Our first AI Futures Keynote lecture is now available online. See here.
The first keynote was delivered by Prof. Jack Stilgoe (UCL) on 17th February 2026.
Title: ‘Implications and Inferences: Rethinking Responsible Innovation in AI.
Abstract:
The scale and speed of AI’s development challenge social scientists’ capacity to make sense of and respond to what’s going on. Talk of ‘Responsible AI’ and ‘Responsible Innovation’ might seem naive. But I regard the project of examining the politics of AI as more important than ever. It is not clear what the true logic of artificial intelligence is, but we should certainly reject the technologically determinist logic that has been allowed to shape public debate. We social scientists are conventionally cast as observers of AI’s social implications. If we are to open up new directions for AI and find constructive roles for public voices and social research, we need to assert more strongly that, like the developers of AI, we are interested not in what AI implies but what AI infers. Beyond the technical sense of AI inference – the process by which trained models are used to predict and generate – AI companies and policymakers make constant inferences about society, the economy and how to build sustainable business models. Democratic responses to AI should start with a clearer picture of such inferences.
Prof. Stilgoe is Professor in Science and Technology Studies at the University College London. He is the Deputy Chair of Ecosystem Co-ordination at the UKRI Responsible AI. He previously worked in science and technology policy at the Royal Society and the think tank Demos. He is a fellow of the Turing Institute and a trustee of the Royal Institution.
We will be making all lectures and online seminars publicly available on our website here and our YouTube channel.
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