Living With AI Podcast: Challenges of Living with Artificial Intelligence

We're rounding off this season of Living with AI with a bonus episode! We'll meet three Early Career Researchers (ECRs) who have benefitted from a TAShub grant. We'll find out what they did with the grants, how the money benefitted them and what legacy TAS leaves. ECRs: Andriana Boudouraki specialised in telepresence: https://andrianaboudouraki.com/ Balint Gyevnar specialised in explainable AI in applications such as Autonomous Vehicles: Bálint Gyevnár (gbalint.me) https://gbalint.me/ Eike Schneiders focussed on the role of responsible AI in interpersonal relationships Eike Schneiders, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor | HCI/HRI Research https://eikeschneiders.github.io/ Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

As the Internet expands through paradigms like the Internet of Things (IoT), massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, videotelephony and the Metaverse, Autonomous Systems (AS) are increasingly used to mediate society’s dataflows. These systems are often promoted as resource-efficient and used to mitigate the impact of the Internet’s expanding data-driven ecosystem. Because of their ubiquity and scale, the environmental impacts of hyper-scale autonomous systems are intensifying and their sustainable trustworthiness is frequently undermined. Using methods from Design, Human Computing Interaction and Science & Technology Studies research, this project collaborated with people such as technologists, policy-makers and citizen end-users. The idea was to rethink current AS infrastructures and anticipate resilient and efficient digital energy transition pathways for Resource Responsible Trustworthy Autonomous Systems design. Project website: https://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/project/internet-zero/ Joining the podcast are: · Dr Michael Stead – Lecturer in Sustainable Design Futures – Imagination Design Research Lab – Lancaster University · Professor Paul Coulton – Chair in Speculative and Game Design – Imagination Design Research Lab – Lancaster University · Dr Neelima Sailaja – Assistant Professor – Horizon Digital Economy Research Centre – University of Nottingham · Dr Ola Michalec – Research Fellow – School of Computer Science – University of Bristol Also involved in the project: · Dr Nuri Kwon – Senior Research Associate – Imagination Design Research Lab – Lancaster University Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Forest protection is essential to mitigating climate change, and a major objective of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership established at COP27. The ASPEN project aims to develop an integrated framework for the autonomous detection, diagnosis and treatment of tree pests and diseases while trialling key components. Co-delivered by a multidisciplinary team, with UK Forestry Commission and industry partners, ASPEN wants to advance the sociotechnical feasibility of managing tree health through improving the application of machine learning to remote sensing forest data, trialling autonomous sampling for diagnosis and treatment deployment, and crystallising the governance context of these systems. Project website: Autonomous Systems for Forest ProtEctioN – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Podcast Guests: Dr Seumas Bates, Research Officer in Environmental Social Science Dr Calum Imrie, Research Associate - University of York Acknowledgement: Norman Dandy Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Discussing what AI could bring to the energy grid. Can we trust artificial intelligence systems to improve the supply, either to improve reliability, efficiency or ecology? We learn about the four "D"s of energy: Democratisation Digitisation Decarbonised. Decentralised Guest: Professor Zhong Fan Net Zero Energy Systems , Exeter University. Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Effective embedding of robotics and autonomous systems for social care will require alignment across many levels. This project seeks to move from the imaginary to the concrete by using an actual robot to help with dressing people, and imagining how this might integrate within the existing health-social care ecosystem in the UK. Employing Lego Serious Play as a tool for creative exploration, the project wants to build a physical map of this system in order to identify agents and obstacles which may influence trust in, and therefore the integration of, this robot, and experiment with potential reconfigurations. The project is also conducting a series of interviews in the lab where the dressing robot is being developed, in order to understand how engineers make technical decisions. Find our more information at the website: Mapping trustworthy systems for RAS in social care (MAP-RAS) – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Guest: Stevienna de Saille, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Sheffield Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Does academia lead and industry follow? Or are there breakthroughs made on both sides? How siloed is AI innovation? We discuss some of the Innovate UK initiatives to bridge industry and academia. Guest: Trias Gkikopoulos, Innovation Lead - Robotics & Artificial Intelligence at Innovate UK Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Democratic elections should be both free and fair, but also that citizens believe that the elections are free and fair. It is also essential that the institutions in charge of managing elections are trusted in the delivery of these goals. Regulators struggle to keep up with technological developments, and many are under-resourced and time-poor. The integrity of elections is under attack, so a focus on getting these things right is more important than ever. The "Delivering Trustworthy Electoral Oversight" project investigates a natural language processing model that can classify and analyse election spending returns in near real time. Without good quality information, concerns about electoral integrity foment so this project aims to address that issue. Project website: Delivering Trustworthy Electoral Oversight – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Podcast guest: Sam Power, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Sussex Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Mobile phones store valuable information about geographical movements, communications behaviours and online browsing history. They are increasingly used as a source of evidence in criminal investigations. The Mobile Phone Extraction (MPE) process, involves making copies of a device belonging to suspects, victims or witnesses. The extracted data is examined by police and others in the criminal justice system during ongoing investigations. There is a crisis of trust and practice in MPE. This project addresses the crisis by supporting development of a trustworthy and useful platform for MPE. The project partnered with experts in software development (Telemarq) and digital forensics (Hargs Solutions). Project webpage: Trustworthy and Useful Tools for Mobile Phone Extraction – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Joining us on the podcast: 1. Helena Webb, Transitional Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham 2. Liz Dowthwaite, Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham 3. Anna-Maria Piskopani, Research Fellow in IT Law, Horizon Institute of Digital Economy, University of Nottingham Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

