Speaking on The Turing Podcast, Professor Jon Crowcroft describes the challenges created by Covid-19, saying that “if we come up with apps that want to use an NHS number or a hash of it in some secure fashion then we have to be cautious about the UK’s rather unique resistance to having a singular ID system, which is an odd feature of this country.” While there are a range of solutions to track and tackle this pandemic, he explains that for data and machine learning to be utilised effectively, “whatever you do you have to explain it to the public.”
Professor Crowcroft makes his timely comments as part of a new podcast launched by the Institute: The Turing Podcast covers all things data science, AI and machine learning related with a focus on real-time research taking place at the Institute.
With things changing rapidly around us, the latest episode, Tracking the pandemic, asks: How can data science support us in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic? Jon Crowcroft, also our Researcher at Large, speaks about how smartphones can be mobilised to track Covid-19. He compares the varying responses across the globe and what makes the UK’s situation unique, explores how analysing data can help with rapid response, and argues that the real issues lie in getting data in a secure way that doesn’t invade peoples’ privacy or put people off using these apps.
The podcast will talk to a diverse range of leading figures in data science and AI from within in the Institute and beyond. Each episode begins with a short recap of an AI story making the news, followed by a discussion with a guest from across the Turing community on their work applying data science and AI to real-world scenarios.
Hear directly from researchers who use data science, AI and machine learning to advance projects that cover areas that span from air traffic control to the discovery of exoplanets and even facilitating citizen democracy across the world.
The Turing Podcast aims to set and respond to the data science and AI agenda and is available on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean and Stitcher.
