WVU ‘cyber summit’ will address worries over AI, other concerns
Trending
MORGANTOWN - Artificial Intelligence is more than a soothing, well-modulated voice emanating from a speaker - to remind you of that oil change for your car next Tuesday.
Much more.
The U.S. and countries abroad are grappling these days with the not-so-benign aspects of AI, and the worry that its so-called agents will continue to go rogue while overriding the guardrails of control.
A fear for the worst - of the worst-case, dystopian, sci-fi-fueled scenario - is that the technology will ultimately threaten the existence of humankind.
If nothing else, those same watchers say, societies dependent upon the digital domain will still have their pillars corrupted by bad actors (human) manipulating the technology in order to steal money and, more importantly, personal information.
With that, West Virginia University later this month is hosting a gathering right from the above headlines.
The Mountain State Cyber Summit will be Oct. 28 at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place and will bring together the top figures right in front of the grid, as it were.
Michael Gregg, the chief information officer at Palo Alto Networks, will deliver keynote remarks.
Others from the public and private sectors will hold sessions and discussions examining how cyber and other emerging technologies are impacting the workforce, national security and critical infrastructure.
WVU Cyber, which was founded by the state's flagship university motivated by all of the above, is hosting the summit with Tech Yeah, a Bridgeport network that brings technology and technology players together.
For the full rundown of speakers and sessions, visit https://cyber.wvu.edu - where you'll see photographs and a recap from last year's inaugural summit.
More than 600 tech practitioners, plus government and academic leaders gave a new look at the new world then.
Bill Walker, who was tapped as WVU Cyber's executive director, gave a glimpse in 2025 to that new reality - which remains very much present a year later.
"Over a billion cyberattacks occur globally every day," he said then.
"Breaches are up 75% year over year, and cybercrime will cost $23 trillion by 2027," Walker continued.
"Cyber is not one discipline. It is a full ecosystem that requires academia, government and industry to tackle threats and challenges together."