The Turing Commons

Reflecting, discussing and taking responsibility for the design, development, and deployment of data-driven technologies

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Research areas

Ethics Data science of government & politics Research methods

Introduction

Launched in 2020, the project sits under the public policy programme’s ethics and responsible innovation theme. The aim of the Turing Commons is to provide a range of resources for various stakeholders that are curious about the ethical and responsible use of data. The guidebooks and subsequent training offerings aim to host resources for everyone, whether you're a curious citizen looking to have greater control over local matters, or a data scientist looking to take more responsibility over the consequences of your research.

The Turing Commons guides

The four guidebooks below are updated and added to regularly, representing a living body of knowledge and resources.

  • Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): will explore what it means to take (individual and collective) responsibility for (and over) the processes and outcomes of research and innovation in data science and AI.
  • Public Engagement of Data Science and AI (PED): designed to help you understand the practical and ethical value of public engagement with data science and AI.
  • AI Ethics & Governance (AEG): coming soon.
  • Citizen's Guide to Data: Ethical, Social and Legal Issues: This guide was produced to support specific activities associated with a Resident’s Panel, organised, and run by Camden City Council, Involve. It was used to support the panel’s participants with understanding some of the ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding data use by local government. It is in the process of being updated and expanded to ensure it is useful for a broader audience beyond Camden.
     

Illustrations

Since 2020, we have developed reusable illustrations collaboratively with Jonny Lighthands. These have been shared for public use through our GitHub repository and can be reused under CC-BY 4.0 license with the appropriate citation:

Illustration showing a city with real-world AI applications surrounding it, including satellite imaging, self-driving vehicles and medical diagnosis
This image was created by Jonny Lighthands for The Turing Commons project and is used under a CC-BY 4.0 Licence.

View more on GitHub

Training

The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), Public Engagement of Data Science and AI (PED) and AI Ethics and Governance (AEG) guidebooks are designed for specific training courses that have been run previously or are currently in the process of being organised in collaboration with the Skills Team.

Typically, the training courses are held over the course of a week, are free, and open to any participants that meet the application criteria – this varies across course. For reference, please see the RRI and PED courses held remotely via Zoom in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Self-paced, online iterations of these training offerings will also be made publicly available via The Alan Turing Institute’s Online Learning Platform, starting in Autumn 2022.

Following a successful launch of the Responsible Research and Innovation training, the Turing are now working with partner organisations, such as the University of Edinburgh and their Biomedical AI Centre for Doctoral Training, to revise and tailor the structure, content, and delivery of the course to specific disciplines or domains. This will allow for open-source training material and guidance to be used in both self-directed learning and by external facilitators.

Organisers

David Leslie

Professor David Leslie

Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research at The Alan Turing Institute and Professor of Ethics, Technology and Society, Queen Mary University of London

Researchers and collaborators

Contact info

Dr Christopher Burr
[email protected]

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