Principal-Elect appointed to new AI and governance commission

28 July 2020

The Oxford Internet Institute today announced the launch of a new commission to investigate the role of artificial intelligence in the public sector.

Principal-Elect Tom Fletcher, who will join Hertford in September 2020, was appointed as one of the ten commissioners that comprise the Oxford Commission on AI & Good Governance. Working with governments and policymakers from around the globe, the initiative will develop practical policy recommendations to advocate for the democratic use of AI. With the rapid mobilisation of this field, the commissioners will be vital in developing guidelines and promoting best-practice in areas ranging from local government and welfare through to national security. The commission hopes to inform the debate on how AI can be used as a force for good in the distribution of public services, without the risks of perpetuating social inequalities or causing additional public policy problems.

 

Tom will be joining a expanding team working on AI here at Hertford. Senior Research Fellow, Prof. Mike Wooldridge, is Head of the Department of Computer Science and works on artificial intelligence and machine learning. As well as hundreds of academic papers, Mike has recently written a popular introduction to AI in the iconic Ladybird series and this March published The Road to Conscious Machines: The Story of AI. Meanwhile, our newest Fellow in Philosophy, Dr Carissa Véliz, works on the intersection of ethics and AI. Like Tom, Carissa joins Hertford in September. Her research focuses on the ethics of technology, moral and political philosophy more generally, and public policy. Her forthcoming books include Privacy Is Power and The Ethics of Privacy and she is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics.