Citizens, law and policy

AI has the potential to transform the efficiency and delivery of decision-making in the public sector, whilst enhancing trust and transparency in our systems and institutions.

We adopt a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the fundamental and wide-reaching questions that AI raises for the sector, from ethical considerations to public policy and governance.

Find out how UCL researchers are using AI to solve citizens, law, and policy issues.

Art and culture

AI in Popular culture

Popular culture and scientific discourses and the role of science fiction in the relationship between science and society, particularly with regard to biotechnology, genetics and AI issues.

Art Through the ICT Lens

Art Through the ICT Lens (ARTICT) is an EPSRC funded project that uses big data processing tools to support the technical study, preservation and conservation of Old Master Paintings.

Speech in performance operating in an art context, psychological integrity, artificial intelligence using low-tech models, and duration while evading narrative.

Crime and cybersecurity

AI-enabled future crime

Emerging AI applications include systems for crime prevention and detection, but the technology also has the potential to be misused. AI has potential both for criminal activity and crime prevention. Crime prevention and detection strategies must keep pace with an ever-evolving technological landscape. Researchers in the Dawes Centre for Future Crime are investigating the possible ways in which AI could be exploited for criminal purposes.

The UCL Information Security Group apply machine learning to privacy/security problems, anonymous communications, traffic analysis, and peer-to-peer security.

OPERA

Project OPERA is a multi-institutional EPSRC-funded research project investigating a new unobtrusive sensing technology for contextual sensing to facilitate new applications in indoor monitoring and Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). The OPERA platform will be integrated into the "SPHERE long term behavioural sensing machine" to gather information alongside various other sensors around the home so as to monitor and track the signature movements of people.​

Language

The Survey of English Usage investigates speech act annotation and the creation of pragmatic profiles of business English by applying corpus analysis and natural language processing (NLP) techniques to large collections of real-world data.

Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing is concerned with the language used in social and professional communication can be processed and analysed in systematic ways ranging from classification to entity extraction and sentiment analysis.

Longitudinal studies

Funded by the ESRC, CeLSIUS has been supporting academic, voluntary and public sector users of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study (LS) in England and Wales since 2001. The ONS LS contains data on 1% of the population of England and Wales. It can be used for several types of analysis: for example, studies using registration event data such as outcomes or studies using linked census data. Information collected on people enumerated with LS sample members living in private households is available and allows analysis of household and family circumstances and changes in those circumstances between censuses.

CLOSER

Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER) maximises the use, value, and impact of longitudinal studies to help improve our understanding of key social and biomedical challenges. CLOSER uses the following studies: 1958 National Child Development Study, 1970 British Cohort Study, Millennium Cohort study, Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study, Hertfordshire Cohort Study, 1946 MRC National Survey of Health and Development, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, Southampton Women's Survey.

Predictive modelling leverages data on past events to make probabilistic statements about future events, e.g. predicting voter behaviour based on structural and individual information, predictive models of energy policy compliance based on patterns of consumer behaviour, and predictive models of violent conflicts and conflict dynamics.

The SpaceTimeLab generates actionable insights into geo-located, time-stamped data for government, business, and society e.g. intelligent policing.

The Whitehall II study was established to investigate the causes of social determinants of health and interdisciplinary study of ageing. 10,308 participants, aged 35-55, recruited from the London Civil Service offices in 1985. Twelve waves of data collection: self-completion questionnaires and clinical examinations. Wide range of data on social inequalities, chronic disease, biomedical information, genetics. 

Politics and public policy

Professor Mariana Mazzucato wrote the European Commission (EC) document on mission-oriented innovation, which has allowed missions to become key to Framework 9 (budget €100 billion). Mariana has received EU Horizon 2020 funding to look at AI and the Future of Work.

Ethical AI in education

Professor Rose Luckin was appointed as a specialist adviser to the Education Select Committee for their inquiry into the Fourth Industrial revolution; appointed to the Horizon Scanning panel of the Office for Students; is working as educationalist on the Topol review into the impact of AI and Robotics in the NHS; and directs the EDUCATE programme that works with EdTech startups and SMEs, many of whom use AI.

AI and its role in the UK Industrial Strategy: from challenges to missions. The IIPP hosts the Commission for Innovation and Industrial Strategy (MOIIS) to solve grand challenges in innovation and industrial strategy with a mission-oriented framework. Professor Mariana Mazzucato is also part of the UK government's new Commission on AI, co-chaired ny Tabitha Goldstaub (Chair of UK Government AI Council) and Dame Wendy Hall (Chair, Ada Lovelace Institute).

Intelligent Social Systems

Researchers in the Intelligent Social Systems Lab predict behaviour and dynamics in space and time from online and offline digital traces.

Mission-Oriented Innovation Network

Rockefeller Foundation and IIPP partnership to support the institute's pioneering work with the public sector via the Mission-Oriented Innovation Network (MOIN). The aim of MOIN is to develop a new policy toolkit to help transform public organisations to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It is a global network that includes state investment banks, innovation agencies and other public organisations—with missions in specific fields to achieving concrete goals.