Data and AI policy: navigating risk, trust and opportunity
Data and AI can transform public services, but only if they’re deployed safely, transparently and with public trust. In this masterclass, world‑leading University of Edinburgh experts share practical policy insights from a recent stakeholder assembly involving government, industry and citizens. We’ll explore what good governance looks like in practice — how to involve the public, manage risk, and build ethical, mutually beneficial partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Speakers:
Professor Marion Thain, Director, Edinburgh Futures Institute, The University of Edinburgh
Marion Thain comes to Edinburgh Futures Institute from her role as Professor of Culture and Technology at King’s College London, where she was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities for 6 years. While at King’s she founded and led the Digital Futures Institute, which grew out of her Centre for Attention Studies. She began her career as a Junior Research Fellow at Cambridge University, and worked in English departments at Russell Group universities before moving to New York University as a professor of Arts and Literature (in English and the school of the interdisciplinary global liberal arts) and Director of Digital Humanities. She returned to the UK in 2018. Marion is interested particularly in the relationship between culture and technology (considering ‘technology’ in the broadest sense), and in formations of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. Details can be found at https://www.marionthain.org
Professor Micheal Rovatsos, Professor of AI, School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh
Michael Rovatsos is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. He has over 25 years of experience in AI research, where he develops AI algorithms and architectures to support collaboration between human and/or artificial agents. For the past ten years, his research has focused primarily on ethical and responsible AI. Since 2017, he has held key leadership roles at the University as Director of The Bayes Centre, Deputy Vice Principal for AI, and institutional lead on AI adoption. He currently serves on the Scottish Government's Tech Council, the Board of The Data Lab and acts as academic University liaison at the Alan Turing Institute. He has published over 100 scientific articles on various topics in AI, and has been involved in research and innovation projects that have received over £20 million of external funding.
Professor Julie Jacko, Chair of Health Informatics & Data Science, Centre for medical informatics, The University of Edinburgh
Professor Julie Jacko is an internationally recognised leader in AI- and data-enabled health innovation, with leadership experience across the United Kingdom and the United States. She works at the intersection of academia, healthcare systems and industry to accelerate the translation of digital and data science advances into improved health outcomes.
She is Chaired Professor of Health Informatics and Data Science and Dean of Innovation and Engagement in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where she provides strategic leadership for innovation, translation and partnership across one of the UK’s largest academic health and life sciences ecosystems. Her work focuses on human-centred AI, digital health systems and the responsible use of data to transform healthcare delivery and population health.
Professor Jacko contributes to national science and innovation strategy through her appointment to the Scottish Science Advisory Council and to UK-wide initiatives on digital research infrastructure and health data. Earlier in her career, she received the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), one of the highest honours bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers.