Dr Will Bateman, a senior lecturer and expert on law and technology, has been appointed a chief investigator of the Humanising Machine Intelligence (HMI) project funded by The Australian National University (ANU) Grand Challenges scheme.  

HMI is an interdisciplinary, impact-driven research collaboration between computer scientists, ethicists, mathematicians, lawyers and sociologists. It aims to tackle the unique challenges of making artificial intelligence “human-friendly, not just tech-friendly”, said Dr Bateman.

“I’m excited about producing globally relevant interdisciplinary research that is also highly practical and impact-driven. We will be engaging with domestic and international regulators, political and civil society bodies,” he said.

“Artificial intelligence and the technology underlying it is being rolled out in every part of our society: commerce, the law, government, education, our homes. This is a world-changing technology, and the speed at which the world is being changed is very quick. It is outpacing social and regulatory frameworks.”

Dr Bateman said the project aims to harness the power of AI while ensuring society’s best qualities are protected.

“The biggest challenge is ensuring public law rules, which control governance, are applied to algorithmic public service utilisation. I’m running a major research project with the Minderoo Foundation explicitly focused on updating public law principles that apply to governance to ensure that people’s individual rights and group rights are properly protected in the age of AI,” he said.

Dr Bateman will speak at a virtual seminar as part of the ‘The Politics of Economics in the time of COVID-19’ series by the University of Cambridge on Tuesday 26 May, 11am-12pm (BST). Register here.