37.1745, Summer Schools: Language, Speech, and AI: An Online Forensics Summer School (2026) (United Kingdom)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1745. Wed May 13 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1745, Summer Schools: Language, Speech, and AI: An Online Forensics Summer School (2026) (United Kingdom)

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Date: 09-May-2026
From: Professor Claire Hardaker [factor at lancaster.ac.uk]
Subject: Language, Speech, and AI: An Online Forensics Summer School (2026)


Language, Speech, and AI: An Online Forensics Summer School (2026)

Host Institution: Lancaster University
Website:
https://preview.lancs.ac.uk/social-sciences/events/language-speech-and-ai-an-online-forensics-summer-school-2026/

Dates: 11-Jun-2026 - 12-Jun-2026
Location: Teams, United Kingdom

Minimum Education Level: Open to complete beginners onwards

Focus: Forensic linguistics, forensic speech science, and artificial
intelligence
Description:
The theme of this year's Forensics Summer School will be protection,
privacy, and proactive synthesis. In different words, we’re looking at
questions like: is it possible to protect our voices from malicious
actors who might want to clone us whilst still being recognisable to
people around us? Further along the scale, can AI keep our identities
fully withheld in sensitive contexts such as when we’re giving
anonymous tip-offs, providing evidence in risky criminal proceedings,
or even working undercover? And how much of our linguistic output do
we need to think about when attempting this? We’ll start the summer
school with interactive experiments (you can, of course, opt out of
any of these) and we'll bring you back the results by the end. What
will those experiments be? Well, you’ll have to attend to find out
more. See the timetable for more.
Times and dates
Thursday 11 June 2026, 9:30am to Friday 12 June 2026, 2:45pm
Registration
Tickets for the FACTOR Summer School 2026 are £40 each. This includes
access to all sessions and materials across both days. This Summer
School is aimed at complete beginners. You do not need any knowledge
of forensic linguistics or forensic speech science. However, you do
need to be aged 16 or above. To take part you will need to purchase a
ticket. Note that last year, tickets sold out several weeks before the
event. To ensure speedy access to the webinar on the day, use the same
name and email address for purchase, registering, and joining.
Getting here
That’s the great thing – you don’t need to. In even years, the Summer
School runs online on Teams. You could always just visit Lancaster
anyway because it’s beautiful and worth the trip, but we'll all be on
Teams, so if you’re right round the globe, on a budget, and/or fitting
this into a busy schedule, we’ve got you covered.
Speakers
Professor Claire Hardaker (Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster
University): I research aggression, deception, and manipulation,
particularly in large amounts of online data.
Dr Georgina Brown (Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster
University): I carry out research within forensic speech science where
I am ultimately interested in voice analysis for forensic and
investigative purposes. I have become involved in topics including
forensic speech technology, voice data privacy, training and testing
in forensic voice analysis, explainability and the growing
capabilities of AI-generated voices. I have worked on some of these
topics in collaboration with external partners in industry and the
public sector.
Dr Justin Lo (Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University):
Forensic phonetician and Lecturer in Security and Protection Science
Final note
Each even year (2026, 2028, etc.) is an online partial rerun of the
previous, in-person, odd-numbered year (2025, 2027, etc.). In
different words, if you attended the 2025 Summer School, you will find
that we recap some of those same basic concepts, but also, because
things in this field are moving so quickly, we introduce new topics,
developments, and results too.

Linguistic Field(s): Forensic Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Registration Open until 10-Jun-2026

Contact Person: Professor Claire Hardaker
                Email: factor at lancaster.ac.uk

Apply on the web:
https://lancasteruk.estore.flywire.com/products/factor-forensic-linguistics--speech-science-summer-school-2025-311382

Registration Instructions:
No application required



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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1745
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