AI Council
The AI Council was an independent expert committee that provided advice to Government, and high-level leadership of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem.
The final meeting of the AI Council was held on 21 June 2023.
The Council has made as significant contribution to the development of government’s AI strategy, and members will be invited to act as individual expert advisors to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Role of the Group
The AI Council is a non-statutory expert committee of independent members set up to provide advice to the Government and high-level leadership of the AI ecosystem.
It works to support the growth of AI in the UK, promote its adoption and use in businesses and society, and encourage experts to focus on priority topics in AI. Its aims are:
- Provide an open dialogue and exchange of ideas between industry, academia and government;
- Advise the Office for AI and broader government on its current priorities, opportunities and challenges for AI policy;
- Share research and development expertise and horizon scan for new AI technologies, applications and their impact;
- Work on public perception of AI, and on raising the profile of the AI and Data Grand Challenge.
The Council’s three main areas of focus are:
- Developing the public understanding of AI, and tackling negative perceptions, to boost confidence of this technology among businesses and society;
- Increasing skills in AI, including the diversity of people studying and working in AI;
- Exploring how to develop and deploy safe, fair, legal and ethical data-sharing frameworks.
Membership
The AI Council is chaired by Tabitha Goldstaub, UK AI Business Champion and co-founder of CogX. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport confirmed the Chair’s appointment, along with the Council membership.
The Council spans members from industry, public sector and academia and covers a broad range of background and expertise to contribute to leadership of the AI ecosystem. Members represent themselves as individuals, and not explicitly as affiliates of their organisations.
- Tabitha Goldstaub (Chair) - UK AI Business Champion, CogX
- Adrian Joseph OBE - BT Group
- Professor Sir Adrian Smith - The Alan Turing Institute
- Ann Cairns - MasterCard
- Dr Claire Craig CBE - The Queen’s College Oxford
- Professor David Lane CBE - Edinburgh Centre for Robotics
- Lila Ibrahim - DeepMind
- Rachel Dunscombe - NHS Digital Academy
- Professor Máire O’Neill - Queen’s University Belfast
- Marc Warner - Faculty
- Professor Sir Mark Walport - Formerly UKRI and Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser
- Martin Tisné - Luminate
- Professor Neil Lawrence - University of Cambridge
- Professor Nick Jennings CB - Loughborough University
- Dame Patricia Hodgson - Formerly Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation
- Paul Clarke CBE - Robotics Growth Partnership
- Professor Pete Burnap - Cardiff University
- Priya Lakhani OBE - CENTURY Tech
- Professor Dame Wendy Hall - UK AI Skills Champion, University of Southampton
Terms of Reference
Reports
AI ecosystem survey — summary report
A joint publication with The Alan Turing Institute, summarising the findings of their online survey of the UK’s AI ecosystem.
Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship
A joint publication with the Ada Lovelace Institute, which explores three legal mechanisms that could help facilitate responsible data stewardship.
AI Roadmap
An independent report providing recommendations to help the government’s strategic direction on AI.
Meeting minutes
Our social media channel
Follow us on Twitter through our secretariat, the Office for Artificial Intelligence