Centre for Technomoral Futures

Join us for our upcoming Technomoral Conversation on AI & Creative Labour where we'll explore ethical and political questions about the role of AI in creative practice and culture! Chaired by our CTMF Director, Professor Shannon Vallor, this event will feature: ✨ Caroline Sinders - Founder of human rights and design lab, Convocation Research + Design (CoRD Labs), and a current BRAID fellow with the University of the Arts London ✨ Dr Paula Westenberger - Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law, member of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence at Brunel University of London, and a current BRAID fellow. ✨ Richard Combes - Head of Rights and Licensing and Deputy Chief Executive for The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society This free event is part of the Edinburgh Futures Institute's Making Waves Event Season, and is run in collaboration with BRAID UK. 📅 10 April at 18.00 📍 Edinburgh Futures Institute & online 🎟️ Tickets & more info ▶️ https://edin.ac/3WJhuUH University of Edinburgh School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences | Edinburgh College of Art | The University of Edinburgh | Data-Driven Innovation Initiative | Scottish AI Alliance | #ChallengeCreateChange

We are hiring a two year Teaching and Research Fellowship at Grade 7 in the area of Artificial Intelligence, Data and the Rule of Law. https://lnkd.in/eBj6Aexi The majority of your teaching would be within Edinburgh Futures Institute, but we envisage the successful candidate being full integrated into the research environment of University of Edinburgh Law School, with opportunities to collaborate across Schools via EFI. This post is an ideal development opportunity for an earlier career scholar, who has recently completed a PhD in the area of AI, Data and Law and who is interested in developing their teaching and research portfolio.

As a CTMF PhD Fellow, Iñaki Goñi Jerez has had the opportunity to build relationships with experts in deliberative democracy and civic tech – an experience he has found to be invaluable.    With a supervisory team based in University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science, Iñaki’s research explores both how technologies shape public participation, and how the public engages in decision-making about technology itself. His research not only sheds light on the complexities of civic engagement in the digital age but also strives to create meaningful change in real-world settings!    As Iñaki continues to explore the relationship between technology and democratic participation, his work is more relevant than ever.    Read about Iñaki’s PhD journey and how his lived experience has inspired his research focus ▶️ https://edin.ac/4cemGGn    Edinburgh Futures Institute | The University of Edinburgh | Eugenia Rodrigues | Oliver Escobar | Shannon Vallor | Data-Driven Innovation Initiative | University of Edinburgh College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Just over a week to go until our Technomoral Conversation on AI & Creative Labour! We’ll be looking at issues ranging from the AI industry’s copyright violations, responses from creatives, and the wider ethical and political questions about the role of AI in creative practice and culture. Chaired by our CTMF Director, Professor Shannon Vallor, this event will feature Caroline Sinders, Dr Paula Westenberger and Richard Combes! 📅 Thursday, 10 April at 18.00  📍 Edinburgh Futures Institute & online  🎟️ Tickets & more info ▶️ https://edin.ac/3WJhuUH This free event is part of the Edinburgh Futures Institute's Making Waves Event Season, and is run in collaboration with BRAID UK. University of Edinburgh School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences | Edinburgh College of Art | University of Edinburgh College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences | The University of Edinburgh | Data-Driven Innovation Initiative | Scottish AI Alliance | #ChallengeCreateChange  

Our next talk will be with Daniel McQuillan on the 24th April on ‘Responsible AI means Decomputing’ This will be an online webinar, make sure you register here: https://lnkd.in/g7U5ahBJ

With a decade of experience as a software engineer, Meenakshi Mani experienced firsthand the complexity, messiness, and joy of building technologies. Yet beyond the thrill of coding and developing software there was an ever-present detachment and abstraction within these processes troubling her. This growing concern eventually led her to question how tech spaces and the abstractions they foster influence and shape the very domains technologies claim to benefit.    Supervised by Sian Bayne & Ben Williamson, Meenakshi's research critically examines the expanding role of the technology sector in shaping education. Having grown up in India, she was drawn to understanding how AI-powered EdTech is influencing the Indian K-12 education system, and how engineers embed specific ideas about learning and teaching into the tools they build.  Read about Meenakshi’s research and the impact it is making ▶️ https://edin.ac/41xdOH7      👉Stay tuned for more inspiring stories as part of our Technomoral Futures in Focus series!  Edinburgh Futures Institute | The University of Edinburgh | University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education and Sport | Centre for Research in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh | University of Edinburgh College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences | Shannon Vallor

📢 Closing this week! 📢    Apply by 15 March for our latest funded PhD studentship opportunity with School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh and supervised by Dr Zeerak Talat!

How can digital platforms support – or hinder – self-care in later life?  CTMF PhD Fellow Elisa Cardamone's research explores the impact of platformisation on self-care in ageing populations. Inspired by her experience caring for her grandmothers in an area with limited healthcare resources, she is dedicated to shaping a future where technology better supports older adults. Supervised by a team across Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh School of Engineering & Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Elisa works closely with communities to design more effective and inclusive digital health solutions.     Read Elisa's reflections and discover how her experiences have impacted her PhD journey ▶️ https://edin.ac/4hZsohr Edinburgh Futures Institute | The University of Edinburgh | Shannon Vallor | Data-Driven Innovation Initiative   

Last week, a group of researchers working on BRAID projects submitted a response to the UK government's consultation on #copyright and #AI. This is a great example of what BRAID is all about – bringing together a diversity of expertise and experience to tackle the challenges of implementing AI responsibly. Led by Dr Paula Westenberger and Dr Anna-Maria Sichani, the response integrates a range of academic insights.  The researchers express concerns about the proposed exception to copyright law for “text and data mining” for commercial uses with rights reservation arguing that it prioritises technological advancement without responsibly accounting for the impact on creators, the research and cultural heritage communities, the broader UK economy, and the cultural life of the nation. The document discusses the need for more tailored control over how copyright works are used, with suggestions for improvements to copyright legislation that enable creators to specify how their works can be used commercially, including in AI training.  The response also discusses the issues with the existing text and data mining exception for non-commercial research, highlighting the need for further engaging the heritage and research sectors in AI and copyright policy making. The response also touches on the benefits of greater transparency in AI development, with suggestions for mandatory disclosure of the sources of training data for AI models to ensure compliance with copyright laws and ethical standards. Overall, our researchers advocate for a regulatory framework that better protects the interests of creators, rights holders and heritage and research stakeholders, in the face of rapidly advancing AI technologies. They suggest that more responsible and ethical approaches to AI policy, regulation, development and deployment are necessary to support the creative industries and the research and heritage sectors. You can read the response here: https://lnkd.in/eenQkPbq Contributors (in alphabetical order): Professor Nick Bryan-Kinns, Professor Mercedes Bunz, Dr Clementine Collett, Dr Bahareh Heravi, Dr Kate Miltner, Dr Caterina Moruzzi, Dr Anna-Maria Sichani , Dr Bev Townsend, Dr Paula Westenberger. We thank them all! #ResponsibleAI

"This month's AI Action Summit in Paris focused on using AI to improve our lives, while also addressing issues around sustainability and inclusivity. However, the safety issue has not gone away." - Professor Desmond Higham GAIL Fellow from University of Edinburgh, School of Mathematics writes in The Herald about AI vulnerabilities