Northumbria
University, Newcastle, has secured research funding worth £286,000 FEC from the
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to support a project to investigate
the role of ethical review in contributing to responsible artificial
intelligence (AI) in policing.
The funding is part of a wider £100 million boost for AI research announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), including the AHRC- funded research through its Bridging
Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) programme that will define what responsible AI is across
sectors such as education, policing and the creative industries.
Entitled an Ethical
review to support Responsible AI in Policing – A Preliminary Study of West
Midlands Police's specialist data ethics review committee, the research from Northumbria will
be led by principal investigator Professor Marion Oswald MBE from Northumbria
Law School, in collaboration with colleagues from Northumbria, Northampton,
Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities, and partnering with the office of the West
Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Police.
The
project will investigate how the role of the West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioner and the West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee can improve the
legitimacy and responsibility of AI deployed by the police and how its advice
has influenced technical developments. The research will also consider key
challenges of the ethical review process and how the views and interests of
marginalised groups can be better represented.Professor
Oswald’s research expertise covers the legal and ethical implications of new
technologies in policing and national security. She has provided evidence and advice to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee on the
use of new technologies in the justice system, including facial recognition and
AI. She is also a part-time Senior Research
Associate with the Safe and Ethical AI Programme at the Alan Turing Institute.
Commenting on the AHRC funding she said: “The deployment of AI and emerging technologies by the police promises
more effective use of data for the prevention and detection of crime but brings
with it considerable threats of disproportionality and interference with
fundamental rights. The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West
Midlands Police data ethics committee aims to bridge the gap between ethical
reflection, scientific rigour and a focus on human rights, thus contributing to
responsible AI in policing. Our research brings together an experienced and integrated team
combining expertise in law, computer science, criminal and social justice, and presents a unique opportunity to analyse operationalisation
of AI tools in policing, and the impacts of advice from the West Midlands
Police data ethics committee. We are delighted to have been awarded funding for
this project and to be supporting the wider aims of the AHRC’s BRAID programme.”
Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities
Research Council and UKRI International Champion said: “The impact of AI can already be felt in
many areas of our lives. It will
transform our jobs and livelihoods, and impact on areas as diverse as
education, policing and the creative industries, and much more besides. UKRI’s research will be at the heart of
understanding this new world.
“The research which AHRC announced today will provide lasting
contributions to the definition and practice of responsible AI, informing the
practice and tools that are crucial to ensure this transformative technology
provides benefits for all of society. These projects are vital and timely interventions from across the
research ecosystem to support responsible, safe and beneficial uses of the
transformative power of AI.”
Northumbria University
has a global reputation for research and teaching in AI and was recently awarded
£9 million by UK Research and Innovation to establish a Centre for Doctoral
Training in the field of AI. To be known as the Citizen-Centred AI (CCAI), it
will focus on the inclusion of citizens in the design and evaluation of AI –
helping to make the rapidly advancing technology work for ordinary people.
