Blog, Long read
What is visualised is realised: models and the fallacy of risk
How mathematical models of infection structure the messages people receive about risk and responsibility.
About
The Ada Lovelace Institute is an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society.
Ada will promote informed public understanding of the impact of AI and data-driven technologies on different groups in society.
Sign up for updates
Or contact us
Latest news
Blog
Data, Compute, Labour
The monopolisation of AI is not just – or even primarily – a data issue. Monopolisation is driven as much by the barriers to entry posed by fixed capital, and the ‘virtuous cycles’ that compute and labour are generating for the AI providers.
Event
The societal impacts of introducing a public health identity system: legal, social and ethical issues
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event
Wednesday 8 July 16.30-17.30 BST
Blog, Long read
To be seen we must be measured: data visualisation and inequality
How data, bodies and experience entwine – and how we might make a world where instead of predicting our individual risk we understand the complexities of living together, in situations of inequality and injustice.
Blog
Society and people: systemic racial injustice and cleaning up our own house
What should the Ada Lovelace Institute do to address systemic racial injustice?
Blog
Turn it off and on again: lessons learned from the NHS contact tracing app
The decision to delay the app’s launch is the right one, both to address the problems and to preserve future public trust and confidence in public health approaches that involve technology.
Event
Deliberating rapidly and online about COVID-19 technologies
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event
Thursday 25 June 12.30–14.00 BST
Blog
A rapid online deliberation on COVID-19 technologies: building public confidence and trust
Considering the question: ‘What would help build public confidence in the use of COVID-19 exit strategy technologies?’
Blog, Long read
Making visible the invisible: what public engagement uncovers about privilege and power in data systems
Insights from lived experience at Citizens’ Biometrics Council and Community Voice workshops in Brighton, Bristol and Manchester show how technology can mediate power asymmetries and privilege.
Blog, Long read
The EU Data Strategy: three key questions
In this long read, we highlight three issues that arise out of the European Commission’s data strategy, which we believe require further thought as the EU considers how to design a positive vision of data governance that works for people and societies.
Blog, Long read
Something to declare? Surfacing issues with immunity certificates
As the building of technical capacity for immunity apps and deliberation about how they might be deployed progresses, we surface six issues policymakers must consider up front.
Event
Testing immunity certificates: do the new antibody tests open the door to the creation of a ‘public health identity’?
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event
Wednesday 3 June 14.00–15.00 BST
News
Ada Lovelace Institute curates ‘Ethics & Society’ at CogX 2020
Announcing the Ada Lovelace Institute–curated day of talks at virtual CogX 2020 – the international festival of AI – to set the tone of the Ethics & Society conversation on its opening day.
Blog, Long read
High visibility and COVID-19: returning to the post-lockdown workplace
In the current crisis, we are hearing a lot about digital tools to track, monitor and share data about people. In the workplace, technology has the potential to help us respond to the health pandemic – and causes concerns about data, privacy and power.
News
Professor Dame Wendy Hall appointed Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Dame Wendy Hall as Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
Blog, Long read
Why we cannot afford to leave technology to the experts – the case for public engagement at times of crisis
Governments across the world have opted to develop technologies, such as digital contact tracing, symptom tracking, and the creation of data stores as central to their strategies in responding to COVID-19.
Event
Test, trace and trust: digital technologies and the COVID-19 response across the UK’s devolved nations
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event
Wednesday 13 May 14.30-15.10 BST
Wednesday 13 May 14.30-15.10 BST
Event
Contact tracing: to centralise or not to centralise, that is the question
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event:
Friday 1 May, 13.00-13.45 (BST)
Publication
Examining the Black Box: Tools for Assessing Algorithmic Systems
A new report by the Ada Lovelace Institute and DataKind UK clarifies the terms around algorithmic audits and impact assessments, and the current state of research and practice.
Event
No silver bullet: how can the UK government use technologies to transition out of COVID-19 lockdown while protecting public health?
An Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event:
Friday 24 April, 12:00–12:45 (BST)
News, Publication
Exit through the App Store? Should the UK Government use technology to transition from the COVID-19 global public health crisis
The UK Government and NHSX are looking to data-driven technologies to provide an exit from COVID-19 emergency lockdown measures, but will they be safe, fair and equitable?
Event
Beyond the exit strategy: ethical uses of data-driven technology in the fight against COVID-19
A Nuffield Council on Bioethics and Ada Lovelace Institute virtual event:
Friday 17 April, 12.00–12.40 (BST)
Blog
Removing the pump handle – stewarding data at times of public health emergency
By examining our past, we can find lessons for our future – avoiding pitfalls and ensuring equitable outcomes.
Recruitment
Job vacancy: Researcher (Legal)
The Ada Lovelace Institute is seeking a Researcher (focusing on legislative and regulatory policy), to support the work of the Institute by carrying out relevant research, drafting and editing papers and reports and overseeing the management of information resources.
