On Wednesday 10 May 2023, the first Annual Leverhulme Interdisciplinary Network on Algorithmic Solutions (LINAS) Conference took place. The student-led conference welcomed presenters and attendees from a wide-range of backgrounds and disciplines to discuss how artificial intelligence is changing what it means to be human.

Early in the academic year, we settled upon the theme of ‘AI, Ethics and the Human’ and welcomed doctoral scholars and academics researching at the intersections of the technical and the social to attend.  

With the conference, we hoped to create a collaborative environment through which to address urgent questions about the implications of massive-scale data processing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Within the social sciences, questions arise about algorithmic systems: what does they mean for human agency? How are we to understand accountability without transparency in the face of ‘black box’ algorithms? And what does this mean for human rights law? Within disciplines of science and engineering, similar questions are posed: how can we develop fair algorithmic solutions? And how can we work transparently?  

The LINAS Conference was designed to bring together a multiplicity of disciplines, including law, politics, computer science, engineering, maths and physics, in order to embody the interdisciplinary nature of the LINAS programme and to address these important questions.

The day consisted of three panels of doctoral scholars and the LINAS forum. After the conference was opened by Mitchell Institute Director Professor Richard English, the first panel of the day ‘Surveillance and Security’ commenced. Consisting of James Sweeney, Jason McKillen and I, we focused on the effects of surveillance technologies in different areas of society, from border technologies to 3D printing of weapons.

The second panel, ‘Robotics and Automation’, featured presentations from Hugh Williams, Femi Omotoyinbo and Mauricio Figueroa, discussing the ethical implications of implementing robotics into our daily lives.

The final panel of the day was ‘AI in Society’, with David Mark, Stanley Simoes and Jarlath Warner, questioning the use of AI in art, elections and health, respectively.

Each panel provoked both technical and non-technical questions from the audience, and kick-started discussions that illustrated the necessity of understanding the profound implications of AI on society.

We opted to provide some of the early year LINAS scholars with the opportunity to showcase some of the other cutting-edge research taking place within the Mitchell Institute.

We chose a short, forum style presentation, aptly named the ‘LINAS Forum’ with speakers Jessica Barr, Marc Elliott, Anna Montgomery, Katherine Pittalis and Josh Weston providing five-minute presentations each. The forum gave these doctoral scholars with an opportunity to explore and receive instructive feedback on their research from a range of interdisciplinary academics, asking thought-provoking questions that provided guidance for further research.

Professor Matthias Leese of ETH Zurich ended the conference with his insightful keynote presentation titled ‘Data for international security: Why and how data practices matter’.

Professor Leese addressed the accuracy, completeness, and trustworthiness of data, and how it changes over time, and his presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session.

The day concluded with closing remarks from LINAS Coordinator, Professor John Morison, and after a long day of stimulating debates around AI and ethics, the LINAS Organising Committee and the rest of the speakers celebrated that evening in Belfast City Centre.

The LINAS conference was the result of months of planning and preparation. I would like to say a huge thank you the Mitchell Institute staff of Valerie Miller, Brett Walker and Louise Milligan for their advice; the organising committee and I would not have been able to do it without them. Thank you to the panel chairs Dr Ciarán O’Kelly, Dr Teresa Degenhardt and Dr Mike Bourne, and to all of the speakers of the day. Lastly, thank you to the committee, Anna Montgomery, David Mark, James Sweeney, Joshua Weston and Shania Kirk, for all of their help with even the most mundane of tasks – I am incredibly grateful.

The second annual LINAS conference will take place in the next academic year, joined by a new cohort of doctoral scholars.

See you there!

 

“As a doctoral researcher exploring the intersections of law and technology, I must express that discovering a vibrant community like LINAS is a rare gem.  Participating in this student-led conference was an absolute privilege, enabling me to forge connections with fellow researchers who share similar career stages and common interests.  I was truly amazed by the remarkable quality of interdisciplinarity displayed in their projects, and the exceptional sense of community they fostered was unparalleled”

Mauricio Figueroa (University of Newcastle)

Twitter: @mfiguerres_

 

“The first LINAS conference was a great success.  Wide ranging papers each opening up important avenues of genuinely inter-disciplinary research.  What impressed me most was the rigour and generosity of all participants: no disciplinary silos, just stimulating and supportive conversations”

Dr Mike Bourne (Queen’s University Belfast)

Twitter: @DrMikeBourne

 

Karli Gibson is a second year Doctoral Scholar on the LINAS Doctoral Training Programme.  Her research explores questions of responsibility at the automated border.  Adopting a material-semiotic approach and engaging with Critical Race Theory, she investigates the racialized character of automated borders, where blame lies for racialized border decisions, and the impact of these decisions upon the bodies of irregular migrants.

Read more here.