Speech at AI UK Conference by member of People's Panel on AI

Here we have a guest blog from Margaret, a member of the People’s Panel on AI, with words shared at the 2024 AI UK Conference.

These were my thoughts, summarized a few days after returning from the AI safety summit fringe in London, and sent to Tim Davies from Connected by Data. It seems pertinent to read them out to you now..Here I record my immediate reactions to those eventful 4 days. Pluck 11 random individuals from relative obscurity, ordinary citizens who represent the wider community, gathered from all corners of the UK, and plunge them into the spotlight, introduce them to the wondrous mysteries of AI…..this complex, multi-faceted, bewildering world of ground breaking technology…… and see what happens.

THIS is what happened.

Last week, I travelled down to London, feeling somewhat apprehensive, I must admit….. To meet with ten strangers, my companions and classmates for the next 4 days.It turned out that most of the group were similarly minded, I think “nervous but excited” probably sums it up for us all.

I had personal doubts about MY ability to absorb new information, after years without challenging stimulation. All of a sudden, I was presented with a situation which felt a world away from everyday life in a busy tearoom, where my primary objective was to keep customers happy with a full English, coffee and cakes!

This alien environment spoke of machine learning, algorithms, Big Tech, generative and frontier AI all hitherto unknown concepts, and initially I confess….rather overwhelming. But then we met with the team of people entrusted with caring for our every need, both our general well-being, but also nurturing our return to the learning process, making it as easy as possible to assimilate the wealth of new information about to come our way. The carefully constructed timetable of workshops, productive discussions, interspersed with attendance at Fringe events, combined to create an intense learning curve, and suddenly the overriding emotion became one of exhilaration! The spark was lit, the adrenaline flowed…. Encouraged to express our thoughts, and persuaded that no comment would be perceived as silly, or unworthy of consideration, we began to speak!

As a group our thoughts gathered momentum, in fact so heated and passionate were our comments and concerns, the facilitators, Jamie and Henrietta, struggled to write them down fast enough!! I’d never expected to have any cohesive opinions on such technically advanced subject matter, but now there was so much I wanted to say!

Suddenly we were ALL POWERFUL, representatives of our various communities, and our voice mattered. This opportunity for public involvement had to be used to great effect, a rare chance to have a say in topics of global importance, no longer merely humble citizens, but instead, worthy of inclusion amidst this assembled company of academics, politicians and highly qualified speakers from across the world!

Never did I expect to proudly stand amongst all those brilliant minds, within the hallowed portals of the British Library…..simply thrilling, totally unforgettable! An experience that will stay with me forever So we came together as strangers, and parted as friends, united in our efforts to ensure our voice is heard, and goes on being heard, that our carefully structured recommendations are valued and acted upon.

Hopkins Van Mil claims to bring people together to inform the future….I think we can agree this venture into public inclusivity has been a worthy success. In this world of increasing automation, we must never overlook the value and importance of face-to-face interaction, still vital in the transference of information. Hasn’t this week’s experiment proved beyond all doubt, that we still need Real people in addition to robots!

So, thank you to the team who brought us from ignorance to awareness….we can never look back.