Blog, Opinion
What will the first pandemic of the algorithmic age mean for data governance?
Global crises provide high-stakes stress testing for societal institutions, revealing – for better or worse – the cracks in existing systems.
Blog, Long read
Data-driven responses to coronavirus are only as good as the trust we place in them
Data is bringing huge benefits in the fight against Covid-19, but we must remain vigilant about NHS plans to collaborate with tech giants.
News
Responding to COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to us all, and we are more convinced than ever of the need to work together, collectively, and collaborate to develop new responses.
Blog, Long read
The foundations of fairness for NHS health data sharing
How do the public expect the NHS, and third-party organisations to steward their data? What are the conditions that enable effective data stewardship – and what are the conditions that don’t? (or, as our recently convened Citizens’ Biometrics Council put it – ‘What is or isn’t okay?’).
Blog, Opinion
International Women’s Day: celebrating the black women tackling bias in AI
This year’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Each for Equal’ has particular resonance for black women who experience discrimination – for being female, for being black, but more specifically, for the unique identity of being black females.
News, Publication
Accountability, transparency and public participation must be established for third-party use of NHS data
New research led by Understanding Patient Data in association with the Ada Lovelace Institute shows the public will only support third parties using NHS-held health data when there is benefit to patients across the UK, rather than short-term financial gain for the NHS. Benefits to patients includes things like improving disease detection or developing new medicines and treatments.
Blog
Think. Resist. Act Local: Is a Slow AI possible?
Jeremy Crampton, Professor of Urban Data Analysis at Newcastle University on the three principles that could underpin a more mindful approach to AI.
Blog, Long read
What is or isn’t OK when it comes to biometrics?
Reflections from round one of the Citizens’ Biometric Council
Blog
Regulation of biometrics debated
The Ada Lovelace Institute marked the beginning of an independent review it has commissioned on the governance of biometric data by hosting a debate on UK biometrics regulation. The Facial Recognition and Biometrics – Technology and Ethics event, held in London on 29 January 2020, was jointly organised with the Foundation for Science and Technology and chaired by Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE.
Blog
Beginning ‘JUST AI’ – bravery and creativity for ethics in practice
Dr Alison Powell, Director of the newly established JUST AI network, on the need for bravery and creativity for ethics in practice
News
New humanities-led network will put social justice at the heart of AI research
The Ada Lovelace Institute and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have today launched JUST AI, a network of researchers and practitioners, led by Dr Alison Powell from LSE, that will establish a multidisciplinary research base around ‘just AI’ – AI that is ethical, works for the common good and is effectively governed and regulated.
News
Ada Lovelace Institute announces independent review of the governance of biometric data
The Ada Lovelace Institute has commissioned Matthew Ryder QC to lead an independent review of the governance of biometric data. The review will examine the existing regulatory framework and identify options for reform that will protect people from misuse of their biometric data, such as facial characteristics, fingerprints, iris prints and DNA.
Blog
Changing the Data Governance Ecosystem – through narratives, practices and regulations
Today the Ada Lovelace Institute launches Rethinking Data a programme of research and public engagement that will understand and evolve new data narratives, and learn from international data access and data partnerships – to inform best practice and create regulations that strengthen data rights.
Blog, Opinion
Health Data Partnerships: Amazon/Department of Health and Social Care – Ada’s view
The use of NHS health data to develop new technologies raises important questions for people and society – who ‘owns’ the data, where are the benefits (financial gains and new knowledge that can lead to better healthcare) recouped, and how are those benefits distributed?
Blog
How will data and AI work for people and society after the UK General Election 2019?
We’ve taken a look at the five largest political parties’ manifesto commitments relating to data, AI, innovation, law enforcement and human rights.
News
Four new board members appointed to Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation has appointed four new members to the board of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
Blog
Facial recognition: defining terms to clarify challenges
Facial recognition technology is a complex area, which means the risk of misunderstandings is high.
Blog, Long read
Pieces in the puzzle: why we need to convene diverse voices
When it comes to the societal impacts of AI and data, we need to tackle complex problems that don’t necessarily have objective solutions.
Blog
Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day: what Ada means to us
On Ada Lovelace Day the world celebrates the contribution to global culture of a remarkable woman: a curious visionary, poetical scientist and collaborative thinker.
Blog
The technical and ethical distinction between random and non-random biometric data
Professors Clive Bowman and Peter Grindrod CBE on why we need a legal distinction between random and non-random biometrics and their respective ethical implications
Blog
Facial recognition and policing – a test case of technology and consent
Giles Herdale argues for urgent action on biometric technology to preserve the principle of policing by consent in a digital age.
Publication
Beyond face value: public attitudes to facial recognition technology
First survey of public opinion on the use of facial recognition technology reveals the majority of people in the UK want restrictions on its use.
