Bill Roscoe delivered a compelling presentation on the need for trust in digital systems. His talk, “Blockchain and Verification – Trusting AI,” emphasized blockchain’s role as a “deus ex machina” for building decentralized, trustworthy systems. Roscoe discussed the challenges of creating secure voting machines and reliable AI systems, arguing that trust must be built through robust verification methods and cryptographic assurances. 

“The world is becoming increasingly partisan, and trust is eroding,” Roscoe said. “Blockchain provides a way to build integrity into our digital civilization, but only if we educate society about its importance.”