To solve the big questions of autonomy and transport, collaboration is essential. Our guest on this episode is Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Safe Autonomy, WMG, University of Warwick. Siddartha emphasizes some of the huge challenges in transport with regards AI and we discuss these safety critical scenarios. Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

With generative AI creation tools for language, images and videos plus algorithmically curated social media feeds, it can feel as though AI is muscling in on a previously human domain. We discuss some of the digital regulation around AI in the creative industries. Guest: Martin Kretschmer, Director, CREATe, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, School of Law | College of Social Sciences | ARC | University of Glasgow Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Exploring themes of risk and trust and autonomous systems, we're discussing a project where professional dancers with disabilities dance with robots. The project exposes interesting challenges with choreography & safety as well as expression and creativity. Guests: Professor Sarah Whatley, Director and Professor, Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University Paul Tennent (Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Nottingham) Kate Marsh (Assistant Professor, Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University) More information about the project: Robots as dancing partners; somatic interventions – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

The Reformist Project is developing an AI support tool to speed up decision making in critical healthcare situations. Use of this could revolutionise the necessary meetings where different clinicians assemble to plan patient care. Guests on this episode: Ganesh Vigneswaran, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Interventional Radiology, University of Southampton Tim Underwood - Professor of gastrointestinal surgery, University of Southampton For more information on the project: REFORMIST: Mirrored decision support fRamEwork FOR Multidiciplinary Teams in Oesophageal cancer – UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub (tas.ac.uk) Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Will machine learning abide by the rules of war? We're talking AI & defence and whether AI is already revolutionising the battlefield. Our guest is Professor Chris Johnson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, (Engineering and Physical Sciences), Queen’s University Belfast Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

From deep fakes to voice assistants, AI audio is ubiquitous yet often overlooked. Dr Jennifer Williams tells Sean all about the project: "The Next Big Thing in Trustworthy AI: Codesign of Context Aware Trustworthy Audio Capture" which asks the question "Do we really trust the autonomous audio systems (AAUS) that exist around us?" This is the final episode in this season's Living with AI, we hope you've enjoyed listening and hopefully we'll see you next season! If "Living with AI" floats your boat and you're looking for a new podcast, you might like to check out 'Robot Talk' - here's an episode from last year featuring TAShub director Gopal: Episode 24 – Gopal Ramchurn - Robot Talk Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Misinformation online is a huge problem. How can you trust the things you read? Jeremie Clos joins Sean to discuss the project "Privacy Preserving Detection of Online Misinformation" Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

This projects episode features four TAS Hub projects associated with Health and Social Care: 1. Tunde Ashaolu - DAISY 2. Yasmeen Rafiq - Verifiably Human-Centric Robot Assisted Dressing 3. Cian O’Donovan - Empowering Future Care Workforces 4. Navamayooran Thavanesan – Imaging predictors of Oesophageal Cancer MDT patient outcomes Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

We're discussing AI and the arts, featuring Blast Theory with a discussion of their latest work 'Cat Royale' where an autonomous system attempts to create a cat utopia. Feature interview with Matt & Ju from Blast Theory recorded on May 11th 2023 Panel Discussion recorded on May 26th 2023 On the panel we have: Tim Smith-Laing Executive Master Programme Director of the Royal Academy of Arts Ali Hossaini a TAS artist in residence Steve Benford, TAS Creative Lead, Founder of the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham. Chat GPT summary when prompted to talk about the lionisation of art: "In summary, AI's role in making art more accessible is indeed a positive development. By removing barriers and providing opportunities for engagement, AI can contribute to a more inclusive and diverse appreciation of art, empowering individuals to explore and connect with the artistic world in ways they may have thought were unattainable." A few notes: Blast Theory: Blast Theory Cat Royale: Welcome to Cat Royale | Blast Theory 55mins Ali: Bach music mentions: Pablo Casals - Wikipedia Yo-Yo Ma - Wikipedia 1hr 8mins Tim: Lotus Eaters: Lotus-eaters - Wikipedia Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

Two projects loosely under the umbrella of the environment. This episode was recorded on May 10th 2023 Calum Corrie Imrie - Preserving Marine Life in a Shipping World: AI to the Rescue (PREVAIL) Karl Dickinson - AgriTrust Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website

This is a projects episode where we discuss four TAS Hub projects related to equality: Guests featured on this podcast: 1. Marise Galvez Trigo - Trustworthy Accessible Robots for Inclusive Cultural experienceS (TARICS) 2. Lauren White - Reimagining TAS with Disabled Young People 3. Efpraxia Zamani - Intersectional Approaches to Design and Deployment of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems 4. Peta Masters - TAS Benchmarks Library and Critical Review Podcast Host: Sean Riley The UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub Website