The University of Glasgow is to host leading figures from the UK’s artificial intelligence (AI) community at a three-day conference this week.
From Wedensday 2 October until Friday 4 October, the Lovelace-Hodgkin Symposium will bring together academics, researchers and policymakers to consider and tackle the complex ethical challenges posed by AI.
The event, at the at the University’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre, will inform the development of a groundbreaking new course on AI ethics.
The course, which aims to provide students with the skills required to think critically about how AI is developed, consumed, and communicated, will be co-created by students and led by the University’s Dr Ciorsdaidh Watts and Dr Lydia Bach.
Speakers from the University’s research and student communities will present and participate in workshops alongside representatives of organisations including the Alan Turing Institute, the Scottish AI Alliance, the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the European Network Against Racism. The event will be closed with an address from Clare Adamson MSP.
The first day of the symposium will examine the current state of AI, with a focus on higher education, culminating in a panel discussion on AI in research and teaching, with senior university figures as well as voices from the student body.
The second day will focus on approaches to tackle inequality and bias in AI, featuring discussions on AI and race, gender, the environment, children’s rights, and how AI is communicated and consumed.
The final day will involve participants collaborating to create an ethical framework for inclusive AI. They will outline a series of actionable steps and priorities for academic institutions, which will be used to underpin the development of a future online course on ethical AI use for undergraduate students. The development of the course, which will be launched next year, is supported by a grant from the University’s Learning and Teaching Development Fund.
The symposium was conceived by Dr Watts and Dr Bach as a response to the urgent need for ethical literacy in emerging technologies in higher education and beyond.
The event has been organised with support from the University’s Centre for Data Science & AI, launched in September last year. The Centre brings together hundreds of academics from across the University’s four Colleges with the aim of tackling global grand challenges and creating a better future for all.
Professor Ana Basiri is director of the Centre for Data Science & AI. She said:
“We’re delighted to be hosting the Lovelace-Hodgkin Symposium with the support of key stakeholders from inside and outside the University of Glasgow. Together, we will examine the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence across a wide range of perspectives, amplifying the voices of individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences.
“At the heart of all the discussions will be considerations of the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, tying into the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide inclusive, trustworthy and equitable AI to its citizens. We will explore how the power of AI can be best harnessed in the years to come to serve as a tool for positive change and community-building across higher education.”
Dr Ciorsdaidh Watts, a senior lecturer in the School of Chemistry, said:
“AI is already changing the face of education, affecting how we teach, learn and conduct research. Involving students as key contributors in the symposium will help us understand how they currently relate to AI. Their input will inform the development of the online course, which will help guide students in using AI responsibly, critiquing the use of AI from multiple angles, and advocating for inclusive AI use.”
“I’m looking forward to welcoming attendees to the symposium, where we will work together to drive forward progress in AI ethics.”
The event is named in honour of Ada Lovelace, the pioneering 19th-century mathematician who recognised the early potential of computing, and Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who made key contributions to the development of X-ray crystallography and who advocated for social justice throughout her life.