WIREDGOV

Read techUK Head of Programme for Cloud, Data, Analytics and AI Sue Daley's recap of the 2018 AI Summit.

On 13 -14 June the AI Summit was held as part of London Tech Week. techUK was thrilled to be a strategic partner of the AI Summit for the second time. With presentations, demos and case studies from across the UK AI community, including many techUK members, this event brought to life the opportunities and potential of AI to the whole of the UK economy and society. The value of AI to impact sectors from transport, maritime, healthcare, finance and even pizza delivery was discussed across different Streams during the event.

A common theme that ran throughout all the events sessions was the evolution and speed of progress being made in AI technologies, including chatbots and facial recognition, over the last twelve months. It was also clear from the discussions happening throughout the event that trust and the ethical issues raised by AI developments are on the minds of industry leaders. techUK’s head of AI Sue Daley chaired a panel session on why ethical decision making is good for businesses with contributions from Maria Axente, AI Programme Driver PwC, Jonathan Ebsworth, AI and Intelligent Automation Partner and Ana Perales, Director Strategic Transformation, Barclays. This panel discussed how businesses should start to embed ethics into the business practices that exist today and also the possible role of the UK Government’s new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to help convene the community to consider how to take forward the clear interest in understanding what ethical, responsible AI innovation means in practice. Other panels focusing on ethics at the AI Summit considered why ethical design is essential for success, what practical ethical design looks like and the morals of AI.

techUK’s CEO Julian David also raised the issue of ethics in his keynote speech on how to secure the UK’s AI Leadership highlighting how the UK can become the world leader in the development of ethical AI. He stressed that the UK has an opportunity to create the right environment for industry, academia and policy makers to come together and develop and then put into action ethical AI innovation and decision-making. By doing so the UK can “not only secure and maintain its position as a global leader in AI, but be seen as leading and driving the world in not just thinking about ethics but in taking forward real action.”

techUK looks forward to supporting the AI Summit again in 2019 and looks forward to witnessing the progress made in the next twelve months as the UK becomes truly AI ready. If you would like to get involved in techUK’s work to help make this happen and move the AI market forward, please get in touch.