STAI CDT students joined other research students, academics and partners at the recent UKRI Inter AI CDT conference, held in Bath on 28-29 October 2025. The conference was an opportunity for students to take part in exciting and relevant sessions and also share ideas and foster collaborations with other PhD students at different institutions. STAI CDT co-organised the conference with the UKRI CDT in Accountable, Responsible and Transparent AI (ART-AI CDT) and UKRI CDT in Environmental Intelligence: Data Science and AI for Sustainable Futures.
The two day conference featured talks, workshops and discussions on a vast range of topics, including AI policy, AI effects on the labour market, safety challenges in AI and examining the environmental impact of AI. The programme was varied and engaging and several of our STAI CDT Co-Directors and students contributed to the line up.
STAI CDT student, Matt Barker, chaired the session, ‘Engaging with policy influencers’. This session featured insights from Tom Williams (Senior Education and Engagement Officer for the UK Parliament) and Bessie O’Dell (Strategy and Delivery Manager at the AISI). Tom briefed attendees on how Parliament operates and how research informs its scrutiny and law-making. He highlighted the key role academics play in supporting Select Committees and other parliamentary bodies and outlined practical routes for researchers to engage directly with policymaking. Bessie explained the work of the UK AI Security Institute, how they operate within government and how their research feeds into UK policy and decision-making. She also gave advice on pathways into careers in AI safety and security. The session was very engaging and students left with a clearer understanding of how they can try to engage with policymakers and share their expertise.
Matt shared his thoughts on the session, “It was a real privilege to chair the ‘Engaging with policy influencers’ session at this year’s Inter AI CDT conference. Tom and Bessie brought invaluable insights into how researchers can meaningfully contribute to policymaking in the UK, from supporting Parliamentary scrutiny to shaping AI safety and security work within government. The session really helped highlight how a PhD in AI can lead to future career pathways that have a large real-world impact, something myself and many colleagues are excited to explore further”.
STAI CDT Co-Director, Caitlin Bentley, led a workshop on Multidisciplinary Collaboration in AI Research. This session examined the benefits and challenges of multi-disciplinary collaboration through a recent study conducted at RAI UK. Students were invited students to reflect and come up with practical strategies for bridging conceptual gaps and fostering meaningful, productive dialogue between different research approaches.
Martim Brandão (STAI CDT Co-Director) gave a powerful closing keynote talk, ‘Responsible and people-centered AI in robotics: practical lessons and a holistic toolkit’. In this talk, Martim demonstrated how Responsible AI can and should involve not only impact anticipation and safeguarding, but also participation, observation, philosophical critique, oversight, and power contestation. Through his talk, Martim shared practical lessons learned in the “Responsible Robotics and AI” lab through research across these dimensions.
STAI CDT was also pleased to be able to facilitate the inclusion of King’s PhD student, Sinem Görücü’s workshop ‘Meme-tivism: Rethinking AI’s Environmental Impact’. This workshop used humour and memes to make sustainability issues more relatable for AI practitioners, encouraging shared reflection on the environmental impacts of their work. Drawing on online developer culture and climate-focused meme advocacy, the workshop invited participants to collaboratively create memes that highlight real experiences, challenges and concerns around AI’s environmental footprint.
The conference was a great success, and an important chance for STAI CDT students to engage with fellow researchers and broaden their research knowledge. The conference also showcased students’ emerging research in a poster competition, recognising standout contributions from each participating CDT. Congratulations to Shuyin Ouyang who won the poster competition for STAI CDT. We hope to collaborate with ART-AI CDT and the Environmental Intelligence CDT again in the future.
