We’re delighted to invite you to a seminar by Dr Susan Oman (University of Sheffield) as part of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence (STAI) seminar series.
Abstract: ‘Following the data’ became a familiar phrase in the UK government’s communications on their management of Covid-19. We’ll follow well-being data back centuries to show they are nothing new, as they have long been used to track the health and wealth of society. We will also follow them around contemporary well-being data systems, revealing hidden designs, processes and an encoding of information, and thereby the knowledge (and its limitations) and the worldviews/politics that shape them. These issues are increasingly important in consideration of AI systems.
You’ll be left questioning the assumptions that have underpinned centuries of social science, statistical and policy work in relation to AI. With more understanding of the contexts of data and decision-making – of how they work for politicians – for people in different jobs, from working in charities, to universities and call centres. Understanding well-being data – as you’ll see – is really important for work that aims to do good, or at the very least, avoid harm.
While the limitations of well-being data remain hidden and therefore unaddressed, their positive contribution for society can never be fully realised. This talk offers some insights to promote better understanding of the power and potential of well-being data, the limits of their application – and how they can help us to be more understanding of each other.
Speaker: Susan Oman is a Senior Lecturer in Data, AI and Society at University of Sheffield and theme lead for the Centre for Machine Intelligence. Her research interests address how data and evidence work in practice, looking at particular policy issues such as well-being, loneliness, inequality and class.