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The government is making a significant investment into AI in public services, and systems are changing apace.
AI is increasingly being deployed in every department of government, both national and local, and often through systems procured from external contractors.
In a recent article for Public Technology, mySociety’s Chief Executive Louise Crow flags that we urgently need to update our transparency and accountability mechanisms to keep pace with the automation of state decision-making.
This rapid adoption needs scrutiny: not only because significant amounts of money are being spent; but also because we’re looking at a new generation of digital systems in which the rules of operation are, by their very nature, opaque.
To see Louise’s thoughts on what needs to change, and why, as this new technological era unfolds, read the full piece here.
If you find it of interest, you may also wish to watch this recent event at the Institute for Government, The Freedom of Information Act at 25, where Louise was one of six speakers reflecting on the future of transparency in the UK.
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Image: Alex Socra
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/RSS FeedAI and automated decision-making technologies are increasingly being used in government, and due to their opaque nature, it’s vital that we bring more transparency to their workings. In this event, three researchers and civil society actors talk about how they have used Freedom of Information to do just that.
You’ll hear from Morgan Currie from the University of Edinburgh; Gabriel Geiger of Lighthouse Reports, and Jake Hurfurt from Big Brother Watch. Learn what concerns them about this new age of automated decision-making; the practical tips and techniques they’ve used to bring hidden algorithms to light; and what needs to change in our laws as a matter of urgency.
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More information
- Blog post, with links to the video and slides
- Morgan Currie’s research (with Alli Spring): Algorithmic Transparency in the UK
- Lighthouse Reports’ Suspicion Machines, as presented by Gabriel Geiger
- Big Brother Watch’s report on the ‘error-riddled AI tool to be used by the Home Office’.
- Find out more about the Access to Information Network
Transcript
Louise Crow 0:03
Hello, everyone, welcome. I’m Louise Crow, Chief Executive mySociety.Louise Crow 0:08
Thank you for joining us for this one hour session on how Access to Information can help us understand AI decision making in government. (more…)
