The future of safe and responsible autonomous systems
Event details
Centre for Assuring Autonomy Launch Event
Join us for the exciting launch of a new world-class initiative; the Centre for Assuring Autonomy.
Demonstrating that AI and autonomous systems are safe, and remain safe for the duration of their life, in complex and often open contexts such as public roads, is a fundamental challenge for the responsible and trustworthy deployment of these potentially beneficial systems. This is a technical challenge, but it also has social, ethical, legal and regulatory dimensions - all of which need to be tackled to enable the benefits of AI and autonomous systems to be realised whilst controlling their risks.
During this webinar you’ll learn what the biggest research challenges are in this space, how leading researchers and scientists at the Centre for Assuring Autonomy are tackling them, and how collaboration between the worlds of academia, industry and regulation is critical to widespread adoption and deployment of trusted and responsible AI systems.
If you work in safety-critical domains, like healthcare, transport, manufacturing or maritime, in which autonomous systems and AI will be deployed, this webinar is a must to help you answer the big questions around how to do this safely.
About the speakers
Professor John McDermid OBE, FREng, Director, Centre for Assuring Autonomy
An internationally recognised expert in system, safety and software engineering, Professor McDermid has led work including the development of the Goal Structuring Notation (GSN) which is recognised as the foremost approach for structuring safety cases in many domains. He has acted as an advisor to government and industry for several decades, including as a Non-Executive Director for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and as an Advisory Board Member of organisations such as the Ministry of Defence, Rolls Royce and the Fraunhofer Institute in Kaiserslautern. In 2002 he became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was awarded an OBE in 2010.
Professor Ibrahim Habli, Research Director, Centre for Assuring Autonomy
A leading expert in design and assurance of safety-critical systems, he works closely with industry and regulators and has made significant contributions in dynamic safety cases and safe and ethical use of AI. Driven by a passion for interdisciplinary safety research and team science, he has led major, complex research activities, with responsibility for collaboration with organisations like the NHS and Jaguar Land Rover. He served on several safety standardisation committees (BSI Dependability committee, EUROCAE/RTCA committee for aerospace guidance DO-178C and MISRA safety cases working group). He also directs the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI Safety (SAINTS).
Dr Ana MacIntosh, interim Director of Strategic Programmes, Centre for Assuring Autonomy
Dr Ana MacIntosh has held senior leadership positions in robotics, autonomy and AI for 10 years, including managing the development of strategic partnerships with major organisations across both the private and public sector. Since 2018, she has led a complex £12M programme that includes commissioning, sub-awarding and managing a portfolio of collaborative research, which has had notable impact on policy and regulation. She is responsible for developing and overseeing a portfolio of major programmes including establishing York's flagship Institute for Safe Autonomy, the new Centre for Assuring Autonomy, and the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI Safety (SAINTS). Her background spans science, engineering and medicine, and she is a strong advocate for collaborative working.