Response-ability.Tech

In this episode we’re thrilled to be interviewing Dr Allison Gardner, who is one of our 2020 keynote speakers in the health tech stream. 

Allison is a Teaching Fellow at Keele University and Programme Director for the Science Foundation Year. Her research is focused on gender and computing, AI ethics, governance of AI and the use of machine learning to predict disease.

She works on the IEEE P7000 Global Initiative on the Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems and specifically P7003 on algorithmic bias, providing a framework for Algorithmic Impact Assessments. Allison is also one of the co-founders of Women Leading in AI.

In this episode, Allison discusses some of the key issues we need to address when using AI in the health sector. She explains:

• why investors in health tech need to be asking questions about teams as well as tech. 
• why we must hold onto our senior clinicians and prevent deskilling. 
• why it’s absolutely critical that AI systems are designed, developed and deployed correctly. 

Alongside the challenges AI brings to the health sector, we hear about future opportunities, including more personalised medicine and effective disease prediction. 

Lastly, Allison talks in detail about the journey towards regulation and why small nudges and building on existing legal frameworks is the way forward.

We found this a humbling, insightful and inspiring conversation. We hope you enjoy it.

To find out more about Allison Gardner, visit Keele University https://www.keele.ac.uk/scm/staff/, or head to the Women Leading in AI website https://womenleadinginai.org/

The two books referenced in this episode are: Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez and What Works: Gender Equality by Design, written by Iris Bohnet.

Allison Gardner will be speaking at the Anthropology + Technology Conference on 9th October. Visit us online at anthtechconf.co.uk and sign up for our newsletter. We’ll be in touch as soon as tickets go on sale. 

Welcome to the Anthropology + Technology Conference Podcast. Thanks for tuning in, we’re delighted to have you with us.

In this first episode of our series, your host is Dawn Walter, the conference founder.

Dawn set up the Anthropology + Technology Conference in 2019 with the aim of bringing together technologists and social scientists to ignite much-needed conversations and to help facilitate the adoption of more socially-responsible AI.

As we’ll discover during this podcast series, AI can provide unparalleled opportunities, but without the correct processes it can also have a detrimental impact on people’s futures and a business’s reputation.

The conference aims to create dialogue around these very issues. To celebrate technology’s capabilities, while also making us aware of the serious challenges we must overcome.

During this first episode, Dawn explains the meaning of responsible AI and why it's critically important right now. She also uncovers some of the key challenges that business leaders are facing and why responsible AI is an issue for all, not just the few.

Last but not least, we’ll be giving you a sneak peak into the podcast series. We’ll be highlighting the core topics and discussing how you can benefit from joining us on our journey.

We hope you enjoy the series as much as we’ve enjoyed making it. And we’re delighted to have you on our side as we move towards more socially-responsible AI. Together.

To find out more about the conference, please visit anthtechconf.co.uk. Sign up to our newsletter and we’ll be in touch as soon as tickets go on sale.

In this episode we’re delighted to be talking to Martha Dark, who is speaking on the health stream at the conference.

Martha is the co-founder of Foxglove, a new NGO that exists to make tech fair for everyone. Foxglove is a team of lawyers, technology experts and communications specialists, who believe that governments and big tech companies are misusing digital technology, and that this is harming the rest of us. Their aim is to fix this situation.

During this episode, Martha shares some of the recent investigations Foxglove has undertaken, including putting pressure on the government to be transparent about the contracts they make with private companies who want to access NHS data.

We talk about the challenges of algorithmic decision making in the health sector today and how these might evolve in the next five years. Plus, Martha shares her thoughts on legislation and how companies need to consider responsible design from the outset, rather than as an afterthought.

For more information on Foxglove, please visit Foxglove.org.uk. 

To see Martha’s talk at the Anthropology + Technology Conference on 9th October, visit us online at anthtechconf.co.uk and sign up for our newsletter. We’ll be in touch as soon as tickets go on sale.