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New Turing AI Fellow to put people at the heart of AI decision-making

Published: 27 November 2020
Dr Sebastian Stein
Dr Sebastian Stein will develop and trial citizen-centric AI systems in a range of applications.

Innovative research focused on developing trusted artificial intelligence (AI) systems will put people at their heart, involved in active decision-making, rather than having them act as passive providers of data.

The work has earned a prestigious Turing AI Acceleration Fellowship for Dr Sebastian Stein at the University of Southampton. Over the next five years, Dr Stein will use the £1.4m fellowship to develop and trial citizen-centric AI systems in a range of applications - from using crowdsourced information to assist in disaster response to helping people to manage their energy needs. The technology would also include for the provision of advice and medical support during epidemics like COVID-19.

“Novel approaches are needed to build AI systems that are trusted by citizens, that are inclusive and that achieve their goals effectively,” says Dr Stein of Southampton’s Agents, Interaction and Complexity (AIC) research group . “To enable this, citizens must be viewed as first-class agents at the centre of AI systems, rather than as passive data sources.

“AI systems are increasingly used to support and often automate decision-making on an unprecedented scale,” he continues. “Such AI systems can draw on a vast range of data sources to make fast, efficient, data-driven decisions to address important societal challenges and potentially benefit millions of people.

“However, building AI systems on such a large and pervasive scale raises a range of important challenges,” he continues. “First, these systems may need access to relevant information from people, such as health-related data, which raises privacy issues and may also encourage people to misrepresent their requirements for personal benefit. Furthermore, the systems must be trusted to act in a manner that aligns with society’s ethical values. This includes the minimisation of discrimination and the need to make equitable decisions.”

Dr Stein is one of 15 leading researchers from UK universities awarded Turing AI Acceleration Fellowships, supported by a £20million government investment being delivered through UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), in partnership with the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Office for AI and the Alan Turing Institute.

The Fellowships, named after AI pioneer Alan Turing, are aimed at progressing research to develop cutting-edge AI technologies with the potential for transformative impact.

Dr Stein will work with a range of stakeholders over the duration of the fellowship. This will include citizen end-users, to ensure the research aligns with their needs and values, as well as high-profile industrial partners, to put the research into practice.

Electrified mobility opens new possibilities
Electrified mobility opens new possibilities - EA Technology

Specifically, collaboration with EA Technology and Energy Systems Catapult will generate incentive-aware smart charging mechanisms for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, work with partners including Siemens Mobility, Thales and Connected Places Catapult will develop new approaches for trusted on-demand mobility. Within the Southampton region, the fellowship will engage with the Fawley Waterside development to work on citizen-centric solutions to smart energy and transportation.

The team will also work with Dstl to create disaster response applications that use crowdsourced intelligence from citizens to provide situational awareness, track the spread of infectious diseases or issue guidance to citizens. Further studies with Dstl and Thales will explore applications in national security and policing, and joint work with UTU Technologies will investigate how citizens can share their preferences and recommendations with trusted peers while retaining control over what data is shared and with whom.

With IBM Research, Dr Stein will develop new explainability and fairness tools, and integrate these with their existing open source frameworks.

Science Minister, Amanda Solloway says: “The UK is the birthplace of artificial intelligence and we have a duty to arm the next generation of Alan Turings, like Southampton's Dr Sebastian Stein, with the tools that will keep the UK at the forefront of this remarkable technological innovation.

“The inspiring AI project we are backing today to will help inform UK citizens in their decision making – from managing their energy needs to advising which mode of transport to take - transforming the way we live and work, while cementing the UK’s status as a world leader in AI and data.”

Digital Minister, Caroline Dinenage, adds: "The UK is a nation of innovators and this government investment will help our talented academics use cutting-edge technology to improve people's daily lives - from delivering better disease diagnosis to managing our energy needs."

The University of Southampton has placed Machine Intelligence at the centre of its research activities for more than 20 years and has generated over £50m of funding for associated technologies in the last 10 years across 30 medium to large projects. Southampton draws together researchers and practitioners through its Centre for Machine Intelligence , trains the next generation of AI researchers via its UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nano- Electronic Devices and Systems (MINDS) , and was recently chosen to host the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub .

Southampton is also a leading member of the UK national Alan Turing Institute with activities co-ordinated by the Web Science Institute based at the University.

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