Ada Lovelace Institute appoints first board members

The Ada Lovelace Foundation has appointed its first board members, who will work together to lead the independent research and deliberative body.

The Ada Lovelace Foundation, set up by the Nuffield Foundation and buoyed by a five- year, £5 million grant, is aimed at helping scientists and researchers find the solution to complex scientific problems using AI and data. The newly appointed four board members will make sure the foundation is addressing new developments in the space.

The new board members are comprised of social entrepreneur and strategist Alex Dunn, Helen Margetts, professor of society and the internet at the Oxford Internet Institute and Alan Turing Institute programme director, professor of philosophy and academic director at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence Huw Price and Hetan Shah, executive director of the Royal Statistical Society and visiting professor at the Policy Institute, Kings College London.

Sir Alan Wilson is the chair of the Foundation and he will lead the group’s strategy, making sure it satisfies its mission of educating people about the benefits of AI and the impact of the technology on society.

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“The Ada Lovelace Institute aims to be the leading independent authority on ensuring that data and AI work for people and society. These appointments give us the strongest possible start in achieving that goal, providing world-class expertise in philosophy, ethics, data science and AI, technology, and public policy,” Sir Alan Wilson said.

“Data and AI offer huge benefits for people and for society, but there is an urgent need to ensure those benefits are equitably distributed and the potential harms mitigated. I look forward to working with my fellow board members to lead the contribution of the Ada Lovelace Institute in addressing that need.”

The Alan Turing Institute, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Statistical Society, the Wellcome Trust, Luminate, techUK and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics are all partners in the project.