Science, Innovation and Technology
Satellite
Helen Kennedy, Ros Williams, Reema Patel, Susan Oman, Helen Margetts, Octavia Reeve, Jack Stilgoe, Florence Enock, Roshni Modhvadia, Mhairi Aitken, Ellie O’Keeffe, Cian O’Donovan, Tvesha Sippy, Sara Cannizzaro, Sabeehah Mahomed, Smera Jayadeva, Ruth Lauener, Sarah Givans
“Public voices need to inform AI research, development and policy much more than they currently do. This project represents a commitment from UKRI and RAi UK to ensuring that happens. It brings together some of the best public voice thinkers and practitioners in the UK, and we’re excited to work with them to realise the project’s aims.”
A central aspect of responsible AI is ensuring that it takes account of public hopes, concerns and experiences. As concern about the societal impacts of AI grows and pressure for its effective regulation mounts, understanding and anticipating societal needs and values can inform responsible AI developments and deployments. Yet public voice is frequently missing from conversations about AI, an absence which inhibits progress in RAI. Addressing this gap is essential to enable ‘good AI’ – that is, AI research, development and policy which maximises benefits, prevent harms and ensures that AI works for everyone.
Public Voices in AI put those most impacted and underrepresented front and centre.
Project collaborators included the Ada Lovelace Institute, the Alan Turing Institute and University College London.
Public Voices in AI was advised by the Public Voices in AI People’s Advisory Panel, convened by Connected by Data. The Steering Group comprised Diane Beddoes, Sciencewise (Chair); Ewa Luger, University of Edinburgh; Aunam Quyoum, University of Glasgow; Al Mathers, Young Foundation; and Jenny McEneaney, Local Government Association.
Public Voices in AI, included a competitive call to distribute money to projects which seek to ensure that uses of AI are informed by the voices of communities underrepresented in or negatively impacted by AI. We wanted to support projects that would developing new ways of engaging communities in dialogue about how AI is used and implemented, that might address the impacts of AI on underrepresented groups or which identify ways in which AI could be used to reduce discrimination and bias.
Four projects were funded, all led by or working with groups and people negatively affected by or underrepresented in AI:
As public debate about AI develops, voices of platform workers, many of whom are migrant and marginalised workers, remain muted. Our project positions platform workers as experts who see the flaws and biases of AI-driven and algorithmically-managed systems.
The Workers’ Observatory have produced a video about the project, which can be accessed via their website. They have also published a guidebook that sets out what workers did, and steps for others to do something similar (see Outputs and Outcomes below).
The use of AI in immigration decision-making, particularly in the asylum system, raises concerns about discrimination and negative impact on migrants, including refugees. Politicians are implementing AI without transparency or scrutiny, neglecting the human cost. Our goal is to understand AI’s impact through workshops and engagement with people seeking asylum, enabling them to drive systems change.
The team produced a report about what they did, which can be accessed from their project webpage (with translations in Arabic, Pashto, Farsi and Dari) or as pdf (see Outputs and Outcomes below).
This proposal built upon an existing collaboration between UNJUST CIC, The 4Front Project, and Tottenham Rights (‘Erase the Database’). Established in 2022, this project foregrounds racially marginalised groups and communities to surface the harms of data-driven and automated policing, informing community-led strategies and solutions.
A report of their work is available (see Outputs and Outcomes below) and more information about Erase the Database can be found on their website.
‘Reclaim the Algorithm’ extends The People Speak’s ongoing work with two distinctly disadvantaged communities in East London to confront urgent issues surround the widespread deployment of AI. The project iteratively develops the successful Talkaoke discursive format in a new collaboration with artists Luksch & Patel, and with the participants.
Knowing AI Knowing You / AIKONIC, by The People Speak, produced videos of creative outputs by their two participant groups – available here:
And a booklet summarising their methods (see Outputs and Outcomes below).
The longer term desired impact from the project is that public voice informs AI research, development and policy-making, and that there is more engagement from AI researchers, developers and policy-makers with people affected by AI technologies, and more public voice evidence cited in policy documentation and industry codes of practice.
A number of project outputs (see below) have been made available as a ‘toolkit’ for the community: Public Voices in AI Resources.
Modhvadia, R., Sippy, T., Field Reid, O., Margetts, H. (2025). How do people feel about AI? Wave 2 of a nationally representative survey of UK attitudes to AI designed through a lens of equity and inclusion. Ada Lovelace Institute and The Alan Turing Institute. Available at: https://attitudestoai.uk/.
Patel, R. (2025) A Framework and Self Assessment Workbook for Including Public Voices in AI. Elgon Social Research and ESRC Digital Good Network. Available at: https://elgon.social/framework-and-workbook
https://digitalgood.net/work/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/repository-of-use-cases_PVAI-WP4.pdf
https://digitalgood.net/work/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/introductory-materials-v2.pdf
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