The Scottish AI Alliance Podcast

Building Responsible AI Cultures and Alliances - Virginia Dignum & Albert King

This episode of Turing’s Triple Helix is a recording of a discussion organised by the Centre for Technomoral Futures.

It is a discussion between Albert King of the Scottish Government and Virginia Dignum of Umea University hosted by Shannon Vallor, Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh. 

Background

The European Union and the Scottish government have each expressed commitments to fostering responsible and ethical AI development.

• What opportunities and obstacles lie ahead on that path?
• What new alliances and governance cultures are needed to bring the ideal of ‘Responsible AI’ into existence?
• How can we build and sustain these by bridging the technical and moral demands of responsible AI innovation and governance?

Participants

• Virginia Dignum: Virginia Dignum is Professor of Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Umeå University, Sweden and associated with the TU Delft in the Netherlands. She is the director of WASP-HS, the Wallenberg Program on Humanities and Society for AI, Autonomous Systems and Software, the largest Swedish national research program on fundamental multidisciplinary research on the societal and human impact of AI.

• Albert King: As Chief Data Officer in The Scottish Government he leads the Data & Digital Identity Division: the centre of excellence for data in government. He is passionate about unlocking the power of data in Scotland focusing on trust, transparency, inclusion, innovation, and sustainability.

• Shannon Vallor: Baillie Gifford Professor in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence in the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Philosophy. Shannon serves as Director of the Centre for Technomoral Futures in the Edinburgh Futures Institute and is a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.

Links:

• https://www.technomoralfutures.uk/ 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

Can AI help improve our mental health?

In this episode of Turing's Triple Helix we discuss the use of artificial intelligence and whether it can help us with our mental health. We were joined by: 

• Michael McTernan, CEO of UB-OK, a start up that creates Artificial Intelligence driven conversations that help people track and manage their mental wellbeing 
• Richard Rutnagur, Director of Strategic and Business Development at the Scottish Association for Mental Health who work in communities to provide a range of mental health support and services.

Links: 

• SAMH: https://www.samh.org.uk/ 
• UB-OK: https://www.ubok.app/ 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

Scaling Up Wildlife Conservation and Biodiversity using AI

In this episode, we discuss wildlife conservation and biodiversity with Emily Charry Tissier, CEO and Co-Founder at Whale Seeker, a Montreal-based startup that leverages AI to simplify whale monitoring and Post-doctoral Research Assistant Robin Whytock. Robin’s research focuses on using cutting-edge technological solutions to understand and predict how forest biodiversity responds to environmental change, and to understand how wild resources can be managed sustainably.

Scottish AI Summit - Teaser Podcast

In this episode of Turing's Triple Helix, we find out more about the upcoming Scottish AI Summit with Technology Journalist and Filmmaker Nick Kwek who will be hosting the event! 

The Scottish AI Summit is an online and in-person event that combines keynotes and content submitted by Scotland's AI community and is an opportunity for delegates to hear from leading AI experts from Scotland and beyond and get involved in a wide range of discussions and workshops.

Get your tickets here: https://www.scottishaisummit.com/

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

Goodbye Shiny Robots & Glowing Brains: Why Better Images of AI Matter

In this episode, we caught up with Tania Duarte and Patricia Gestoso of We and AI to discuss their Better Images of AI project.

Better Images of AI is a collaboration between We and AI, BBC R&D and The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence aiming to create a repository of images that better represent the capabilities of AI. 

Links: 

• Better Images of AI: https://betterimagesofai.org/images 
• We and AI: https://weandai.org/ 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

Towards a Vision for Next-Generation AI

In this episode, we discussed what is meant by next-generation AI and what might be some of the next steps in AI development. The podcast acts as a teaser for the upcoming event organised by the University of Edinburgh, the Bayes Centre, and the Alan Turing Institute that aims to bring together the UK AI community to develop a vision and roadmap for future AI research.

Guests:

• Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Chair of Robot Learning and Autonomy and Director of the Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics.
• Professor Michael Rovatsos is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Deputy Vice Principal of Research and Director of The Bayes Centre. 

Links: 

• Towards a Vision for Next-Generation AI event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/towards-a-vision-for-next-generation-ai-tickets-268052350797?s=09 
• Scottish AI Summit agenda: https://www.scottishaisummit.com/agenda 

 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

AI Powered Text Analysis: Improving the Student Experience

In this episode, we caught up with Dr. Stuart Grey, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Systems Design at the University of Glasgow and founder of StudentVoice, a machine learning platform focussed on analysing student feedback.

Links:

• https://www.studentvoice.ai/
• https://www.stugrey.com/ 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/  

AI and Breast Cancer Screening: keeping the human in the loop

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Gerald Lip, Clinical Director of the North East of Scotland Breast Screening Programme and Consultant Radiologist with NHS Grampian. He was joined by Rosie and Liz, who are both part of the patient partner team at the University of Aberdeen. 

They discussed the current breast screening programme in Scotland and the implications of using artificial intelligence to detect cancers. 

Links:

• NHS Grampian: https://www.nhsgrampian.org/ 
• Breast Screening in Scotland: https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/screening/breast/breast-screening-centres-in-scotland 

 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/   

Accelerating AI in Scotland: what start-ups need to thrive

In this episode, we find out about the thriving start-up ecosystem in Scotland with a focus on the AI Accelerator delivered by the Bayes Centre and Edinburgh Innovations.

We spoke with:

• Katy Guthrie: AI Accelerator Programme Manager at Edinburgh Innovations
• Craig Mackay: Co-Founder at Sharktower 
• Gianluca Maruzzella: Co-founder & CEO at Indigo.ai

Craig is an alumnus of the AI Accelerator programme and Gianluca is part of the current cohort. 

 

Links:

• Edinburgh Innovations: https://edinburgh-innovations.ed.ac.uk/ 
• Sharktower: https://sharktower.com/ 
• Indigo.ai: https://indigo.ai/en/ 

 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/ 

Scotland a Digital Nation

In this episode of Turing's Triple Helix we look at three national strategies which aim to realise Scotland's vision to become a digital nation. 

We were joined by representatives of the three key government initiatives driving this change. 

Guests: 

• Mark Logan, Professor at the School of Computing Science
  at the University of Glasgow and author of the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review. 
• Mark Huggins, Digital Director for The Scottish Government representing the national digital strategy named: "A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world"
  Albert King, Chief Data Officer at the Scottish Government representing Scotland's AI Strategy. 

Host

• Steph Wright, Head of the Scottish AI Alliance Support Circle

Links

Transcript: https://www.scotlandaistrategy.com/news/new-podcast-scotland-a-digital-nation 

The Strategies:

• STER Review: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-technology-ecosystem-review/ 
• Digital Strategy: https://www.gov.scot/publications/a-changing-nation-how-scotland-will-thrive-in-a-digital-world/ 
• Scotland's AI Strategy:  https://www.scotlandaistrategy.com/the-strategy 

Events mentioned:

• CivTech Demo Day: https://www.civtechdemoday.com/ 
• Scottish AI Summit: https://www.scottishaisummit.com/ 

Original music from Post Coal Prom Queen: https://www.postcoalpromqueen.com/