking enquiries
Available for keynotes, workshops, training programmes, advisory retainers, panels, and webinars. In-person and online. Fees depend on format, duration, and audience.
Get in touch: sam.illingworth@gmail.com