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Since July 2024, we’ve been running a monthly community of practice for people who are trying to engage the public around data and AI. That was part of our project, ‘Giving communities a powerful say in public sector data and AI projects’, funded by the Mohn Westlake Foundation, which has now come to an end. (You can find lots more resources from that, such as case studies and event write-ups, here.)
Between July 2024 and March 2026, we ran a community of practice for people who are or are wanting to engage and involve the public around data and AI. You can read a summary of the seventeen monthly(ish) meetings we held in a separate blogpost.
Between July 2025 and April 2026, as part of our project to build worker power to shape public sector AI, Connected by Data and the TUC worked with nine education unions on an action learning programme to test how to catalyse the union movement’s capacity to understand, negotiate and advocate on AI.
This work threw up several lessons that apply more generally to the adoption of AI across the public sector – the risks and benefits; the challenges and opportunities; and the roles that workers can and should play in AI’s development, deployment and evaluation – which I’ve thrown together into this listicle.
I joined Connected by Data in January 2023, just months after OpenAI unloaded ChatGPT on the world. Suddenly it seemed that the politics of technology was on everyone’s lips and mine - though often in very different ways.
Thank you to everyone who has been getting in touch to support the Citizens Track.
We were deeply disappointed not to be able to connect with many of you in person last week due to the troubling cancellation of RightsCon, but I am happy in this update to share news on how you can input to our Case Book to showcase existing public participation on AI, as well as an invite to an online update call next week (Tuesday 12th May, 1pm UTC) where we will be sharing more about plans for activities at the UN Global Dialogue / AI for Good in July.
When I set up Connected by Data, I also stated my intention that this organisation would have a maximum lifespan of 3-5 years. We are now at the end of our fourth year, which means we have at maximum one more year to go.
It’s always interesting to see people’s reactions when they learn this. The leaders of other civil society organisations often immediately say, without me providing any explanation, “OMG, you can do that? Amazing!” People we work with often say, “That’s a shame, I wish you wouldn’t.”; other people are simply curious and come to see the rationale once I explain it.
In this post I want to explain why I set up Connected by Data this way, what I’ve learned about the trade-offs that entails, and what we’re thinking about doing next.
At 1:45 IST on Friday 20th February, at the British Pavilion in Hall 14 of the Bharat Mandapam complex in New Delhi (hosting the India AI Impact Summit), something exceptional happened. For a few minutes, voices of students from a school in Luton played out of speakers, and delegates nearby had a chance to hear their nuanced views about how generative AI in education affects them, and how they want to see it governed in future. This moment formed part of a panel curated by the University of Sheffield sharing work on public voices in AI, and showing videos and photos of everyday citizens sharing their views on AI.
Addressing the complex issues surrounding AI at work can be challenging. It touches on personal experiences, professional roles, and charged political views on Big Tech. It often involves vague or technical terminology. It’s a topic that many employers will see as their ‘management prerogative’ and out of scope for collective bargaining or even worker consultation.
Alongside the Generative AI for Education summit in London yesterday, the DfE updated their ‘Product Safety Expectations’ for EdTech developers, and for schools to consider when deciding which tools are safe to use.
Many of the updates reflect discussions from the GenAI in Education: Have Your Say process - offering a powerful mandate from students for these expectations. Check out what students had to say in the video here https://connectedbydata.org/ai-in-education/ or the full report.
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