Blog
The human rights flaws in police facial recognition trials
Dr Daragh Murray explains how use of live facial recognition technology by the Metropolitan Police Service fails to comply with human rights law, and backs Ada’s call for a moratorium.
Speech
Speech to the PICTFOR Parliamentary Summer Reception
What is the next digital revolution and how can the UK further embrace it to remain a world-leading digital economy? How can industry and government ensure citizens remain central to emerging tech and the changing world?
Blog
Biometrics and facial recognition technology – where next?
Carly Kind introduces the Ada Lovelace Institute’s emerging research on understanding public attitudes to facial recognition technologies, proposing a way forward for regulators, policymakers and industry in the UK.
News
The Ada Lovelace Institute supports Wellcome Trust to undertake citizen juries on fair data sharing in the NHS
The Ada Lovelace Institute has been working with the Wellcome Trust’s Understanding Patient Data programme, and NHS England to understand public attitudes to the sharing of NHS data.
News
Carly Kind appointed Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation has appointed human rights lawyer Carly Kind as Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute (Ada).
News
Azeem Azhar appointed to the board of Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation has appointed technology entrepreneur, investor and adviser Azeem Azhar to the board of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
News
Nuffield Foundation publishes roadmap for AI ethics research
A new report from the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge sets out a broad roadmap for work on the ethical and societal implications of technologies driven by algorithms, data and AI (ADA).
Speech
Data science and the case for ethical responsibility
Tim Gardam, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Foundation, recently delivered a speech to the British Computer Society on the history of data ethics and the importance of the Ada Lovelace Institute
Blog
Public deliberation could help address AI’s legitimacy problem in 2019
The importance of public legitimacy – which refers to the broad base of public support that allows companies, designers, public servants and others to design and develop AI to deliver beneficial outcomes – was illustrated by a series of public, highly controversial events that took place in 2018.
Speech
The ethical and political questions raised by AI
Picture a system that makes decisions that have a huge impact on a person’s prospects and life course; or even that makes decisions that are literally life and death. Imagine that system is hugely complex, and also opaque: it is very hard to see how it comes to the conclusions it does. A system that is discriminatory by its nature: it sorts people into winners and losers; but the criteria by which it does so are not clear.
Speech
Digital technologies have yet to earn their ethical spurs
A new, a vast, and a powerful language In words that are at one and the same time prophetic, optimistic and haunting Ada Lovelace wrote: “A new, a vast, and a powerful language is developed for the future use of analysis, in which to yield its truths so that these may become of more speedy and […]
News
First board members appointed to lead Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation has appointed the first board members to lead the strategic development of the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) work for people and society.
Publication
Our prospectus
The Ada Lovelace Institute is an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society. Our new prospectus sets out how the Ada Lovelace Institute will promote informed public understanding of the impact of AI and data-driven technologies on different groups of people. It will guide […]
Blog
Data for the common good – framing the debate
Over the past few years debates about data have frequently made headline news. To help us to better understand data, including its uses and ethical implications, various analogies have been used. Although analogies can help us get a better grasp of this complex issue, we should be wary of the limitations of these comparisons.
Blog
Building the evidence base for data and AI ethics
What impact is the debate on data and AI ethics having on independent public research?
Blog
Keeping society in the loop about data ethics and AI
There is a growing expectation that technologies and algorithms should align with, and reflect, commonly held public and societal values. But to make this happen, society needs to be kept ‘in the loop’. Do we need an implicit social contract between those developing and designing the tech and those who may be affected by it?
News
Sir Alan Wilson appointed Executive Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute
The Nuffield Foundation has appointed Sir Alan Wilson as Executive Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute.
News
Letter to the Financial Times: Embed ethical thinking in tech culture
Your editorial “Making decisions that computers cannot” ( May 22) identifies a central issue surrounding the relationship between the artificial intelligence sector and the ethical and social frameworks in which it operates. You ask who will be left to speak for the common good. The Nuffield Foundation is funding the Ada Lovelace Institute, in partnership […]
Blog
UK wants to lead the world in tech ethics…but what does that mean?
Last week we surely reached peak hype on tech ethics with this headline: The Sun was responding to the House of Lord’s AI report, the latest of a growing number of interventions from the government, industry and civil society seeking to grapple with the ethical and social issues technology is posing. Public debate on tech […]
News
The Nuffield Foundation announces new £5 million Ada Lovelace Institute
The new Institute is named after Ada Lovelace, the 19th Century mathematician widely regarded as one of the first computer scientists.
Speech
Social Well-being and Data Ethics
I would like in a moment to set out the proposal for an independent Convention on Data Ethics and Artificial Intelligence. This has been developed by the Nuffield Foundation over recent months in partnership with The Alan Turing Institute, the Royal Statistical Society, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society, the British […]
