As part of our dissemination commitments, we recently attended and presented at AI UK in London (19-20 March). AI UK is organised by the Turing institute and was held at the QE II centre in Westminster. Among our DDRC team were myself, Dr. McClure, Prof. Yates from Liverpool, Prof. Christmas from University of Exeter, and a number of our colleagues from DSTL also in attendance. We had a full stall (pictured below) from where we engaged with different interested parties from the over 1,500 conference attendees.

Workshop and Presentation

Perhaps our most notable contribution to AI UK was a workshop and presentation given by Prof. Yates, Dr. McClure and myself. This consisted of a condensed version of the LEGO® workshops we have been conducting nationwide as part of our ‘attitudes to data’ work stream. Due to the nature of our workshop (there is only so much LEGO® to go around!) and the limited space of the room, attendance was limited to participants who signed up in advance, with a limit of 8 ‘walk-ins’ available. We were collectively blown away by our popularity, and all available spaces were taken within twenty minutes of them being available on the AI UK website.

With the lure of playing with LEGO® hard to resist, we delivered our talk to a full-capacity room of participants from across industry, academia, the public sector, and beyond. Our workshops involve a shared group task involving a challenge for participants to model data relationships in their organisation using the pieces of LEGO® provided to them. This is a collaborative exercise, designed to get participants talking and interacting with one another. They then present their findings to the rest of the room. We had to alter this exercise slightly, with a slightly larger room and different timings to account for.

However, what was particularly notable was the reflections of participants often being similar to that of our workshops. We heard of the challenges of ‘unknowable data lakes’, regulatory challenges, firewalls, VPN’s, compromised data, and ‘workarounds’ when concerns of both access and security collided. Following the exercise, we presented our current findings, noting some of the common themes between our research participants and the contributions of those in the room. Finally, we held a short Q&A with our guests. This was positively received with questions around our findings and methods complemented with our participants feedback on their experience of the day. This was also an overwhelmingly positive experience with the innovative nature of our research proving extremely popular.

Other talks

The other events available at AI UK included an array of topics including AI in the public sector, AI ethics, sustainable cities, women in AI, AI standards, and popular cultural understandings of AI. Notable speakers included, but were not limited to:

• Saqib Bhatti MP (Emphasized the importance of AI innovation and safety)
• Sougwen Chung (Artist – Explored the intersection of art and technology)
• Michael Wooldridge (University of Oxford – Explored practical uses of AI, such as data cleaning)
• Mhairi Aitken (Ethics Fellow, ATI, Highlighted ethical considerations in AI implementation)
• Jonathan Bright (Turing Institute – Discussed AI’s role in public sector innovation)
• John Mildenhall (Explored AI applications in retail)
• Professor Steven Meers (DSTL – Discussed AI’s impact on defence and decision-making)
• Billy Perrigo (Time Magazine – Highlighted labour issues in AI development)
• Karen Gregory (University of Edinburgh – Explored gendered harms in online spaces)
• Mophat Okinyi (Techworker Community Africa – Shared personal experience in AI labour)

The AI UK event served as a platform for in-depth discussions and insights into the multifaceted landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) within the United Kingdom. Attendees engaged in conversations surrounding AI safety, emphasizing the importance of fostering innovation while ensuring ethical standards and safety protocols. Talks delved into various applications of AI, ranging from healthcare and security to tackling disinformation and deepfakes. Additionally, discussions explored the role of AI in defence, highlighting its potential to enhance decision-making processes and operational efficiency while emphasizing the need for robust ethical frameworks. Moreover, the event addressed the impact of AI on labour dynamics, including concerns about digital skill gaps and online harms, while also exploring strategies to leverage AI for productivity enhancement and addressing gender disparities. Throughout the event, there was a strong emphasis on collaboration, regulation, and responsible innovation to harness the full potential of AI for the benefit of UK society and a generally positive outlook.

Final Remarks

To conclude, we were pleased with our workshop, presentation, and the positive reception and feedback we received. The event delivered a number of networking opportunities with diverse private industry, public sector, and research sector contacts. We were also delighted by the broad scope of the talks and workshops available.  We are deeply appreciative of the diverse platform provided by AI UK to disseminate our research and would like to extend our gratitude to the organisers for providing a fascinating event.

Disclaimer

Our work is in no way affiliated with nor funded by the LEGO® Group. LEGO® Serious Play® is open source and available under the Creative Commons licence ‘Attribution Share Alike’. Further information.