Westminster explores Artificial Intelligence and its link with EDI and vulnerability at two Turing Institute events

On 13 March, the University’s research communities hosted a thought-provoking dialogue on the intersection of EDI with AI and gave students, colleagues and members of the public the opportunity to connect with experts and listen to impactful and insightful presentations around the topic.  

This event, organised by Dr Alexander Bolotov, Reader in Computer Science and Westminster’s Academic Turing Liaison, was part of Westminster’s diversity festival. It featured a variety of talks, panel discussions, workshops, pitches and interactive activities throughout the day. Among the speakers was Professor Frederic Fol Leymarie, who gave a guest talk on EDI and Creative AI which prompted a panel on the same topic. Professor Nitasha Kaul, Professor Gregory Sporton and Professor Graham Meikle took part in the panel and shared their views on Creative AI and EDI, engaging the audience in an intensive dialogue.    

Also in the day Vice Chancellor and President Professor Peter Bonfield opened an event emphasising the importance of the University’s involvement in the Turing University Network and the event closed with an AI Reception, where guests were invited to take part in an AI generated quiz and explore AI generated images.

Dr Bolotov said: “Westminster joined the Turing University Network with a portfolio, where the EDI and AI issues were defined as Westminster’s strength in AI research. The event was opened to the public and the Turing Community and attracted a number guests from other universities, members of the Turing University Network and from a number of small and medium sized enterprises. With the success of the event, Westminster strengthened its position in this dedicated field of research.”  

On 20 March, Westminster Law School hosted the event AI and Vulnerable Individuals and Groups: Law and Data Science, an interdisciplinary conversation on the potential risks of AI to people who find themselves in situations of vulnerability.

The event, organised and hosted by Dr Filippo Marchetti, Senior Lecturer in Law and Technology, tackled this challenging topic starting from the legal regimes applicable to the protection of vulnerable individuals in technology, especially data protection, and moved on to explore how data-science teams operate to mitigate vulnerability when their technical solutions are developed and deployed. The guest speakers were Dr Anita Nandi, Principal Data Scientist at Trilateral Research in (UK, Ireland,) and Dr Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law and Technology at Universiteit Leiden in The Netherlands.

At the end of the event, Dr Marchetti commented: “I was delighted to see the level of participation at this event, in terms of both numbers and genuine engagement. This is a testimony of a strong peer recognition of our speakers’ expertise, as well as of the central role that the University of Westminster can play in the promotion of a true knowledge exchange between academia and the industry in the UK and beyond.”  

The AI UK 2024 Fringe Events series is running from 4-29 March and aims to bring leaders from academia together to demonstrate and discuss their work around AI, giving people the chance to learn, network and take part in debates about the topic.

The events directly contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.  

Find out more about the new Applied Artificial Intelligence MSc and Law and Technology LLM courses at the University of Westminster.