This week, a series of AI fringe events are being hosted across the UK to complement the UK Government’s AI Safety Summit by bringing a broad and diverse range of voices into the conversation. The AI Fringe will thus expand discussion around safe and responsible AI beyond the AI Safety Summit’s focus on Frontier AI safety.
The UCL x AI Fringe event featured the panel “Delivering on the UK AI vision as a global leader for AI assurance: An expert community driven approach” organised by Data for Policy founder Zeynep Engin.
Chair Dr Tirath Virdee (Xeno AI) and panellists Nuala Polo (Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), Shakeel Khan (Validate AI) and Charles Kerrigan (CMS, UK) provided lively commentary on AI assurance from the different viewpoints of policymaker, lawyer and technologist.
Panel Biographies
Tirath Virdee, Xeno AI (Chair): Tirath is the Executive Officer of Xeno AI. He is deeply involved in researching, applying and writing about Artificial Intelligence, data and blockchains. He is the founder of Xenesis, DRE Digital, Data Alchemy, member of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on AI and Blockchain, and advisor to the Scottish Government on AI strategy. Formerly, he was the Director of Artificial Intelligence at Capita plc, Director of Advanced Technology Group at Siemens AG, and a physicist for UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Breeder Reactor Programme.
Zeynep Engin, Data for Policy CIC (Organiser): Zeynep is the founding director of Data for Policy, an independent initiative to promote interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral discussion for more efficient use of data in policy making processes. The inaugural conference was held at the University of Cambridge in 2015, and the initiative receives further support from many prominent institutions including LSE, Imperial College, UCL, University of Oxford, Office for National Statistics, Royal Statistical Society and other key stakeholders. She is also an Editor in Chief of the Data & Policy Journal, a peer-reviewed, open access venue dedicated to the potential of data science to address important policy challenges.
Nuala Polo, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (Panellist): Nuala Polo is a Policy Advisor at the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) working in the AI Assurance team. Her work focuses on exploring the role of tools for trustworthy AI, like assurance techniques and standards, to manage risks, build trust, and support AI governance. She was the lead author of the CDEI’s Industry Temperature Check report, which identified industry barriers to engaging with tools for trustworthy AI in the HR & recruitment, finance, and connected and automated vehicle (CAV) sectors. Nuala holds an MSc Cognition in Science and Society from the University of Edinburgh, with a focus on AI Ethics, and BA Combined Honours in History of Science & Technology and Philosophy with a minor in Mathematics from the University of King’s College. Prior to her role at CDEI, Nuala worked as a consultant for an AI Ethics consultancy firm, and led dissemination and communication activities for Horizon-2020 funded research projects focused on the ethical implications of disruptive and emerging technologies, including SHERPA and TECHETHOS.
Shakeel Khan, Validate AI (Panellist): Shakeel is a co-founder and CEO at Validate AI Community Interest Company. He has been a great advocate of Artificial Intelligence supporting capability building in HMRC as well as sharing his expertise across government departments and tax administrations globally over the last decade. Prior to this he worked in Financial Services leading some major supervised and unsupervised machine learning initiatives for 10 years. In the last five years he has worked closely with academics with extensive tacit industry knowledge to develop a novel Data Science Masterclass program. He graduated with a Masters in Operational Research at Strathclyde Business School which has greatly aided his ability over his career to deliver in the AI field combining maths, programming and problem structuring methods. His extensive experience across private, public and academic sectors has also enabled him to benefit from the notion of the triple helix model.
Charles Kerrigan, CMS UK (Panellist): Charles is a specialist in emerging technologies including Web3 and AI. He works on corporate finance and venture capital transactions in crypto, tokenisation and AI. He works on consulting projects on blockchain and AI for public bodies, policy makers, standards institutions, and corporations. He sits on the Advisory boards of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain (APPG Blockchain). He is an expert consultant to the UNCITRAL UNIDROIT group on legal issues related to the digital economy. He is author of: AI, Machine Learning & Big Data (Global Legal Group, 2022); Artificial Intelligence Law and Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2022); Crypto and Digital Assets Law and Regulation (Sweet and Maxwell, 2023).